A best evidence topic in cardiothoracic surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was 'Does surgical debulking for advanced stages of thymoma improve survival?' Altogether, only 17 papers were found using the reported search, of which only 10 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers are tabulated; these studies have mainly reported the survival and recurrence rates after total vs subtotal resection of thymic tumours in patients receiving or not receiving adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. These studies confirmed that complete resection is the best prognostic factor in thymomas. With regard to subtotal tumour resection/debulking, we did not find any randomized controlled trials. The evidence on this topic is scarce and these 10 reported were retrospective reviews of the operative, histology and survival data of patients with thymoma who had subtotal vs partial resection for advanced stages of thymoma. Although debulking surgery for thymoma had positively affected survival, in six studies, the difference failed to reach statistical significance. Three of the studies, on the other hand, showed a higher survival rate in thymomas in which maximum debulking was performed and the treatment was followed by high-dose irradiation. None of these studies showed any benefit in debulking surgery for thymic carcinoma. Besides histology and tumour cell-type, other factors influencing survival included the tumour stage and the presence of symptoms such as myasthenia gravis as a warning sign at an early stage. Current evidence in the literature on the survival after debulking surgery for thymoma is contradictory, and most of the studies do not show any survival benefit after debulking for thymoma. However, debulking surgery minimizes the tumour size and area for irradiation postoperatively, hence it can result in less damage to the adjacent tissue during radiotherapy and may be considered for patients in advanced stages of thymoma in whom extensive radiotherapy will be required. In these cases, however, the risks of surgery followed by radiotherapy or radiotherapy alone should carefully be assessed prior to the initiation of treatment.
Management of acute Stanford type A aortic dissection remains a major surgical challenge. Directly cannulating the ascending aorta provides a rapid establishment of cardiopulmonary bypass but consists of risks such as complete rupture of the aorta, false lumen cannulation, subsequent malperfusion and propagation of the dissection.We describe a technique of cannulating the ascending aorta in patients with acute aortic dissection that can be performed rapidly in hemodynamically unstable patients under ultrasound-epiaortic and transesophageal (TEE) guidance.
Objectives: Coronary artery revascularization with cardiopulmonary bypass (ONCAB) has been reported to carry several risks for patients with poor left ventricular (LV) function (ejection fraction <30%). Off-pump CABG (OPCAB) has been proposed to result in a better outcome, but mid- and long-term survival rates have never been compared. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of cardiopulmonary bypass on this group of patients. Methods: In a 10-year period, a total of 934 patients with poor LV function undergoing isolated first-time coronary artery bypass graft were studied. They were divided into two groups, the ONCAB group, with 528 patients, and the OPCAB group with 406 patients. The EuroSCORE was significantly higher in the OPCAB group (P=0.049). After adjusting for the preoperative characteristics, postoperative complications, in-hospital mortality, mid-term survival rate (five years), and long-term survival rate (10 years) were compared. Results: The average number of grafts was 3.7 in the ONCAB group and 3.1 in the OPCAB group (P<0.001). Postoperative complications of ONCAB and OPCAB groups such as; atrial fibrillation (29.6% vs. 28.6%), renal failure (9.3% vs. 9.6%), stroke (2.3% vs. 0.7%), and perioperative myocardial infarction (MI) (3.8% vs. 2.0%), were comparable between groups. Length of intensive care unit stay, hospital stay and ventilation time were considerably shorter in the OPCAB group (P<0.05). The incidence of wound infection was also lower in the OPCAB patients (P<0.05). After adjusting for the preoperative characteristics the incidence of most postoperative complications remained the same between the two groups, except for MI, which was lower in the OPCABs (P<0.04). Despite a lower number of proximal anastomoses in the OPCAB patients, the rate of stroke remained the same between the OPCAB and ONCAB patients (0.09% vs. 1.6%). In-hospital mortality was higher in ONCAB compared to OPCAB (7.8% vs. 5.7%), but this difference did not reach statistical significance (P=0.21). Likewise, mid-term and long-term survival rates were similar even with matched preoperative characteristics. However, re-intervention rate was found to be higher in the OPCABs (P<0.001). Conclusions: Despite the reported benefits of OPCAB, there was no significant influence on the in-hospital mortality, mid-term survival or long-term survival in patients with LV dysfunction. With adequate myocardial protection in ONCAB and complete revascularization in OPCAB, similar results are achievable.
Traditional outcome measures such as long-term mortality may be of less value than symptomatic improvement in elderly patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). In this systematic review, we analyse health-related quality of life (HRQOL) as a marker of outcome after CABG. We aimed to assess the role of HRQOL tools in making recommendations for elderly patients undergoing surgery, where symptomatic and quality-of-life improvement may often be the key indications for intervention. Twenty-three studies, encompassing 4793 patients were included. Overall, elderly patients underwent CABG at reasonably low risk. Our findings, therefore, support the conclusion that performing CABG in the elderly may be associated with significant improvements in HRQOL. In order to overcome previous methodological limitations, future work must clearly define and stringently follow-up this elderly population, to develop a more robust, sensitive and specialty-specific HRQOL tool.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) following cardiac surgery is common and can complicate postoperative recovery. Amiodarone is a drug frequently used for cardioversion. Some clinicians advocate only in-hospital use of amiodarone until cardioversion, whereas others continue its use for several weeks following cardiac surgery. Inadvertent long-term administration of the drug could be harmful. This study assessed the risk of AF recurrence under 2 different regimens of amiodarone treatment.From January 2005 to July 2007, we reviewed 296 patients who developed postoperative AF. Group A consisted of 198 patients who were discharged on amiodarone treatment, and group B consisted of 98 patients who were discharged without amiodarone treatment. The patients were followed for 8 weeks after cardiac surgery and were observed for the development of symptoms such as palpitations, transient ischemic attack (TIA), stroke, and recurrence of or readmission for AF. In addition, we evaluated a control group of 145 patients with similar characteristics and no postoperative AF for the incidence of stroke and AF and compared the results with their rates in the study groups.Patients discharged on amiodarone therapy were more likely to experience episodes of palpitations than those not on amiodarone (13% versus 10%); however, the rates of AF recurrence were almost the same for the 2 groups (8% and 9%, respectively). The 2 groups also showed no difference in the incidence of TIA and stroke (5% versus 4%). A low incidence of stroke and AF (1%-2%) was observed in patients with no perioperative AF.Long-term treatment of patients with amiodarone should be reconsidered, because it may not be as effective as previously thought in preventing symptoms and AF recurrence. The surprising incidence of neurologic events requires further investigation.
Spinal cord ischaemia remains a major problem after surgery of the thoracic aorta. Early detection and avoidance of systemic hypotension can prevent permanent neurological damage. We report a rare case that developed a temporary paraplegia postoperatively, associated with the use of helmet continuous positive airway pressure.
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