Objective To investigate clinical diagnosis，timing of surgery and perioperative therapeutic strategies for blood culture-negative infective endocarditis （IE）. Methods Clinical data of 240 IE patients who were admitted tWuhan Asia Heart Hospital between July 2008 and July 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. According to their blood cultureresults，all the patients were divided into blood culture-negative group and blood culture-positive group. In the blood culture-negative group，there were 158 patients including 88 male and 70 female patients with their age of 51.3±10.1 years. In the blood culture-positive group，there were 82 patients including 45 male and 37 female patients with their age of 48.9±9.8 years. All the patients underwent surgical treatment，and the surgical procedures included complete vegetations excision，debridement of infected valves，removal of necrotic tissue around the annulus，and concomitant heart valve replacement or intracardiac repair. Postoperatively，all the patients received routine monitoring in ICU，cardiac glycosides，diuretics，other symptomatic treatment and adequate dosages of antibiotics for 4-6 weeks. Results Four patients died postoperatively in this study including 1 patient for low cardiac output syndrome and 3 patients for multiple organ dysfunction syndrome，1 patient in the blood culture-positive group and 3 patients in the blood culture-negative group respectively. There was no statistical difference in surgical mortality between the 2 groups （χ2=0.15，P=0.70）. All the other patients were discharged successfully and followed up for 6 to 36 months with the median follow-up time of 22 months. During follow-up, 2 patients died including 1 patient for cerebral infarction 2 years after surgery and another patient for cerebral hemorrhage 3 yearsafter surgery. Conclusion Patients with blood culture-negative IE should receive adequate dosage and duration of broad-spectrum antibiotics to control the infection rapidly, and aggressive surgical therapy to decrease in-hospital mortality and improve their quality of life and prognosis.
ObjectiveTo investigate and evaluate the safety and efficacy of Bentall operation in the reoperation of patients with small aortic root or annulus.MethodsBentall procedure was performed in 24 patients with small aortic root or annulus in our hospital from September 2014 to December 2019. There were 18 males and 6 females with a mean age of 31-68 (45.70±15.27) years. All patients had undergone a previous replacement of the aortic valve including 20 patients receiving valve replacement, 2 patients aortic root replacement with a valved conduit and 2 patients bioprothesis replacement.ResultsThere was no early death in hospital and one death during the 30-day postoperative period. Re-thoracotomy due to bleeding was necessary in only 2 patients and no bleeding was related to the proximal anastomosis of the conduit. One patient performed pacemaker implantation for heart block after the procedure. The mean sizes of implanted aortic valve prosthesis were 22.75±1.78 mm. A mean gradient across the aortic valve prostheses in the postoperative echocardiographic examination was 11.17±2.24 mm Hg.ConclusionBentall procedure is safe and allows a larger size of prosthesis implantation in patients with small aortic annulus or root after previous aortic valve or complete root replacement, resulting in good postoperative hemodynamic characteristics and short-term clinical results.
Objective To explore the impact of ischemic postconditioning on ischemia-reperfusion injury in isolatedelderly rat hearts and their relation with P-Akt. Methods A total of 30 healthy elderly SD rats (21-23 months old， male or female) with their body weight of 450-500 g were divided into 3 groups: control group， ischemia-reperfusion group， and postconditioning group， with 10 rats in each group. Coronary artery blood flow，myocardial infarction size， phosphorylatedAkt （p-Akt） expression， and changes in myocardium and mitochondria were detected. Results Coronary artery blood flow of the postconditioning group was significantly higher than that of the ischemia-reperfusion group （6.4±1.2 ml/min vs.3.1±1.2 ml/min， P＜0. 01）， and myocardial infarction size of the postconditioning group was significantly smaller thanthat of the ischemia-reperfusion group （35.0%±2.0% vs. 55.7%±3.6%， Plt;0. 05）. The expression of P-Akt was significantlyhigher， and myocardial fibers and mitochondria were preserved better in the postconditioning group than the ischemia-reperfusion group. Conclusion Ischemic postconditioning can protect isolated elderly rat hearts against ischemia-reperfusion injury， which may be related to P-Akt activation.
