Atrial fibrillation (AF) is difficult to cure for its complex etiology and long disease duration. Heart failure, sudden death and stroke are the main causes for consequent high mortality and morbidity. In recent years, minimally invasive surgery has made rapid progress, not only improved treatment efficiency of traditional Cox Maze procedure but also massively reduced surgical injuries, and has become a preferred treatment strategy for lone AF. Minimally invasive surgery and catheter ablation complement each other, and are likely to open up a new prospect of AF treatment.
Pulmonary hypertension due to left heart disease (PH-LHD) is the most common in various types of pulmonary hypertension. Although there are many treatments for pulmonary hypertension, it may be harmful when we adopt treatment without detrimental diagnosis and classification of pulmonary hypertension. Therefore, it is very crucial to have accurate diagnosis and classification of pulmonary hypertension before making treatment decisions. However, there are still some difficulties in the classification of pulmonary hypertension in clinical work. It is a great challenge with limited treatment to solve the PH-LHD which often has complicated pathophysiological mechanisms of precapillary and postcapillary pulmonary hypertension. Here, we review the research status of PH-LHD.
Surgical aortic valve replacement is the primary choice for the treatment of aortic valve stenosis. It can significantly improve the quality of life and life expectancy of patients, but some patients have risks such as advanced age and poor general conditions and can not receive open chest surgery. In 2002, a French doctor, Cribier, successfully performed transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) surgery on a patient with aortic stenosis. At present, the safety and effectiveness of TAVI surgery have been confirmed by many studies. However, its complications are also relatively common. This article summarizes the related reports at home and abroad.
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for severe aortic stenosis is growing rapidly. The use of new heart valves prosthesis has improved surgical safety and efficacy. This report described a 72-year-old male patient with severe aortic stenosis combined with severe aortic regurgitation, who was evaluated at moderate-high risk of surgery and received a transapical TAVR using the Ken-Valve heart valve. The transcatheter operation time was 8 min, and the blood loss was 50 mL. The tracheal intubation was removed immediately after the surgery. Transesophageal echocardiography on the 4th postoperative day showed that the aortic valve leaflets worked well, and there was no valve orifice and paravalvular leakage. The patient was discharged on the 5th day after the surgery without complications. Transapical TAVR using Ken-Valve was an easy surgical procedure for aortic valve disease, and had short operation time.
The technique of transcatheter aortic valve implantation has become increasingly mature. Although the transapical approach has a certain degree of minimally invasive trauma, it still has the characteristics such as heart beating without cardiopulmonary bypass, and the low technical requirements of catheter guide wire. In particular, the valve path is short and coaxial, which is easy to manipulate, and pure regurgitation and stenosis can be easily operated and are not subject to the limit of peripheral artery stenosis. It is still one of China's main approaches for transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Its perioperative management still has specific features and differs from the femoral artery approach. In addition, there is little relevant literature abroad. Therefore, domestic experts in this field were organized to discuss the development of perioperative management specifications to provide reference and techniques support for developing this field in China and further improve the quality of clinical operation and perioperative management. It will provide more safe and more effective medical services to these patients.
Objective To modify the method for aortic end strengthening in acute type A aortic dissection operation, and investigate its clinical efficacy. Methods We modified the method for aortic end strengthening in acute aortic dissection operation based on ‘Sandwich method’ in the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery of West China Hospital. From January 2006 to December 2008, twentyeight patients with acute type A aortic dissection underwent modified aortic end strengthening operation. We made adventitia turn over and enfold to strengthen the aortic end in 10 cases, and placed stripshaped felt or pericardium belts between dissection (between adventitia and intima)and inner intima and strengthened the aortic end by suture in 18 cases. The hemorrhage of anastomotic stoma and the postoperative early prognosis were observed. Results No bleeding complication was found in all the cases. Two cases died, one died of severe low cardiac output syndrome and another died of multiple organ failure. No nervous system complication was found except that 2 cases had delayed revival. No sternum and surgical incision related complication was found. The rest 26 cases were cured and discharged. Conclusion The modified method for aortic end strengthening can not only strengthen the aortic end but also make people be able to find the petechia of anastomotic stoma clearly, then stitch hemostasia could be done effectively. The method is easy to implement and effective, it should be extend in clinic.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the early and mid-term outcomes of total thoracoscopic Box Lesion radiofrequency ablation in patients with atrial fibrillation.MethodsThe clinical data of 31 patients with atrial fibrillation who underwent total thoracoscopic Box Lesion radiofrequency ablation between November 2011 and March 2018 at the Department of Cardiac Surgery in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed, including 23 males and 8 females at an average age of 66.17±8.32 years. All patients did not have concomitant severe organic heart disease which required surgical intervention.ResultsThere were 20 patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, 8 with persistent atrial fibrillation, and 3 with long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation. Twenty-nine patients got the 3-year follow-up, and 2 patients were lost to the follow-up 6 months after the surgery. The procedure was successfully performed in all patients, with an average operation time of 113.00±26.00 min. There was no perioperative death or related complication. All patients were restored to sinus rhythm immediately after surgery. Five patients got atrial fibrillation during postoperative hospitalization, which reverted to sinus rhythm after electrical cardioversion. The rate of sinus rhythm maintenance was 62.9%, 55.9% and 52.4% in postoperative 1, 2 and 3 years, respectively. No patient died during the period, and no procedure-related complication was observed.ConclusionTotal thoracoscopic Box Lesion radiofrequency ablation effectively shortens operation time, and reduces surgical trauma and procedure-related complications, meanwhile, ensures the surgical outcomes.