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Background : Type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is a life-threatening condition which requires prompt diagnosis and surgical treatment. When TAAD involves the aortic root, aortic valve-sparing or Bentall procedures are the main surgical treatment options. Method: The subjects of this analysis were 3735 patients included in the European Registry of Type A Aortic Dissection (ERTAAD). Propensity score matching was performed by estimating a propensity score from being treated with the Bentall or the David procedure using multilevel mixed-effects logistics, considering the cluster effect of the participating hospitals. Results: A Bentall procedure was performed in 862 patients, while a David operation was performed in 139 patients. The proportion of aortic root replacement, as well as the different techniques of aortic root replacement, varied significantly between the participating hospitals ( p < 0.001). After propensity score matching, we obtained two groups of 115 patients each, and no statistical differences were reported in terms of postoperative outcomes, except for the rate of dialysis, which was higher in the patients requiring a Bentall procedure (17.4% vs. 7.0%, p -value 0.016). In the unmatched cohorts, the David procedure was associated with a lower 10-year mortality rate compared to the Bentall procedure (30.1% vs. 45.6%, p -value 0.004), but no difference was observed after matching (30.0% vs. 43.9%, p -value 0.082). After 10 years, no differences were observed in terms of proximal aortic reoperation (3.9% vs. 4.1%, p -value 0.954), even after propensity score matching (2.8% vs. 1.8%, p -value 0.994). Conclusions: The David and Bentall procedures are durable treatment methods for TAAD. When feasible, it is advisable that the David procedure is performed for acute TAAD by surgeons with experience with this demanding surgical technique.

Aortic valve replacement improves and prolongs lives of patients with aortic valve disease, but requires significant healthcare resources, which are mainly determined by the length of associated hospital stays. Therefore, this study aims to identify risk factors for extended length of stay after surgical aortic valve replacement. Between 2018 and 2023, 458 consecutive patients underwent isolated surgical aortic valve replacement at our center and were included in our analysis. To identify independent predictors for hospital and intensive care unit stay, multivariable linear regression analysis using backward elimination process was performed. Upon multivariable linear regression, endocarditis [regression coefficient (β) 2.98; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.51, 4.45; p<0.001)] and prior aortic valve surgery (β 1.72; 95% CI 0.18, 3.26; p=0.029) were associated with prolonged hospital stay. Prior aortic valve surgery was associated with prolonged intensive care unit stay (β 0.99; 95% CI 0.39, 1.59; p=0.001) as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (β 1.61; 95% CI 0.66, 2.55; p=0.001), smaller prosthetic valve sizes (β -0.18; 95% CI -0.30, -0.06; p=0.003), preoperative atrial fibrillation (β 1.06; 95% CI 0.32, 1.79; p=0.005), and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (β -0.03; 95% CI -0.05, -0.01; p=0.006). Pending further validation, structured programs aiming to accelerate intensive care unit and hospital discharge after surgical aortic valve replacement should focus on patients with prior cardiac surgery, atrial fibrillation, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Surgeons should aim to implant large-diameter valves. Furthermore, the identified predictors should be used to discuss surgical versus transcatheter procedures in the interdisciplinary heart team., Competing Interests: CONFLICT OF INTEREST: AS received lecture fees/travel support from Abbott, Boston Scientific, and Edwards Lifesciences. AS is a proctor for Abbott. FUNDING: Till Demal was funded by the Clinician Scientist Programme of the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (Grant number DZHK; FKZ 81X3710109)., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

Background: The current study aims to report the presentation of the malperfusion syndrome in patients with acute type A aortic dissection admitted to surgery and its impact on mortality., Methods: Data were retrieved from the multicenter European Registry of Type A Aortic Dissection. The Penn classification was used to categorize malperfusion syndromes. A machine-learning algorithm was applied to assess the multivariate interaction's importance regarding in-hospital mortality., Results: A total of 3902 consecutive patients underwent repair for acute type A aortic dissection. Local malperfusion syndrome occurred in 1584 (40.59%) patients. Multiorgan involvement occurred in 582 patients (36.74%) whereas 1002 patients (63.26%) had single-organ malperfusion. The prevalence was the greatest for cerebral (21.27%) followed by peripheral (13.94%), myocardial (9.7%), renal (9.33%), mesenteric (4.15%), and spinal malperfusion (2.10%). Multiorgan involvement predominantly occurred in organs perfused by the downstream aorta. Malperfusion significantly increased the risk of mortality (P < .001; odds ratio, 1.94 ± 0.29). The Boruta machine-learning algorithm identified the Penn classification as significantly associated with in-hospital mortality (P < .0001, variable importance = 7.91); however, 8 other variables yielded greater prediction importance. According to the Penn classification, mortality rates were 12.38% for Penn A, 20.71% for Penn B, 28.90% for Penn C, and 31.84% for Penn BC, respectively., Conclusions: Nearly one half of the examined cohort presented with signs of malperfusion syndrome predominantly attributable to local involvement. More than one third of patients with local malperfusion syndrome had a multivessel involvement. Furthermore, different levels of Penn classification can be used only as a first tool for preliminary stratification of early mortality risk., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest Statement E.Q. receives payment or honoraria from Cardiva SL, AtriCure, Medtronic, and Edwards. All other authors reported no conflicts of interest. The Journal policy requires editors and reviewers to disclose conflicts of interest and to decline handling or reviewing manuscripts for which they may have a conflict of interest. The editors and reviewers of this article have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) is a common phenomenon after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), especially in patients with small aortic annuli. Whether factors during implantation, such as the implantation depth, have an impact on the occurrence of PPM is currently unclear. The objectives of our study were to (1) investigate the influence of procedure planning- and implantation-related factors on the occurrence of PPM and (2) evaluate the impact of PPM on long-term mortality after TAVI. Data from 315 patients with small aortic annuli, defined as multidetector computed tomography-derived annulus area <400 mm 2 , treated with transfemoral TAVI between 2014 and 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. TAVI was performed with ballon-expandable valves (BEVs) in 113 and self-expanding valves (SEVs) in 202 cases. PPM was defined according to Valve Academic Research Consortium 3 and follow-up was obtained within 5 years after TAVI. Overall, PPM occurred in 121 patients (38.4%) and was significantly more frequent in patients treated with BEVs (54.9%) than with SEVs (29.2%, p <0.001). Evaluation of planning- and implantation-related factors found that deeper implantation of BEVs significantly increased the risk of PPM (p = 0.014), whereas no association was observed in SEVs. The overall mortality rates at 3 and 5 years were 25.5% and 43.1%, respectively, without significant differences between patients with and without