Overcoming CSF overdrainage with the adjustable gravitational valve proSA

Background

Despite progress in shunt valve technology, CSF overdrainage is still one of the most frequent complications in shunt-treated hydrocephalus. Particularly with regard to young and adolescent patients, treatment of manifest overdrainage is complicated by several hardly influenceable factors such as increasing height and mobility. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficiency of the new adjustable gravitational valve, proSA.

Methods

Sixty-four shunt-treated young hydrocephalus patients aged 1.8–41.4 years (15.5?±?10.5 years) suffering from clinical and/or radiological overdrainage underwent shunt revision surgery with the implantation of the new proSA valve. Clinical outcome after a 1-year follow-up period, pumping function of the valve chambers as well as the number of necessary postoperative valve adjustments were examined.

Results

Fifty-five patients completed the study as planned. All reported a significant improvement of their clinical condition; 91 % described a complete resolution in symptoms related to overdrainage. Preoperatively, more than 85 % of the valve chambers showed no or very slow refilling with CSF. After a year of proSA treatment, more than 90 % exhibited a normal valve chamber function. During the follow-up period, a total of 136 valve adjustments were necessary. None of the proSA valves had to be surgically revised.

Conclusions

The postoperative adjustability of the opening pressure level is the advantage of the new gravitational valve. The good clinical outcome is attributed to the new valve technology. The proSA appears to be a promising shunt valve to overcome overdrainage in adolescent and adult hydrocephalus patients.     

Leg lengthening. A review of 30 years

Leg lengthening has been a procedure of last resort because of its high complication rate and significant morbidity with a relatively long period of disability during the process even when no complications occur. The new techniques of lengthening hold promise that orthopedists will be able to achieve more length with fewer complications. It is interesting to note, however, that, while it is the technology of these techniques that has stimulated the greatest enthusiasm, it is the biologic principles that are likely to offer the greatest ultimate benefit. The modern era of leg lengthening has therefore brought two things: new technical versatility to correct complex and coexisting deformities and new concepts of the biology of lengthening that are not device specific and can be applied with most lengthening devices.     

The year in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia: selected highlights from 2011

There have been rapid advances in oral anticoagulation. The oral factor Xa inhibitors rivaroxaban and apixaban and the oral direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran recently have been rigorously evaluated. These novel anticoagulants will usher in a new paradigm for perioperative anticoagulation. Perioperative blood conservation in cardiac surgery recently has been highlighted in the updated guidelines by the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. These recommendations reflect a comprehensive evaluation of the recent evidence to optimize transfusion practice. Transcatheter mitral valve repair continues to mature. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation for aortic stenosis has entered the clinical mainstream, with randomized trials showing its superiority over medical management and its equivalency to surgical valve replacement in high-risk patients. This transformational technology represents a major leadership opportunity for the cardiac anesthesiologist. Minimally invasive valve surgery has shown effectiveness in high-risk patients. Radial access is equivalent to femoral access for percutaneous coronary intervention in acute coronary syndromes but significantly reduces the risk of local vascular complications. Recent trials have further clarified the roles of medical therapy, percutaneous coronary intervention, and coronary artery bypass surgery in patients with significant coronary artery disease and left ventricular dysfunction. The past year has witnessed major advances in cardiovascular practice with new drugs, new devices, and new guidelines. The coming year most likely will advance these achievements to enhance the care of patients.     

Minimally invasive videoscopic mitral valve surgery: the current role of surgical robotics

