Comparison of outcomes between minimally invasive and median sternotomy for double and triple valve surgery: A meta-analysis

Background

Limited data exists demonstrating the efficacy of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) compared to median sternotomy (MS) for multiple valvular disease (MVD). This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to compare operative and peri-operative outcomes of MIS vs MS in MVD.

Methods

PubMed, Ovid, and Embase were searched from inception until August 2019 for randomized and observational studies comparing MIS and MS in patients with MVD. Clinical outcomes of intra- and postoperative times, reoperation for bleeding and surgical site infection were evaluated.

Results

Five observational studies comparing 340 MIS vs 414 MS patients were eligible for qualitative and quantitative review. The quality of evidence assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale was good for all included studies. Meta-analysis demonstrated increased cardiopulmonary bypass time for MIS patients (weighted mean difference [WMD], 0.487; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.365-0.608; P < .0001). Similarly, aortic cross-clamp time was longer in patients undergoing MIS (WMD, 0.632; 95% CI, 0.509-0.755; P < .0001). No differences were found in operative mortality, reoperation for bleeding, surgical site infection, or hospital stay.

Conclusions

MIS for MVD have similar short-term outcomes compared to MS. This adds value to the use of minimally invasive methods for multivalvular surgery, despite conferring longer operative times. However, the paucity in literature and learning curve associated with MIS warrants further evidence, ideally randomized control trials, to support these findings.

     

Lower body mass index and higher height are correlated with increased varicocele risk

To evaluate the anthropometric indexes in subjects with varicocele compared to controls and the incidence of varicocele in different body mass index (BMI) groups for the purpose of exploring the association between varicocele and anthropometric indexes. A comprehensive literature search was conducted by using PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE databases and Cochrane Library up to February 2019. A systematic review and meta‐analysis was conducted by STATA, and Newcastle–Ottawa Scale was utilised for assessing risk of bias. Ultimately, 13 articles containing seven case–control studies and six cross‐sectional studies with 1,385,630 subjects were involved in our study. Pooled results demonstrated that varicocele patients had a lower BMI (WMD = ?0.77, 95% CI = ?1.03 to ?0.51) and a higher height than nonvaricocele participants, especially in grade 3 varicocele patients. Subgroup analyses showed that normal BMI individuals had a higher risk of varicocele than obese or overweight individuals and a lower risk than underweight individuals. In conclusion, this study indicates that varicocele patients have a lower BMI and a higher height than nonvaricocele participants. Moreover, men with excess bodyweight have a lower incidence of varicocele compared to normal weight or underweight people. That is to say, high BMI and adiposity protect against varicocele and high BMI is associated with a decreased risk of varicocele.