PPM. In conclusion, PPM occurred frequently, especially after BEV implantation. In these patients, implantation depth was identified as a predictor of PPM, whereas no association was found for SEV implantation. In addition, there was no difference in longer-term mortality between patients with and without PPM., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Voigtlaender-Buschmann reports a relation with German Center for Cardiovascular Research that includes funding grants. Dr. Schofer reports a relation with Edwards Lifesciences and St Jude Medical that includes travel reimbursement; and Boston Scientific that includes: speaking and lecture fees and travel reimbursement. Dr. Conradi reports a relation with Abbott, Medtronic, and JenaValve that includes board membership; Edwards Lifesciences, Boston Scientific, VenusMedtech, MicroPort, PiCardia, MicroInterventions, Neovasc, and Smartcanula Sarl that includes consulting or advisory. Dr. Seiffert reports a relation with JenaValve and Boston Scientific that includes: consulting or advisory; Edwards Lifesciences, JenaValve Technology Inc., Boston Scientific, and Biotronik that includes travel reimbursement; and Medtronic that includes speaking and lecture fees. The remaining authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objectives: The goal of this project was to assess the efficacy of a reoperative frozen elephant trunk (FET) operation for treating residual type A aortic dissections., Methods: Between April 2015 and October 2023, a total of 237 patients underwent elective redo surgical aortic arch replacement via the FET technique to treat residual type A aortic dissection in 11 European aortic centres. Data were pooled and analysed retrospectively., Results: The time between an acute type A dissection repair to an FET implant was 5 years. More than half of all patients (54%) presented with an entry within the aortic arch, and 174 patients (73%) presented residual dissections of supra-aortic vessels. During FET repair, the axillary artery was cannulated in 181 patients (76%), whereas 83 patients (35%) underwent additional cardiac procedures including 39 root replacements (16%) and 15 coronary bypass procedures (6%). Zone 2 was the most common arch anastomosis site (n = 163, 69%), and bilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion was most frequent (n = 159, 67%). Fifteen patients (6%) died in-hospital. Age in years (P < 0.001, odds ratio: 1.069) proved to be predictive for overall mortality in our Cox regression model., Conclusions: Elective redo surgical aortic arch replacement using the FET technique for treating residual type A aortic dissection following ascending aortic replacement revealed a favourable outcome. The decision to undertake stage two therapy of a residually dissected aortic arch should be made by an aortic team on a patient-by-patient basis., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Gender difference in the outcome after type A aortic dissection (TAAD) surgery remains an issue of ongoing debate. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of gender on the short- and long-term outcome after surgery for TAAD., Methods: A multicentre European registry retrospectively included all consecutive TAAD surgery patients between 2005 and 2021 from 18 hospitals across 8 European countries. Early and late mortality, and cumulative incidence of aortic reoperation were compared between genders., Results: A total of 3902 patients underwent TAAD surgery, with 1185 (30.4%) being females. After propensity score matching, 766 pairs of males and females were compared. No statistical differences were detected in the early postoperative outcome between genders. Ten-year survival was comparable between genders (47.8% vs 47.1%; log-rank test, P = 0.679), as well as cumulative incidences of distal or proximal aortic reoperations. Ten-year relative survival compared to country-, year-, age- and sex-matched general population was higher among males (0.65) compared to females (0.58). The time-period subanalysis revealed advancements in surgical techniques in both genders over the years. However, an increase in stroke was observed over time for both populations, particularly among females., Conclusions: The past 16 years have witnessed marked advancements in surgical techniques for TAAD in both males and females, achieving comparable early and late mortality rates. Despite these findings, late relative survival was still in favour of males., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Background: The outcomes after prolonged treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) after surgery for Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD) have not been previously investigated., Methods: This analysis included 3538 patients from a multicenter study who underwent surgery for acute TAAD and were admitted to the cardiac surgical ICU., Results: The mean length of stay in the cardiac surgical ICU was 9.9±9.5 days. The mean overall costs of treatment in the cardiac surgical ICU 24086±32084 €. In-hospital mortality was 14.8% and 5-year mortality was 30.5%. Adjusted analyses showed that prolonged ICU stay was associated with significantly lower risk of in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR 0.971, 95%CI 0.959-0.982), and of five-year mortality (adjusted OR 0.970, 95%CI 0.962-0.977), respectively. Propensity score matching analysis yielded 870 pairs of patients with short ICU stay (2-5 days) and long ICU stay (>5 days) with balanced baseline, operative and postoperative variables. Patients with prolonged ICU stay (>5 days) had significantly lower in-hospital mortality (8.9% vs. 17.4%, <0.001) and 5-year mortality (28.2% vs. 30.7%, P=0.007) compared to patients with short ICU-stay (2-5 days)., Conclusions: Prolonged ICU stay was common after surgery for acute TAAD. However, when adjusted for multiple baseline and operative variables as well as adverse postoperative events and the cluster effect of hospitals, it was associated with favorable survival up to 5 years after surgery.

Background: The benefits and harms associated with femoral artery cannulation over other sites of arterial cannulation for surgical repair of acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD) are not conclusively established., Methods: We evaluated the outcomes after surgery for TAAD using femoral artery cannulation, supra-aortic arterial cannulation (i.e., innominate/subclavian/axillary artery cannulation), and direct aortic cannulation., Results: 3751 (96.1%) patients were eligible for this analysis. In-hospital mortality using supra-aortic arterial cannulation was comparable to femoral artery cannulation (17.8% vs. 18.4%; adjusted OR 0.846, 95% CI 0.799-1.202). This finding was confirmed in 1028 propensity score-matched pairs of patients with supra-aortic arterial cannulation or femoral artery cannulation (17.5% vs. 17.0%, p = 0.770). In-hospital mortality after direct aortic cannulation was lower compared to femoral artery cannulation (14.0% vs. 18.4%, adjusted OR 0.703, 95% CI 0.529-0.934). Among 583 propensity score-matched pairs of patients, direct aortic cannulation was associated with lower rates of in-hospital mortality (13.4% vs. 19.6%, p = 0.004) compared to femoral artery cannulation. Switching of the primary site of arterial cannulation was associated with increased rate of in-hospital mortality (36.5% vs. 17.0%; adjusted OR 2.730, 95% CI 1.564-4.765). Ten-year mortality was similar in the study cohorts., Conclusions: In this study, the outcomes of surgery for TAAD using femoral arterial cannulation were comparable to those using supra-aortic arterial cannulation. However, femoral arterial cannulation was associated with higher in-hospital mortality than direct aortic cannulation., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov registration code: NCT04831073., (© 2024 International Society of Surgery/Société Internationale de Chirurgie (ISS/SIC).)