OBJECTIVE: Recently, the efficacy of video-assisted mitral valve surgery has been demonstrated. The evolution of this technology has been relatively rapid. In this article we review this development and predict the future of endoscopic and robotic-enabling technology for cardiac valve operations. METHODS: A new video-assisted mitral valve operation is described and results discussed. The majority of each valve operation was done through assisted vision and near endoscopically. Cardiopulmonary bypass was established via femoral cannulation, and blood cardioplegic arrest induced using a new percutaneous, transthoracic cross-clamp. A 5 to 6-cm minithoracotomy was used in each patient. Videoscopy was helpful for suture placement, chord reconstruction, leaflet resection, knot tying, and valve ring or prosthesis positioning. A voice-activated robotic arm was used to direct the camera in many instances. RESULTS: Thus far a total of 110 patients have undergone this operation successfully with a 0.9% operative mortality. Our early series (N = 31), published with cost data, is reviewed in detail. Cardiopulmonary perfusion and cross-clamp times for all 100 patients were longer than for conventional sternotomy patients at 158 +/- 3.9 and 110 +/- 3.6 minutes, respectively, versus 121 +/- 4.6 and 90 +/- 4.6 (N = 105); however, there have been less complications. Operative, perfusion, and arrest times have fallen progressively to 144 +/- 4.5 and 90 +/- 4.5, respectively (N = 55 Aesop 3000 cases). Complex repairs and replacements have become routine with anterior leaflet pathology addressed. Bleeding, ventilatory times, blood transfusions, and hospital stay have been reduced. One patient required reoperation for a technically failed repair and two renal patients had late endocarditis. We have used voice-activated, robotic (Aesop 3000) assistance for camera control in 51 of these patients. This addition has decreased camera motion artifact and lens cleaning, while providing direct "cerebral-eye" tracking of instruments for the surgeon. We were the first in the United States to apply the DaVinci articulated wrist robot to do a complete mitral repair and have done multiple repair with this articulated wrist device. CONCLUSIONS: From this and other work reviewed, we conclude that video-assisted and computer-assisted robotic techniques are safe and may be the pathway to truly endoscopic mitral valve operations. We are encouraged regarding the use of this new technology for mitral valve operations.     

Video-assisted and robotic mitral valve surgery: toward an endoscopic surgery.

Our group at East Carolina University recently has shown the efficacy of new video-assisted mitral valve surgery. Moreover, we review the evolution and predict the future of endoscopic and robotic-enabling technology for cardiac valve surgery. Herein, a video-assisted mitral valve operation is described and early results are discussed. Cardiopulmonary bypass was established via the femoral vessels, and blood cardioplegic arrest was induced by using a new percutaneous, transthoracic cross-clamp. A 6-cm minithoracotomy was used in each patient. Videoscopy was helpful for suture placement, chord reconstruction, leaflet resection, knot tying, and valve ring or prosthesis positioning. Thus far, 85 patients have undergone this surgery successfully with a 1.2% surgical mortality rate. Our early study with cost data is reviewed in detail. Cardiopulmonary perfusion times and cross-clamp periods for the entire group have been longer than for conventional sternotomy patients at 167 +/- 4.6 minutes and 120 +/- 4.0 minutes, respectively, but complications have been less. Complex repairs and replacements were possible. Bleeding, ventilatory times, and hospital lengths of stay have been reduced. One patient required a second surgery for a failed repair. Recently, we have used voice-activated, robotic assistance for camera control in 28 patients. This has decreased camera motion artifact and lens cleaning while providing direct cerebral-eye tracking of instruments by the surgeon. From this and other studies we reviewed, we conclude that video-assisted and computer-assisted robotic techniques are safe and may be the pathway to truly endoscopic mitral valve surgery.     

Long-term follow-up of Bj?rk-Shiley mitral valve replacement. 10 years' experience

Retrospective analysis was made of 176 patients who received a Bj?rk-Shiley mitral valve replacement in the period 1973 through 1982. Actuarial cumulative curves showed the 10-year and 5-year survival rates to be 79 +/- 3.4%. The functional status at follow-up was better than preoperatively in 77.1% of the patients. The hospital mortality was 9.1% and the late mortality was 3.6/100 patient years. Early complications included disc entrapment against the ventricular wall in three cases, wedging of chorda between disc and valve rim in two and posterior perforation of the left ventricle in three patients. There was no structural valve damage. Calculated per 100 patient years, the incidence of thromboembolism was 2.5, endocarditis 1.4 and prosthetic leak 1.8. One thrombosed valve was successfully replaced by a new prosthesis 11 years after the initial implantation. Jamming of the disc by tissue over-growth necessitated a new valve implantation in one case. The incidence of early valve-related complications was high, but the long-term results were comparable with those from other mechanical valves. One early complication--disc entrapment against the ventricular wall--may be avoided by use of a sufficiently small valve if the ventricle is small and thickened.     