ObjectiveTo assess clinical results of aortic cusps replacement with bovine pericardium for bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and severe aortic regurgitation (AR). MethodsClinical data of 79 patients with BAV and severe AR who underwent aortic cusps replacement with bovine pericardium in Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital from June 2008 to December 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 60 male and 19 female patients with their age of 38±14 years (ranged 12-78 years). All the patients were in NYHA class Ⅱ. There were 26 patients with ascending aorta and sinotubular expanding. ResultsNo early death or major complication was recorded. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography showed successful repair with normal coaptation of the aortic leaflets in all the patients. AR grade was less than mild in all the patients with peak aortic valve pressure gradients of 14.2±2.8 mm Hg. All the patients were discharged from the hospital within 15 postoperative days without any adverse symptom, and were followed up for 50±16 months (ranged 9-64 months). During follow-up, all the patients were in NYHA classⅠ. There were 57 patients without AR, 16 patients with mild AR, 5 patients with moderate AR and 1 patients with severe AR. The peak of aortic valve pressure gradient was 12.4±3.2 mm Hg. The average diameter of ascending aorta was 2.7 cm in the patients with ascending aorta and sinotubular expanding. The shape of sinotubular kept normal. The height of coaptation of aortic valve was 0.58 cm by echocadiography. None of the patients died or required reoperation. The structural valve degeneration was not observed during the follow-up. ConclusionThree aortic cusps replacement with bovine pericardium can produce good hemodynamics and midterm results for patients with BAV and severe AR. The ascending aorta and sinotubular should be reduced and fixed in the patients with ascending aorta and sinotubular expanding.
ObjectiveTo analyze the surgical procedures and clinical effects of surgical treatment for patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of sixty-five consecutive patients with HOCM who underwent modified Morrow procedure in Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital between June 2010 and December 2013. There were 40 males and 25 females with mean age of 48.4±11.5 years (ranged 18-70 years). ResultsThere was no in-hospital mortality. There was no valve injury or ventricular septal perforation occurred during operation. Postoperative LVOT gradient, interventricular septum (IVS), left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and mitral regurgitation (MR) were significantly lower than preoperative values (P<0.05). Complete atrioventricular block occurred in 3 patients, complete left bundle branch block occurred in 7 patients, and left anterior division block occurred in 3 patients. All patients were followed up for 6-35 months. During the following-up time, the clinical symptoms diminished in 55 patients and ameliorated significantly in other 10 patients. All patients had a NewYork Heart Association functional class Ⅰ/Ⅱ during the follow-up. ConclusionSurgical septal myectomy can eliminate obstruction of left ventricular outflow tract and relief symptoms obviously. The early and mid-term outcomes are satisfactory.
Objective To study the clinical results and operative methods of mitral valvoplasty in patients of congenital heart disease with mitral insufficiency. Methods One hundred and twelve patients of congenital heart disease with mitral insufficiency had been treated with valve repair procedure. The surgery was performed under extracorporeal circulation and moderate hypothermia. Most of the patients were diagnosed atrioventricular septal defects (29 cases), ventricular septal defect (25 cases), patent ductus arteriosus (14 cases), and atrial septal defect (14 cases) before operation. The main pathologic characters of mitral valve were mitral valve annular dilatation (58 cases), leaflet lesions (37cases), anterior and posterior leaflet prolapse (36 cases). The surgery consisted of complex methods to repair mitral valves, including rings annuloplasty (22 cases), closure of the commissure (18 cases), double-orifice method (14 cases), chords reimplantation and so on. Results Seventy two patientshad 0 to I class mitral valve regurgitation and 26 patients had Ⅱ class mitral valve regurgitation during the retrial period by echocardiography, only one case needed re-operation. The patients with left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDD) more than 45mm had a reduction of left atrial diameter (from 45.8±10.7mm to 34.4±8.9mm, t=6.53, 7.89,(Plt;)0.001) and left ventricular diameter (from 58.6±10.9 mm to 44.3±8.5 mm, t=7.89, Plt;0.001) after operation. Conclusions Surgical operation on mitral valve regurgitation of congenital heart defect is a benefit and a compound method and transesophageal echocardiography may help the surgeon in estimating the surgical efficacy during operation.