Background: Surgery for Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is associated with an increased risk of late aortic reoperations due to degeneration of the dissected aorta., Methods: The subjects of this analysis were 990 TAAD patients who survived surgery for acute TAAD and had complete data on the diameter and dissection status of all aortic segments., Results: After a mean follow-up of 4.2 ± 3.6 years, 60 patients underwent 85 distal aortic reoperations. Ten-year cumulative incidence of distal aortic reoperation was 9.6%. Multivariable competing risk analysis showed that the maximum preoperative diameter of the abdominal aorta (SHR 1.041, 95%CI 1.008-1.075), abdominal aorta dissection (SHR 2.133, 95%CI 1.156-3.937) and genetic syndromes (SHR 2.840, 95%CI 1.001-8.060) were independent predictors of distal aortic reoperation. Patients with a maximum diameter of the abdominal aorta >30 mm and/or abdominal aortic dissection had a cumulative incidence of 10-year distal aortic reoperation of 12.0% compared to 5.7% in those without these risk factors (adjusted SHR 2.076, 95%CI 1.062-4.060)., Conclusion: TAAD patients with genetic syndromes, and increased size and dissection of the abdominal aorta have an increased the risk of distal aortic reoperations. A policy of extensive surgical or hybrid primary aortic repair, completion endovascular procedures for aortic remodeling and tight surveillance may be justified in these patients., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04831073., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement None declared., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Surgery for type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is frequently complicated by neurologic complications. The prognostic impact of neurologic complications of different nature has been investigated in this study. The subjects of this analysis were 3,902 patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD from the multicenter European Registry of Type A Aortic Dissection (ERTAAD). During the index hospitalization, 722 patients (18.5%) experienced stroke/global brain ischemia. Ischemic stroke was detected in 539 patients (13.8%), hemorrhagic stroke in 76 patients (1.9%) and global brain ischemia in 177 patients (4.5%), with a few patients having had findings of more than 1 of these conditions. In-hospital mortality was increased significantly in patients with postoperative ischemic stroke (25.6%, adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.422, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.825 to 3.216), hemorrhagic stroke (48.7%, adjusted OR 4.641, 95% CI 2.524 to 8.533), and global brain ischemia (74.0%, adjusted OR 22.275, 95% CI 14.537 to 35.524) compared with patients without neurologic complications (13.5%). Similarly, patients who experienced ischemic stroke (46.3%, adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.719, 95% CI 1.434 to 2.059), hemorrhagic stroke (62.8%, adjusted HR 3.236, 95% CI 2.314 to 4.525), and global brain ischemia (83.9%, adjusted HR 12.777, 95% CI 10.325 to 15.810) had significantly higher 5-year mortality than patients without postoperative neurologic complications (27.5%). The negative prognostic effect of neurologic complications on survival vanished about 1 year after surgery. In conclusion, postoperative ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, and global cerebral ischemia increased early and midterm mortality after surgery for acute TAAD. The magnitude of risk of mortality increased with the severity of the neurologic complications, with postoperative hemorrhagic stroke and global brain ischemia being highly lethal complications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no competing interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Extended aortic repair is considered a key issue for the long-term durability of surgery for DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection. The risk of aortic degeneration may be higher in young patients due to their long life expectancy. The early outcome and durability of aortic surgery in these patients were investigated in the present study., Methods: The subjects of the present analysis were patients under 60 years old who underwent surgical repair for acute DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection at 18 cardiac surgery centres across Europe between 2005 and 2021. Patients underwent ascending aortic repair or total aortic arch repair using the conventional technique or the frozen elephant trunk technique. The primary outcome was 5-year cumulative incidence of reoperation on the distal aorta., Results: Overall, 915 patients underwent surgical ascending aortic repair and 284 patients underwent surgical total aortic arch repair. The frozen elephant trunk procedure was performed in 128 patients. Among 245 propensity score-matched pairs, total aortic arch repair did not decrease the rate of distal aortic reoperation compared to ascending aortic repair (5-year cumulative incidence, 6.7% versus 6.7%, subdistributional hazard ratio 1.127, 95% c.i. 0.523 to 2.427). Total aortic arch repair increased the incidence of postoperative stroke/global brain ischaemia (25.7% versus 18.4%, P = 0.050) and dialysis (19.6% versus 12.7%, P = 0.003). Five-year mortality was comparable after ascending aortic repair and total aortic arch repair (22.8% versus 27.3%, P = 0.172)., Conclusions: In patients under 60 years old with DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection, total aortic arch replacement compared with ascending aortic repair did not reduce the incidence of distal aortic operations at 5 years. When feasible, ascending aortic repair for DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection is associated with satisfactory early and mid-term outcomes., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04831073., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of BJS Foundation Ltd.)

Surgery for type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is associated with a high risk of early mortality. The prognostic impact of a new classification of the urgency of the procedure was evaluated in this multicenter cohort study. Data on consecutive patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD were retrospectively collected in the multicenter, retrospective European Registry of TAAD (ERTAAD). The rates of in-hospital mortality of 3,902 consecutive patients increased along with the ERTAAD procedure urgency grades: urgent procedure 10.0%, emergency procedure grade 1 13.3%, emergency procedure grade 2 22.1%, salvage procedure grade 1 45.6%, and salvage procedure grade 2 57.1% (p <0.0001). Preoperative arterial lactate correlated with the urgency grades. Inclusion of the ERTAAD procedure urgency classification significantly improved the area under the receiver operating characteristics curves of the regression model and the integrated discrimination indexes and the net reclassification indexes. The risk of postoperative stroke/global brain ischemia, mesenteric ischemia, lower limb ischemia, dialysis, and acute heart failure increased along with the urgency grades. In conclusion, the urgency of surgical repair of acute TAAD, which seems to have a significant impact on the risk of in-hospital mortality, may be useful to improve the stratification of the operative risk of these critically ill patients. This study showed that salvage surgery for TAAD is justified because half of the patients may survive to discharge., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Biancari reports financial support was provided by Sigrid Jusélius Foundation and Finnish Heart Association. The remaining authors have no competing interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

(1) Background: Transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has become the standard treatment for most patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis. Intravascular lithotripsy may facilitate transfemoral TAVI (IVL-TAVI) even in patients with severely calcified iliofemoral disease. We assessed technical aspects and clinical outcomes of this novel approach compared to alternative transaxillary access (TAX-TAVI). (2) Methods: IVL-TAVI was performed for severe iliofemoral calcifications precluding standard transfemoral access in 30 patients from 2019 to 2022 at a single academic heart center. IVL was performed as part of the TAVI procedure in all cases. Results were compared to a control group of 44 TAX-TAVI procedures performed for the same indication from 2016 to 2021. The safety outcome was a composite of all-cause death, stroke, access-related bleeding ≥ type 2 within 24 h and major vascular access site complications at 30 days. The efficacy outcome was defined as a technical success according to VARC-3. (3) Results: Median age was 78.2 [74.3, 82.6] years, 45.9% were female and mean STS-PROM was 3.6% [2.3, 6.0]. Iliofemoral calcifications were more severe in the IVL-TAVI vs. TAX-TAVI groups (lesion length: 63.0 mm [48.6, 80.3] vs. 48.5 mm [33.1, 68.8]; p = 0.043, severe calcification at target lesion: 90.0% vs. 68.2%; p = 0.047, and median arc calcification 360.0° [297.5, 360.0] vs. 360.0° [180.0, 360.0]; p = 0.033). Technical success was achieved in 93.3% vs. 81.8% ( p = 0.187) in IVL- and TAX-TAVI and the safety outcome occurred in 10.0% vs. 31.8% in IVL- and TAX-TAVI ( p = 0.047), respectively. (4) Conclusions: IVL-assisted transfemoral TAVI was feasible and safe with favorable outcomes compared to TAX-TAVI. IVL may further expand the number of patients eligible for transfemoral TAVI and may help overcome limitations of an alternative access.