A case of aortic valve replacement with St. Jude Medical Regent valve (first implant in Japan).

The St. Jude Medical (SJM) Regent valve was developed as a new mechanical valve by improving the conventional SJM valve. The effective orifice area is wider than that of Hemodynamic Plus (HP) series. The efficacy of the new valve has been reported in Europe and the United States. On October 26, 2004, we first performed aortic valve replacement (AVR) with the SJM Regent valve for aortic valve stenosis in Japan. A 64-year-old female was admitted to our hospital with dyspnea on exertion. She was diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis. She underwent AVR with a 17 mm SJM Regent valve. According to the results of echocardiography conducted two months postoperatively, the peak pressure gradient of the prosthetic valve was 32.0 mmHg, the mean pressure gradient was 13.2 mmHg, and the effective orifice area index (EOAI) was 0.92 cm2/m2. Cinefluoroscopy showed the valve opening angle of 85 degrees indicating full opening. She was discharged 15 days after surgery without complications. As demonstrated by the present case, implantation of a 17 mm SJM Regent valve produced a satisfactory result reflected by lower pressure gradient and absence of patient-prosthetic mismatch. In the future, the new valve is expected to be the optimum mechanical valve for a narrow annulus.     

Tissue-Engineered Heart Valve: Future of Cardiac Surgery

Background

Heart valve disease is currently a growing problem, and demand for heart valve replacement is predicted to increase significantly in the future. Existing “gold standard” mechanical and biological prosthesis offers survival at a cost of significantly increased risks of complications. Mechanical valves may cause hemorrhage and thromboembolism, whereas biologic valves are prone to fibrosis, calcification, degeneration, and immunogenic complications.

Methods

A literature search was performed to identify all relevant studies relating to tissue-engineered heart valve in life sciences using the PubMed and ISI Web of Knowledge databases.

Discussion

Tissue engineering is a new, emerging alternative, which is reviewed in this paper. To produce a fully functional heart valve using tissue engineering, an appropriate scaffold needs to be seeded using carefully selected cells and proliferated under conditions that resemble the environment of a natural human heart valve. Bioscaffold, synthetic materials, and preseeded composites are three common approaches of scaffold formation. All available evidence suggests that synthetic scaffolds are the most suitable material for valve scaffold formation. Different cell sources of stem cells were used with variable results. Mesenchymal stem cells, fibroblasts, myofibroblasts, and umbilical blood stem cells are used in vitro tissue engineering of heart valve. Alternatively scaffold may be implanted and then autoseeded in vivo by circulating endothelial progenitor cells or primitive circulating cells from patient’s blood. For that purpose, synthetic heart valves were developed.

Conclusions

Tissue engineering is currently the only technology in the field with the potential for the creation of tissues analogous to a native human heart valve, with longer sustainability, and fever side effects. Although there is still a long way to go, tissue-engineered heart valves have the capability to revolutionize cardiac surgery of the future.     

2020年经导管瓣膜治疗主要进展

2020年由于受到疫情影响,经导管心脏瓣膜治疗发展有所放缓,但仍有可圈可点之处.主要进展包括:(1)经导管主动脉瓣置换(TAVR)术后单抗对于无抗凝指征的患者或可降低出血风险带来整体获益,但部分患者存在血栓风险,故指征仍需进一步明确;(2)中国TAVR专家共识已将外科手术低危患者纳入相对适应证;(3)MitraClip...     

