Sherrah AG, Vallely MP
Heart Lung Circ 2014 Oct;23(10):e231-2
PMID: 24929296
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for very high-risk transcatheter aortic valve implantation
Seco M, Forrest P, Jackson SA, Martinez G, Andvik S, Bannon PG, Ng M, Fraser JF, Wilson MK, Vallely MP
Heart Lung Circ 2014 Oct;23(10):957-62
PMID: 24954708
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) can cause profound haemodynamic perturbation in the peri-operative period. Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be used to provide cardiorespiratory support during this time, either prophylactically or emergently.
METHOD: 100 TAVI procedures were performed between 2009 and 2013 in our institution. ECMO was used in 11 patients, including eight prophylactic and three rescue cases. Rescue ECMO was required for ventricular fibrillation after valvuloplasty, and aortic annulus rupture. The criteria for prophylactic ECMO included heart failure requiring stabilisation pre-TAVI, haemodynamic instability with balloon aortic valvuloplasty performed to improve heart function pre-TAVI, moderate or severe left and/or right ventricular failure, or borderline haemodynamics at procedure. Differences in preoperative characteristics and postoperative outcomes between ECMO and non-ECMO TAVI patients were compared, and significant results were further assessed controlling for EuroSCORE.
RESULTS: Compared to TAVI patients who did not require ECMO, ECMO patients had significantly higher mean EuroSCORE (51 vs. 30%, p.05). ECMO patients were more likely to develop acute renal failure than non-ECMO patients (36 vs. 8%, p<.05), which was most likely due to haemodynamic collapse and end-organ dysfunction in patients that required ECMO rescue.
CONCLUSIONS: Instituting prophylactic ECMO in selected very high-risk patients may help avoid consequences of intra-operative complications and the need for emergent rescue ECMO.
Geriatric cardiac surgery: chronology vs. biology
Seco M, Edelman JJ, Forrest P, Ng M, Wilson MK, Fraser J, Bannon PG, Vallely MP
Heart Lung Circ 2014 Sep;23(9):794-801
PMID: 24851829
Abstract
Cardiac surgery is increasingly performed in elderly patients, and whilst the incidence of common risk factors associated with poorer outcome increases with age, recent studies suggest that outcomes in this population may be better than is widely appreciated. As such, in this review we have examined the current evidence for common cardiac surgical procedures in patients aged over 70 years. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in the elderly has similar early safety to percutaneous intervention, though repeat revascularisation is lower. Totally avoiding instrumentation of the ascending aorta with off-pump techniques may also reduce the incidence of neurological injury. Aortic valve replacement (AVR) significantly improves quality of life and provides excellent short- and long-term outcomes. Combined AVR and CABG carries higher risk but late survival is still excellent. Mini-sternotomy AVR in the elderly can provide comparable survival to full-sternotomy AVR. More accurate risk stratification systems are needed to appropriately select patients for transcatheter aortic valve implantation. Mitral valve repair is superior to replacement in the elderly, although choosing the most effective method is important for achieving maximal quality of life. Minimally-invasive mitral valve surgery in the elderly has similar postoperative outcomes to sternotomy-based surgery, but reduces hospital length of stay and return to activity. In operative candidates, surgical repair is superior to percutaneous repair. Current evidence indicates that advanced age alone is not a predictor of mortality or morbidity in cardiac surgery. Thus surgery should not be overlooked or denied to the elderly solely on the basis of their “chronological age”, without considering the patient’s true “biological age”.
Transapical aortic valve implantation – an Australian experience
Seco M, Martinez G, Bannon PG, Cartwright BL, Adams M, Ng M, Wilson MK, Vallely MP
Heart Lung Circ 2014 May;23(5):462-8
PMID: 24315653
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to report our initial experience with the transapical approach to transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) at an Australian institution.
METHODS: All patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis were assessed by our multidisciplinary team. A total of 32 patients received a transapical TAVI using an Edwards SAPIEN prosthesis. Data were prospectively collected and analysed according to the Valve Academic Research Consortium version 2 guidelines.
RESULTS: Intraoperative outcomes included: 100% device success with no conversion to surgical valve replacement, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was used electively in 15.6% and emergently in 6.3%, and no valve migration or malpositioning requiring prosthesis retrieval and re-implantation. Outcomes at 30 days post-TAVI included: No mortality, 3.1% myocardial infarction, no disabling stroke, 3.1% non-disabling stroke, no transient ischaemic attacks, 6.3% life-threatening bleeding, 15.6% major bleeding, 3.1% major vascular complications, and 12.5% postoperative acute kidney injury requiring renal replacement therapy. Mild paravalvular regurgitation was present in 29%, and there was no moderate or severe regurgitation. Mean follow-up time was 28.8±12.9 months. Cumulative results included: 9.4% mortality, 6.3% stroke, 6.3% myocardial infarction, and no repeat procedures. At one year postoperation, echocardiography demonstrated that the mean pressure across the prosthesis was 10.1±1.7mmHg, and the mean aortic valve area was 1.4±0.2cm(2).
CONCLUSION: Good short-term outcomes and low or zero mortality are achievable with transapical TAVI at an Australian institution.
The silent and apparent neurological injury in transcatheter aortic valve implantation study (SANITY): concept, design and rationale
Fanning JP, Wesley AJ, Platts DG, Walters DL, Eeles EM, Seco M, Tronstad O, Strugnell W, Barnett AG, Clarke AJ, Bellapart J, Vallely MP, Tesar PJ, Fraser JF
BMC Cardiovasc Disord 2014;14:45
PMID: 24708720
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The incidence of clinically apparent stroke in transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) exceeds that of any other procedure performed by interventional cardiologists and, in the index admission, occurs more than twice as frequently with TAVI than with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). However, this represents only a small component of the vast burden of neurological injury that occurs during TAVI, with recent evidence suggesting that many strokes are clinically silent or only subtly apparent. Additionally, insult may manifest as slight neurocognitive dysfunction rather than overt neurological deficits. Characterisation of the incidence and underlying aetiology of these neurological events may lead to identification of currently unrecognised neuroprotective strategies.
METHODS: The Silent and Apparent Neurological Injury in TAVI (SANITY) Study is a prospective, multicentre, observational study comparing the incidence of neurological injury after TAVI versus SAVR. It introduces an intensive, standardised, formal neurologic and neurocognitive disease assessment for all aortic valve recipients, regardless of intervention (SAVR, TAVI), valve-type (bioprosthetic, Edwards SAPIEN-XT) or access route (sternotomy, transfemoral, transapical or transaortic). Comprehensive monitoring of neurological insult will also be recorded to more fully define and compare the neurological burden of the procedures and identify targets for harm minimisation strategies.
DISCUSSION: The SANITY study undertakes the most rigorous assessment of neurological injury reported in the literature to date. It attempts to accurately characterise the insult and sustained injury associated with both TAVI and SAVR in an attempt to advance understanding of this complication and associations thus allowing for improved patient selection and procedural modification.