Background: Surgery for type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is associated with high risk of mortality. Current risk scoring methods have a limited predictive accuracy., Methods: Subjects were patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD at 18 European centers of cardiac surgery from the European Registry of Type A Aortic Dissection (ERTAAD)., Results: Out of 3,902 patients included in the ERTAAD, 2,477 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In the validation dataset (2,229 patients), the rate of in-hospital mortality was 18.4%. The rate of composite outcome (in-hospital death, stroke/global ischemia, dialysis, and/or acute heart failure) was 41.2%, and 10-year mortality rate was 47.0%. Logistic regression identified the following patient-related variables associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality [area under the curve (AUC), 0.755, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.729-0.780; Brier score 0.128]: age; estimated glomerular filtration rate; arterial lactate; iatrogenic dissection; left ventricular ejection fraction ≤50%; invasive mechanical ventilation; cardiopulmonary resuscitation immediately before surgery; and cerebral, mesenteric, and peripheral malperfusion. The estimated risk score was associated with an increased risk of composite outcome (AUC, 0.689, 95% CI, 0.667-0.711) and of late mortality [hazard ratio (HR), 1.035, 95% CI, 1.031-1.038; Harrell's C 0.702; Somer's D 0.403]. In the validation dataset (248 patients), the in-hospital mortality rate was 16.1%, the composite outcome rate was 41.5%, and the 10-year mortality rate was 49.1%. The estimated risk score was predictive of in-hospital mortality (AUC, 0.703, 95% CI, 0.613-0.793; Brier score 0.121; slope 0.905) and of composite outcome (AUC, 0.682, 95% CI, 0.614-0.749). The estimated risk score was predictive of late mortality (HR, 1.035, 95% CI, 1.031-1.038; Harrell's C 0.702; Somer's D 0.403), also when hospital deaths were excluded from the analysis (HR, 1.024, 95% CI, 1.018-1.031; Harrell's C 0.630; Somer's D 0.261)., Conclusions: The present analysis identified several baseline clinical risk factors, along with preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate and arterial lactate, which are predictive of in-hospital mortality and major postoperative adverse events after surgical repair of acute TAAD. These risk factors may be valuable components for risk adjustment in the evaluation of surgical and anesthesiological strategies aiming to improve the results of surgery for TAAD., Clinical Trial Registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT04831073., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The authors declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (© 2024 Biancari, Demal, Nappi, Onorati, Francica, Peterss, Buech, Fiore, Folliguet, Perrotti, Hervé, Conradi, Rukosujew, Pinto, Lega, Pol, Rocek, Kacer, Wisniewski, Mazzaro, Vendramin, Piani, Ferrante, Rinaldi, Quintana, Pruna-Guillen, Gerelli, Di Perna, Acharya, Mariscalco, Field, Kuduvalli, Pettinari, Rosato, D'Errigo, Jormalainen, Mustonen, Mäkikallio, Dell'aquila, Juvonen and Gatti.)

Aims: In this study we evaluated the impact of direct aortic cannulation versus innominate/subclavian/axillary artery cannulation on the outcome after surgery for type A aortic dissection., Methods: The outcomes of patients included in a multicenter European registry (ERTAAD) who underwent surgery for acute type A aortic dissection with direct aortic cannulation versus those with innominate/subclavian/axillary artery cannulation, i.e. supra-aortic arterial cannulation, were compared using propensity score matched analysis., Results: Out of 3902 consecutive patients included in the registry, 2478 (63.5%) patients were eligible for this analysis. Direct aortic cannulation was performed in 627 (25.3%) patients, while supra-aortic arterial cannulation in 1851 (74.7%) patients. Propensity score matching yielded 614 pairs of patients. Among them, patients who underwent surgery for TAAD with direct aortic cannulation had significantly decreased in-hospital mortality (12.7% vs. 18.1%, p = 0.009) compared to those who had supra-aortic arterial cannulation. Furthermore, direct aortic cannulation was associated with decreased postoperative rates of paraparesis/paraplegia (2.0 vs. 6.0%, p < 0.0001), mesenteric ischemia (1.8 vs. 5.1%, p = 0.002), sepsis (7.0 vs. 14.2%, p < 0.0001), heart failure (11.2 vs. 15.2%, p = 0.043), and major lower limb amputation (0 vs. 1.0%, p = 0.031). Direct aortic cannulation showed a trend toward decreased risk of postoperative dialysis (10.1 vs. 13.7%, p = 0.051)., Conclusions: This multicenter cohort study showed that direct aortic cannulation compared to supra-aortic arterial cannulation is associated with a significant reduction of the risk of in-hospital mortality after surgery for acute type A aortic dissection., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04831073., (© 2023. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Société Internationale de Chirurgie.)