A seromuscular stripping method to create a nipple valve without metal stapling for continent urinary reservoir

Urinary continence with a Kock or Mainz pouch is achieved by a nipple valve of the invaginated ileum which is usually fixed with metal staples. However, metal staples can cause various complications as a foreign body. The seromuscular stripping method, a new technique to create a nipple valve, was applied to 17 patients with bladder cancer in the construction of a continent urinary reservoir by the ileocolonic pouch (Mainz pouch). Metal staples were not used. The results were satisfactory except for 2 patients who became incontinent because of prolapse of the nipple in one and insufficient valve function due to ischemic change of the nipple valve in the other. Histology of the nipple valve from an autopsy case showed a good double layer nipple valve that functioned well to preserve continence.     

A new technique of managing paravalvular leak using a folding pericardium patch

Paravalvular leakage (PVL) is one of the most well‐recognised complications of prosthetic valve replacement. The size of the leakage is usually about one to two stitches. We would like to introduce a new technique to manage this complication by using a folding pericardium patch, which can surely overcome the disadvantage of second‐time valve replacement. By now, we have applied this new technique to at least four cases, all of them worked well. Thus, we present our new technique that can be considered as a good alternative management of intraoperative PVLs, especially in aortic position.     

Impact of complications on outcomes following aortic and mitral valve replacements in the United States

AIM: Heart valve replacement surgeries account for 20% of all cardiac procedures. In-hospital mortality rates are approximately 6% for aortic valve replacements and 10% for mitral valve replacements. The objectives of the study are to provide nationally representative estimates of complications following aortic and mitral valve replacements and to quantify the impact of different types of complications on in-hospital outcomes. METHODS: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample was analyzed for years 2000-2003. The effect of complications on in-hospital mortality, length of stay (LOS), and hospital charges were examined using bivariate and multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses. The confounding effects of age, sex, primary diagnosis, type of valve replacement, type of admission, comorbid conditions, and hospital characteristics were adjusted. RESULTS: A total of 43,909 patients underwent aortic valve replacement as the primary procedure during the study period and 16,516 patients underwent mitral valve replacement. Complications occurred in 35.2% of those undergoing aortic valve replacements and in 36.4% of those undergoing mitral valve replacements. Almost half of these are cardiac complications and a quarter involve hemorrhage/hematoma/seroma. Complications were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality, LOS, and hospital charges even after adjusting for patient and hospital characteristics. CONCLUSION: Complications are prevalent and exert a considerable influence on outcomes following aortic and mitral valve replacements. Quality initiatives should focus on minimizing complications and improving processes of care that would enable complications to be better resolved if they occur.     

Technical Considerations In Reoperation for Porcine Bioprosthetic Valve Failure

Reoperation in porcine valve recipients is becoming increasingly frequent, owing to the limited durability of the valves. In reviewing our experience with first reoperation for porcine valve failure in 191 patients over a 17-year period, we found that following certain routine surgical steps can minimize complications and improve the surgical outcome. Extended dissection of the heart is useful during mitral bioprosthetic replacement to enhance visualization of the failing device while retracting the left atrium without undue tension on fragile structures such as the left innominate vein-superior vena cava junction. This maneuver can be avoided, however, when replacement of an aortic bioprosthesis is required. Excision of a porcine valve is performed by peeling off the fibrous tissue overgrown on the sewing ring, which exposes the underlying sutures, cutting each knot, and finding a plane between the stent and the native valve annulus by careful blunt dissection. Care is taken not to cut the Dacron cloth of the sewing ring to avoid the potential for embolization of the silicone sponge contained within it. The use of this technique helps to minimize postoperative complications such as paravalvular leak or atrioventricular block and to preserve the native annulus, which facilitates insertion of a new prosthesis. Our experience indicates that first reoperation in porcine valve recipients can be performed with low risk, particularly in elective cases, and with a low incidence of complications related to repeat median sternotomy.     

Clinical and functional evaluation of the Carbomedics Prosthetic Heart Valve in the mitral position. Preliminary results

The Carbomedics Prosthetic Heart Valve is a new bileaflet pyrolite carbon prosthesis. This paper reports the preliminary results in 40 patients who underwent mitral valve replacement (MVR) using the Carbomedics Valve in 1988. The operative mortality rate was 5% and the early results have been encouraging, with no valve related complications observed in the first post-operative year.     