Background: Acute type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. In this study we evaluated the prognostic significance of preoperative arterial lactate concentration on the outcome after surgery for TAAD., Methods: The ERTAAD registry included consecutive patients who underwent surgery for acute type A aortic dissection (TAAD) at 18 European centers of cardiac surgery., Results: Data on arterial lactate concentration immediately before surgery were available in 2798 (71.7 %) patients. Preoperative concentration of arterial lactate was an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality (mean, 3.5 ± 3.2 vs 2.1 ± 1.8 mmol/L, adjusted OR 1.181, 95%CI 1.129-1.235). The best cutoff value preoperative arterial lactate concentration was 1.8 mmol/L (in-hospital mortality, 12.0 %, vs. 26.6 %, p < 0.0001). The rates of in-hospital mortality increased along increasing quintiles of arterial lactate and it was 12.1 % in the lowest quintile and 33.6 % in the highest quintile (p < 0.0001). The difference between multivariable models with and without preoperative arterial lactate was statistically significant (p = 0.0002). The NRI was 0.296 (95%CI 0.200-0.391) (p < 0.0001) with -17 % of events correctly reclassified (p = 0.0002) and 46 % of non-events correctly reclassified (p < 0.0001). The IDI was 0.025 (95%CI 0.016-0.034) (p < 0.0001). Six studies from a systematic review plus the present one provided data for a pooled analysis which showed that the mean difference of preoperative arterial lactate between 30-day/in-hospital deaths and survivors was 1.85 mmol/L (95%CI 1.22-2.47, p < 0.0001, I 2 64 %)., Conclusions: Hyperlactatemia significantly increased the risk of mortality after surgery for acute TAAD and should be considered in the clinical assessment of these critically ill patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Fausto Biancari reports financial support was provided by 10.13039/501100005633Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research. Fausto Biancari reports financial support was provided by Sigrid Jusélius Foundation., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of different surgical strategies for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD)., Summary Background Data: The optimal extent of aortic resection during surgery for acute TAAD is controversial., Methods: This is a multicenter, retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD at 18 European hospitals., Results: Out of 3902 consecutive patients, 689 (17.7%) died during the index hospitalization. Among 2855 patients who survived 3 months after surgery, 10-year observed survival was 65.3%, while country-adjusted, age-adjusted, and sex-adjusted expected survival was 81.3%, yielding a relative survival of 80.4%. Among 558 propensity score-matched pairs, total aortic arch replacement increased the risk of in-hospital (21.0% vs. 14.9%, P =0.008) and 10-year mortality (47.1% vs. 40.1%, P =0.001), without decreasing the incidence of distal aortic reoperation (10-year: 8.9% vs. 7.4%, P =0.690) compared with ascending aortic replacement. Among 933 propensity score-matched pairs, in-hospital mortality (18.5% vs. 18.0%, P =0.765), late mortality (at 10-year: 44.6% vs. 41.9%, P =0.824), and cumulative incidence of proximal aortic reoperation (at 10-year: 4.4% vs. 5.9%, P =0.190) after aortic root replacement was comparable to supracoronary aortic replacement., Conclusions: Replacement of the aortic root and aortic arch did not decrease the risk of aortic reoperation in patients with TAAD and should be performed only in the presence of local aortic injury or aneurysm. The relative survival of TAAD patients is poor and suggests that the causes underlying aortic dissection may also impact late mortality despite surgical repair of the dissected aorta., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of individual institutions on the outcome after surgery for Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD)., Methods: This is an observational, multicenter, retrospective cohort study including 3902 patients who underwent surgery for TAAD at 18 university and non-university hospitals., Results: Logistic regression showed that four hospitals had increased risk of in-hospital mortality, while two hospitals were associated with decreased risk of in-hospital mortality. Risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality rates were lower in four hospitals and higher in other four hospitals compared to the overall in-hospital mortality rate (17.7%). Participating hospitals were classified as overperforming or underperforming if their risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality rate was lower or higher than the in-hospital mortality rate of the overall series, respectively. Propensity score matching yielded 1729 pairs of patients operated at over- or underperforming hospitals. Overperforming hospitals had a significantly lower in-hospital mortality (12.8% vs. 22.2%, p < 0.0001) along with decreased rate of stroke and/or global brain ischemia (16.5% vs. 19.9%, p = 0.009) compared to underperforming hospitals. Aggregate data meta-regression of the results of participating hospitals showed that hospital volume was inversely associated with in-hospital mortality (p = 0.043). Hospitals with an annual volume of less than 15 cases had an increased risk of in-hospital mortality (adjusted OR, 1.345, 95% CI 1.126-1.607)., Conclusion: The present findings indicate that there are significant differences between hospitals in terms of early outcome after surgery for TAAD. Low hospital volume may be a determinant of poor outcome of TAAD., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04831073., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Ejection time (ET), acceleration time (AT) and time between left ventricular and aortic systolic pressure peaks (T-LVAo) might be of diagnostic and prognostic use in patients with aortic stenosis (AS) undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)., Aim: We aimed to assess the diagnostic value and prognostic impact of invasively measured ET, AT, and T-LVAo in patients undergoing TAVI., Methods: A total of 1274 patients received invasive measurement of ET, AT and T-LVAo prior to TAVI. Anatomic AS severity was assessed by CT-derived aortic valve calcification density (AVC d ). Impact on all-cause mortality was retrospectively analyzed., Results: In multivariable linear regression, T-LVAo showed the strongest correlation with AVC d . No prognostic impact of T-LVAo was found according to uni- and multivariable analyses. In contrast, using an individual C-statistic derived cutoff (C D ), patients with ET or AT ≥ C D showed lower mortality rates compared to patients with ET or AT < C D (1-year mortality: ET ≥ vs. < C D : 15.01vs. 33.1%, AT ≥ vs < C D 16.3 vs. 26.5%, p < 0.001). Moreover, multivariable analysis identified ET ≥ C D (HR 0.61 [95% CI 0.43-0.87; p < 0.007]) to be associated with beneficial outcome after TAVI, independent from clinical risk factors and echocardiography-derived parameters., Conclusion: Among the studied hemodynamic parameters T-LVAo provides the highest diagnostic value, whereas ET is an outcome predictor beyond clinical risk factors and echocardiographic parameters in AS patients following TAVI. These parameters could be of considerable use in diagnostic evaluation and risk assessment of patients scheduled for TAVI. T-LVAo (yellow): defined as time between left ventricular and aortic systolic pressure peaks. ET (green): Ejection Time defined as time from the start to flow end. AT (orange): Acceleration time defined as time from the start to the peak flow. AOP: aortic pressure, AVC: aortic valve calcification, CI: confidence interval, HGAS: high-gradient aortic stenosis, LGAS: low-gradient aortic stenosis, LVP: left ventricular pressure, SD: standard deviation., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Patients with chronic hemodialysis due to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or severely impaired kidney function (CKD) constitute a relevant share of patients undergoing trans-catheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). However, data on specific challenges and outcomes remain limited., Aim: We aimed to characterize this patient population, evaluate clinical results and assess the significance of calcification patterns., Methods: This retrospective single-center analysis evaluated 2,712 TAVI procedures (2012-2019) according to baseline renal function: GFR < 30 ml/min/1.73m 2 (CKD; n = 210), chronic hemodialysis (ESRD; n = 119) and control (CTRL; n = 2383). Valvular and vascular calcification patterns were assessed from contrast-enhanced multi-detector computed tomography. Outcomes were evaluated in accordance with the VARC-2 definitions., Results: Operative risk was higher in ESRD and CKD vs. CTRL (STS-score 8.4% and 7.6% vs. 3.9%, p < 0.001) and patients with ESRD had more severe vascular calcifications (49.1% vs. 33.9% and 29.0%, p < 0.01). Immediate procedural results were similar but non-procedure-related major/life-threatening bleeding was higher in ESRD and CKD (5.0% and 5.3% vs. 1.6%, p < 0.01). 3-year survival was impaired in patients with ESRD and CKD (33.3% and 35.3% vs. 65.4%, p < 0.001). Multivariable analysis identified ESRD (HR 1.60), CKD (HR 1.79) and vascular calcifications (HR 1.29) as predictors for 3-year and vascular calcifications (HR 1.51) for 30-day mortality., Conclusion: Patients with ESRD and CKD constitute a vulnerable patient group with extensive vascular calcifications. Immediate procedural results were largely unaffected by renal impairment, yielding TAVI a particularly valuable treatment option in these high-risk operative patients. Mid-term survival was determined by underlying renal disease, cardiovascular comorbidities, and vascular calcifications as a novel risk marker., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

(1) Background: Acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD) may complicate the outcome of cardiovascular procedures. Data on the outcome after surgery for iatrogenic acute TAAD is scarce. (2) Methods: The European Registry of Type A Aortic Dissection (ERTAAD) is a multicenter, retrospective study including patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD at 18 hospitals from eight European countries. The primary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and 5-year mortality. Twenty-seven secondary outcomes were evaluated. (3) Results: Out of 3902 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD, 103 (2.6%) had iatrogenic TAAD. Cardiac surgery (37.8%) and percutaneous coronary intervention (36.9%) were the most frequent causes leading to iatrogenic TAAD, followed by diagnostic coronary angiography (13.6%), transcatheter aortic valve replacement (10.7%) and peripheral endovascular procedure (1.0%). In hospital mortality was 20.5% after cardiac surgery, 31.6% after percutaneous coronary intervention, 42.9% after diagnostic coronary angiography, 45.5% after transcatheter aortic valve replacement and nihil after peripheral endovascular procedure (p = 0.092), with similar 5-year mortality between different subgroups of iatrogenic TAAD (p = 0.710). Among 102 propensity score matched pairs, in-hospital mortality was significantly higher among patients with iatrogenic TAAD (30.4% vs. 15.7%, p = 0.013) compared to those with spontaneous TAAD. This finding was likely related to higher risk of postoperative heart failure (35.3% vs. 10.8%, p < 0.0001) among iatrogenic TAAD patients. Five-year mortality was comparable between patients with iatrogenic and spontaneous TAAD (46.2% vs. 39.4%, p = 0.163). (4) Conclusions: Iatrogenic origin of acute TAAD is quite uncommon but carries a significantly increased risk of in-hospital mortality compared to spontaneous TAAD.

Background: Left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) calcification is known to be associated with adverse outcomes after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients receiving first-generation transcatheter heart valves (THV)., Aims: The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of LVOT calcification as well as its impact on outcomes in a contemporary TAVI patient cohort., Methods: This retrospective single-centre analysis includes 1,207 patients who underwent transfemoral TAVI between 2012 and 2018 and in whom adequate contrast-enhanced multislice computed tomgraphy (MSCT) imaging for quantification of LVOT calcification was available., Results: Significant LVOT calcification, defined as >10 mm 3 , was present in 37.4% (n=451) of the patient cohort. After applying propensity score matching there was no difference between patients without (w/o; n=358) and with (w; n=358) significant LVOT calcification with respect to baseline clinical characteristics. At 30 days, the composite of all-cause mortality and non-disabling/disabling stroke occurred more often in patients w LVOT calcification compared to those w/o (4.6 vs 10.1%, p=0.008). Moreover, the composite VARC-3 endpoint of device success at 30 days was in favour of patients w/o LVOT calcification (82.2% vs 73.4%, p=0.007). According to Kaplan-Meier analysis, all-cause mortality one year after TAVI was higher in patients w vs w/o LVOT calcification (12.9 vs 21.4 %, p=0.004)., Conclusions: In patients undergoing TAVI, the presence of significant LVOT calcification is common and associated with worse short-term clinical and functional outcomes as well as higher one-year mortality rates compared to patients w/o LVOT calcification.

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the clinical outcome of the bioprosthetic or native aortic scallop intentional laceration to prevent iatrogenic coronary obstruction (BASILICA) technique in a single-center patient cohort considered at high or prohibitive risk of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)-induced coronary obstruction., Methods: Between October 2019 and January 2021, a total of 15 consecutive patients (age 81.0 [78.1, 84.4] years; 53.3% female; EuroSCORE II 10.6 [6.3, 14.8] %) underwent BASILICA procedure prior to TAVI at our institution. Indications for TAVI were degeneration of stented (n = 12, 80.0%) or stentless (n = 1, 6.7%) bioprosthetic aortic valves, or calcific stenosis of native aortic valves (n = 2, 13.3%), respectively. Individual risk of TAVI-induced coronary obstruction was assessed by pre-procedural computed tomography analysis. Procedural and 30-day outcomes were documented in accordance with Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC)-2 criteria., Results: BASILICA was attempted for single left coronary cusp in 12 patients (80.0%), for single right coronary cusp in 2 patients (13.3%), and for both cusps in 1 patient (6.7%), respectively. The procedure was feasible in 13 patients (86.7%) resulting in effective prevention of coronary obstruction, whilst TAVI was performed without prior successful bioprosthetic leaflet laceration in two patients (13.3%). In one of these patients (6.7%), additional chimney stenting immediately after TAVI was performed. No all-cause deaths or strokes were documented after 30 days., Conclusion: The BASILICA technique appears to be a feasible, safe and effective concept to avoid iatrogenic coronary artery obstruction during TAVI in both native and bioprosthetic valves of patients at high or prohibitive risk. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04227002 (Hamburg AoRtic Valve cOhoRt)., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD) is a life-threatening condition. Surgery is usually performed as a salvage procedure and is associated with significant postoperative early mortality and morbidity. Understanding the patient's conditions and treatment strategies which are associated with these adverse events is essential for an appropriate management of acute TAAD., Methods: Nineteen centers of cardiac surgery from seven European countries have collaborated to create a multicentre observational registry (ERTAAD), which will enroll consecutive patients who underwent surgery for acute TAAD from January 2005 to March 2021. Analysis of the impact of patient's comorbidities, conditions at referral, surgical strategies and perioperative treatment on the early and late adverse events will be performed. The investigators have developed a classification of the urgency of the procedure based on the severity of preoperative hemodynamic conditions and malperfusion secondary to acute TAAD. The primary clinical outcomes will be in-hospital mortality, late mortality and reoperations on the aorta. Secondary outcomes will be stroke, acute kidney injury, surgical site infection, reoperation for bleeding, blood transfusion and length of stay in the intensive care unit., Discussion: The analysis of this multicentre registry will allow conclusive results on the prognostic importance of critical preoperative conditions and the value of different treatment strategies to reduce the risk of early adverse events after surgery for acute TAAD. This registry is expected to provide insights into the long-term durability of different strategies of surgical repair for TAAD., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04831073 .