Embol-X intraaortic filter and transaortic approach for improved cerebral protection in transcatheter aortic valve implantation

Techniques for transcatheter aortic valve implantation involve manipulation of the native aortic valve and the aortic arch. As a result, excellent technical outcomes of this technique remain counterbalanced by a level of neurologic complications that remain unacceptably high. We present here a report of a new potential combined approach to reduce periprocedural neurologic events. After a 6-cm J-shaped upper-mini-sternotomy, 26-mm Sapien valve (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA) was deployed through a transaortic approach. In addition, the Embol-X device (Edwards Lifescience) was directly inserted in the distal ascending aorta was deployed during all the procedure. Postoperative evolution was clinically uneventful. Postoperative magnetic resonance imaging revealed no new ischemic lesions in this first patient.     

Kathetergest��tzte Aortenklappenimplantation

Surgical replacement of aortic valves is the gold standard for therapy of high grade aortic valve stenosis. However, the changes in demography confront the responsible medical discipline with an increasingly higher risk profile of patients which necessitates the development of new less invasive alternative forms of treatment for the surgical therapy of aortic valve stenosis. This developmental process has progressed from mini-thoracotomy to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). The TAVI procedure is a new therapeutic option for treatment of patients with high grade aortic valve stenosis and high perioperative morbidity and mortality risks with conventional aortic valve replacement. Because TAVI can be carried out while the heart is still beating and without a sternotomy or heart-lung maschine, this procedure is particularly suitable for elderly multimorbid patients and/or patients with previous cardiac surgery. The initial results of large prospective multicenter studies underline the value of TAVI in the modern treatment of high risk patients with symptomatic aortic valve stenosis. In addition to an understanding of the surgical procedure, anesthetists must have precise knowledge of the perioperative anesthesia management and possible complications of the procedure.     

A new cryoablation device for surgical therapy of atrial fibrillation

During the last years, atrial fibrillation was treated more and more by surgical ablation. Due to serious complications with the available devices, new tools were developed. We report on the first successful cryoablation procedure with a new device in a patient with a high-grade mitral valve insufficiency (III-IV) and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.     

Reconstructive valve surgery.

Despite continued refinement of heart valve prostheses, valve replacement carries risks of thromboembolic, mechanical, and infectious complications, and long-term success is further limited by the eventual wear of prosthetic parts. In many patients with congenital or acquired valve diseases, valve function may be improved, if not restored, by reconstructive techniques, prosthetic replacement being thereby avoided or delayed. This review examines the current status of reconstructive procedures for management of diseased valves, with emphasis on long-term results and post-operative hemodynamic studies. In many instances the choice between reconstruction and replacement of a diseased valve remains controversial. The documented success of selectively applied reconstructive techniques, however, weighs against expedient decisions for prosthetic replacement and supports a continuing search for new techniques.     

Indications and results of aortic valve repair

With the development of prosthetic valves with excellent hemodynamics and durability, aortic valve replacement has become the first choice in the surgical treatment of valve disease. The significant improvement in mortality rates after open-heart surgery has resulted in a demand not only for good hemodynamics but also for a better postoperative quality of life. Because mechanical prosthetic valves are associated with postoperative complications and patients receiving them must remain on anticoagulant therapy for life, and bioprosthetic valves are not sufficiently durable, valve repair techniques are being reevaluated and new ones developed. The indications for valve repair have been extended in mitral valve disease due to the decreased incidence of rheumatic valve disease and increase in degenerative tissue valve disease. Reports indicate that both acute and long-term postoperative results are superior after valve repair compared with valve replacement. Similarly, although some reports on the results of aortic valve repair indicate that the standard techniques do not yield satisfactory long-term results, others suggest that newer techniques may improve the results in both the acute and long-term, chronic phase.