Objectives: We herein report a single-centre experience with the SAPIEN 3 Ultra balloon-expandable transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) system., Methods: Between March 2019 and January 2020, a total of 79 consecutive patients received transfemoral TAVI using the SAPIEN 3 Ultra device. Data were retrospectively analysed according to updated Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 definitions. Detailed analysis of multislice computed tomography data was conducted to identify potential predictors for permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation and residual paravalvular leakage (PVL) post TAVI., Results: Device success and early safety were 97.5% (77/79) and 94.9% (75/79) with resulting transvalvular peak/mean pressure gradients of 21.1 ± 8.2/10.9 ± 4.4 and PVL >mild in 0/79 patients (0%). Mild PVL was seen in 18.9% (15/79) of cases. Thirty-day mortality was 2.5% (2/79). The Valve Academic Research Consortium-2 adjudicated clinical end points disabling stroke, acute kidney injury and myocardial infarction occurred in 1.3% (1/79), 5.1% (4/79) and 0% (0/79) of patients. Postprocedural PPM implantation was necessary in 7.6% (6/79) of patients. Multislice computed tomography analysis revealed significantly higher calcium amounts of the right coronary cusp in patients in need for postprocedural PPM implantation and a higher eccentricity index in patients with postinterventional mild PVL., Conclusions: First experience with this newly designed balloon-expandable-transcatheter heart valve demonstrates adequate 30-day outcomes and haemodynamic results with low mortality, low rates of PPM implantation and no residual PVL >mild. The herein-presented multislice computed tomography values with an elevated risk for PPM implantation and residual mild PVL may help to further improve outcomes with this particular transcatheter heart valve in TAVI procedures., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Aims: The relevance of spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) and left atrial appendage thrombus (LAAT) in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to assess the prevalence of SEC and LAAT and evaluate the impact on periprocedural outcome after TAVI., Methods and Results: A total of 2,549 consecutive patients underwent TAVI between 2008 and 2017. After exclusion of cases with insufficient imaging, concomitant procedures or severe intraprocedural complications, 1,558 cases were analysed. Three groups were defined according to (pre)thrombotic formations - moderate or severe SEC (n=89), LAAT (n=53), and reference (n=1,416). The primary outcome was disabling ischaemic stroke within 24 hours. The prevalence was 4.4% for LAAT and 5.4% for moderate/severe SEC. The primary outcome occurred more frequently in patients with moderate/severe SEC (6.8%) compared to the reference (2.1%) and LAAT (1.9%) groups (p=0.020). SEC was identified as an independent risk factor for the primary outcome (OR 3.54 [95% CI: 1.30-9.61], p=0.013). LAAT was associated with an impaired unadjusted one-year survival (43.4%) compared to the SEC (27.3%) and reference groups (18.7%, p<0.001)., Conclusions: SEC and LAAT were detected in a relevant number of patients undergoing TAVI. SEC may represent an important risk factor for intraprocedural stroke; increased mortality was observed in patients with LAAT.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the incidence and determinants of major early adverse events in low-risk patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)., Methods: The multicentre E-CABG registry included 7352 consecutive patients who underwent isolated CABG from January 2015 to December 2016. Patients with an European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) II of <2% and without any major comorbidity were the subjects of the present analysis., Results: Out of 2397 low-risk patients, 11 (0.46%) died during the index hospitalization or within 30 days from surgery. Five deaths were cardiac related, 4 of which were secondary to technical failures. We estimated that 8 out of 11 deaths were potentially preventable. Logistic regression model identified porcelain aorta [odds ratio (OR) 34.3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-346.3] and E-CABG bleeding grades 2-3 (OR 30.2, 95% CI 8.3-112.9) as independent predictors of hospital death., Conclusions: Mortality and major complications, although infrequently, do occur even in low-risk patients undergoing CABG. Identification of modifiable causes of postoperative adverse events may be useful to develop preventative strategies to improve the quality of care of patients undergoing cardiac surgery., Clinical Trial Registration: NCT02319083 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02319083)., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To develop a risk score for deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)., Design: Multicenter, prospective study., Setting: Tertiary-care referral hospitals., Participants: The study included 7,352 patients from the European multicenter coronary artery bypass grafting (E-CABG) registry., Intervention: Isolated CABG., Methods: An additive risk score (the E-CABG DSWI score) was estimated from the derivation data set (66.7% of patients), and its performance was assessed in the validation data set (33.3% of patients)., Results: DSWI occurred in 181 (2.5%) patients and increased 1-year mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 4.275; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.804-6.517). Female gender (odds ratio [OR], 1.804; 95% CI, 1.161-2.802), body mass index ≥30 kg/m2 (OR, 1.729; 95% CI, 1.166-2.562), glomerular filtration rate <45 mL/min/1.73 m2 (OR, 2.410; 95% CI, 1.413-4.111), diabetes (OR, 1.741; 95% CI, 1.178-2.573), pulmonary disease (OR, 1.935; 95% CI, 1.178-3.180), atrial fibrillation (OR, 1.854; 95% CI, 1.096-3.138), critical preoperative state (OR, 2.196; 95% CI, 1.209-3.891), and bilateral internal mammary artery grafting (OR, 2.088; 95% CI, 1.422-3.066) were predictors of DSWI (derivation data set). An additive risk score was calculated by assigning 1 point to each of these independent risk factors for DSWI. In the validation data set, the rate of DSWI increased along with the E-CABG DSWI scores (score of 0, 1.0%; score of 1, 1.8%; score of 2, 2.2%; score of 3, 6.9%; score ≥4: 12.1%; P < .0001). Net reclassification improvement, integrated discrimination improvement, and decision curve analysis showed that the E-CABG DSWI score performed better than other risk scores., Conclusions: DSWI is associated with poor outcome after CABG, and its risk can be stratified using the E-CABG DSWI score., Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02319083.

Background: Epiaortic ultrasonography (EAU) is a valid imaging method to detect atherosclerotic changes of the ascending aorta and to guide surgical strategies for the prevention of cerebral embolism in patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). However, its use is not widespread., Methods: The impact of EAU on the outcome after isolated CABG was investigated in patients from the European Multicenter Study on Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (E-CABG) registry. A systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature was performed to substantiate the findings of this observational study., Results: EAU was performed intraoperatively in 673 of 7241 patients (9.3%) from the E-CABG registry. In the overall series, the rates of stroke without and with aortic manipulation were 0.3% and 1.3%, respectively (P = .003). In 660 propensity score-matched pairs, EAU was associated with significantly lower risk of stroke (0.6% vs 2.6%, P = .007). A literature search yielded 5 studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria. These studies, along with the present one, included 11,496 patients, of whom 3026 (25.7%) underwent intraoperative EAU. Their rate of postoperative stroke was significantly lower than in patients not investigated with EAU (pooled rate, 0.6% vs 1.9%; risk ratio, 0.40; 95% confidence interval, 0.24-0.66; I 2  = 0%). On the basis of these pooled rates, the number needed to treat to prevent 1 stroke is 76.9., Conclusions: Avoiding aortic manipulation is associated with the lowest risk of stroke in patients undergoing CABG. When manipulation of the ascending aorta is planned, EAU is effective in guiding the surgical strategy to reduce the risk for embolic stroke in these patients., (Copyright © 2020 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Recent studies suggested that prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) might be more effective than fresh frozen plasma (FFP) to reduce red blood cell (RBC) transfusion requirement after cardiac surgery., Methods: This is a comparative analysis of 416 patients who received FFP postoperatively and 119 patients who received PCC with or without FFP after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)., Results: Mixed-effects regression analyses adjusted for multiple covariates and participating centres showed that PCC significantly decreased RBC transfusion (67.2% vs. 87.5%, adjusted OR 0.319, 95%CI 0.136-0.752) and platelet transfusion requirements (11.8% vs. 45.2%, adjusted OR 0.238, 95%CI 0.097-0.566) compared with FFP. The PCC cohort received a mean of 2.7±3.7 (median, 2.0, IQR 4) units of RBC and the FFP cohort received a mean of 4.9±6.3 (median, 3.0, IQR 4) units of RBC (adjusted coefficient, -1.926, 95%CI -3.357-0.494). The use of PCC increased the risk of KDIGO (Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes) acute kidney injury (41.4% vs. 28.2%, adjusted OR 2.300, 1.203-4.400), but not of KDIGO acute kidney injury stage 3 (6.0% vs. 8.0%, OR 0.850, 95%CI 0.258-2.796) when compared with the FFP cohort., Conclusions: These results suggest that the use of PCC compared with FFP may reduce the need of blood transfusion after CABG., (Copyright © 2018 Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS) and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The perioperative bleeding risk in patients receiving fondaparinux versus low-molecular weight heparin before coronary artery bypass grafting has not been reported. We evaluated perioperative coronary artery bypass grafting-related bleeding in patients with acute coronary syndrome preoperatively treated with fondaparinux or low-molecular weight heparin. All patients with acute coronary syndrome from the prospective, European multicenter registry on coronary artery bypass grafting preoperatively treated with fondaparinux or low-molecular weight heparin undergoing isolated primary CABG were eligible. The primary outcome measure was severe or massive bleeding defined according to the Universal Definition of Perioperative Bleeding stratified by P2Y 12 inhibitor discontinuation. Secondary outcome measures included 3 additional definitions of major bleeding used in cardiac surgery trials. Propensity score matching was performed to adjust for differences in pre- and perioperative covariates. 1,525 patients were included, of whom 276 (18.1%) received fondaparinux and 1,249 (81.9%) low-molecular weight heparin preoperatively. In the propensity score-matched cohort (245 pairs), the risk of major bleeding according to the universal definition of perioperative bleeding severe or massive bleeding (11.8 vs 9.0%, p = 0.285) and the 3 other major bleeding definitions was similar between the fondaparinux and low-molecular weight heparin cohorts. In conclusion, preoperative treatment with fondaparinux compared with low-molecular weight heparin was associated with similar incidence of perioperative bleeding in patients with acute coronary syndrome who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background Multiple percutaneous coronary interventions ( PCIs ) are considered determinant of poor outcome in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting ( CABG ), but scarce data exist to substantiate this. Methods and Results Patients who underwent CABG without history of prior PCI or with PCI performed >30 days before surgery were selected for the present analysis from the prospective, multicenter E-CABG (European Multicenter Study on Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting) registry. Out of 6563 patients with data on preoperative SYNTAX (Synergy between PCI With Taxus and Cardiac Surgery) score, 1181 patients (18.0%) had undergone PCI >30 days before CABG . Of these, 11.6% underwent a single PCI , 4.4% 2 PCI s, and 2.1% ≥3 PCI s. PCI of a single main coronary vessel was performed in 11.3%, of 2 main vessels in 4.9%, and of 3 main vessels in 1.6% of patients. Multivariable analysis showed that differences in early mortality and other outcomes were not significantly different in the study cohorts. The adjusted hospital/30-day mortality rate was 1.8% in patients without history of prior PCI , 1.9% in those with a history of 1 PCI , 1.4% after 2 PCI s, and 2.5% after ≥3 PCI s (adjusted P=0.8). The adjusted hospital/30-day mortality rate was 2.0% in those who had undergone PCI of 1 main coronary vessel, 1.3% after PCI of 2 main vessels, and 3.1% after PCI of 3 main coronary vessels (adjusted P=0.6). Conclusions Multiple prior PCI s are not associated with increased risk of early adverse events in patients undergoing isolated CABG . The present results are conditional to survival after PCI and should not be viewed as a support for a policy of multiple PCI as opposed to earlier CABG . Clinical Trial Registration URL : http://www.Clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT 02319083.