Annals of cardiothoracic surgery最新文献

Donation after circulatory death (DCD) presents both opportunities and challenges in the realm of heart transplantation. Its emergence holds promise for narrowing the gap between patients in need of organs and the available donor pool. The rapid emergence of DCD use has allowed heart transplant volume to increase worldwide. Long-term outcomes and best practices remain to be defined and are important considerations in the wider use of these techniques in a broad selection of patients to understand best use and practice moving forward. Expanding DCD donation entails substantial resource allocation, coordination efforts, and training initiatives. Moving forward, standardization is imperative, particularly in aspects such as "stand-off" time, warm ischemic time (WIT), and perfusate composition.

Background: In the current era of heart transplantation, machine perfusion strategies are emerging as potential additions to the armamentarium of a transplant unit. Donation after circulatory death (DCD) donor hearts assessed through normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) has helped expand the donor pool. Hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) is emerging as an alternative strategy to traditional static cold storage (SCS) when a prolonged ischemic time is anticipated in brain dead (BD) donors, this is important in Australia where long distant procurement is vital. In this study we examine the outcomes in our unit where both forms of machine perfusion (NMP and HMP), as well as SCS is utilized for donor heart preservation, with a particular focus on severe primary graft dysfunction (sPGD) and mortality.

Methods: The year 2021 represents the year when both forms of machine perfusion were available to our unit. Heart transplants in our unit from January 2021 to February 2024 were categorized into three groups for retrospective analysis: (I) DCD-NMP group (n=44); (II) BD-HMP group (n=38), and (III) BD-SCS group (n=78).

Results: There were no significant differences in the mean donor and recipient ages between the three groups. Donor preservation time in the BD-HMP group was significantly longer than the donor ischemic time in the BD-SCS group, and organ care system (OCS) run time in the DCD-NMP group (361±89 vs. 208±47 and 249±49 min respectively, P<0.001). For DCD-NMP, BD-HMP and BD-SCS groups respectively: 30-day survival was: 100%, 97% and 100%; 1-year survival was: 94%, 90% and 94%; 2-year survival was: 90%, 90% and 89% (P=0.9). There was no significant difference in the incidence of sPGD between the three groups (DCD-NMP: 7%, BD-HMP: 5%, and BD-SCS: 5%, P=0.9).

Conclusions: Machine perfusion strategies represent important additions to the modern transplant unit and can expand the donor pool. Results are encouraging with no differences in 2-year survival or incidence of sPGD across the preservation modalities: DCD-NMP, BD-HMP, and BD-SCS.

Background: Heart and lung transplantation remain efficacious treatments for patients with end-stage cardiopulmonary failure. However, donor shortages remain a challenge to both providers and patients. Thoracoabdominal normothermic regional perfusion (TA-NRP) has been increasingly adopted to decrease organ ischemia from circulatory death donors and therefore increase the number of organs available for transplantation. Despite initial success, data on program genesis and implementation are limited. The aim of this manuscript is to characterize essential human resources, lessons, and key considerations needed to improve TA-NRP dissemination and thus adoption.

Methods: Single-center evaluation of a TA-NRP program was conducted using a retrospective cohort study design. All procurements performed using TA-NRP were included. Quantitative data were summarized. Descriptive elements of programmatic genesis, implementation, and experience were summarized using an inductive reasoning approach.

Results: Thirty TA-NRP procurements were performed. The average time from incision to TA-NRP initiation was 7±2 minutes and total time on TA-NRP was 87±28 minutes. In simple regression analysis, the average total TA-NRP time was noted to increase by approximately 0.86 minutes per procurement [95% confidence interval (CI): -0.10, 1.82, P=0.08], while the average warm ischemia time was noted to decrease by approximately 0.03 minutes per procurement (95% CI: -0.13, 0.07, P=0.43). Key programmatic elements during planning and implementation were identification of key stakeholders, early communication, proactive navigation of ethical concerns, staffing and equipment needs, and development of TA-NRP algorithms for pre, intra- and post-donation phases of care.

Conclusions: Development of a TA-NRP program is both feasible and easily implemented at institutions with pre-existing organ donation after circulatory death (DCD) procurement experience. Early identification of key stakeholders with frequent communication identified areas in need of expanded resources and addressed early ethical concerns, while local implementation efforts supported operationalization of existing infrastructure for TA-NRP procurements.

The introduction of robotic surgical devices nearly two decades ago led to a significant reduction in the invasiveness of cardiac procedures. The further worldwide implementation of robotic surgical devices in cardiac surgery, especially coronary artery bypass grafting and mitral valve repair or replacement, has, however, been stalled by numerous challenges. First, there is the high complexity of the procedures that involve a significant learning curve; second, there is the significant cost of robotic surgical devices. Furthermore, significant changes in the medical device regulation have occurred in recent years, hindering further technological development and the emergence of new players on the market. Finally, clinical evidence regarding the benefits of robotic-cardiac procedures remains scarce at this time. We invited all players active in or planning to throw themselves into robotic-assisted cardiac surgery to discuss these challenges in a semi-structured interview. Two promising and ambitious companies showed interest in participating in this project: Medicaroid and SS Innovations. The main conclusions from the interview are that both companies aim (I) to launch an affordable alternative compared to the current robotic surgical devices, (II) to further develop their robotic devices based on the opinion of physicians, and (III) to engage in overcoming the steep learning curve correlated with robotic-assisted cardiac procedures.

Background: Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) has significantly reduced the morbidity and mortality of patients suffering from ischemic heart disease over its six decades of practice. In recent years, minimally invasive techniques have been increasingly described and utilized, with the promise of providing patients with the same standard of care without the need for the traditional full sternotomy, and in select cases without cardiopulmonary bypass, and thus providing improved recovery metrics. The present systematic review and meta-analysis sought to determine the outcomes of all patients receiving robotic-assisted CABG in an Atlantic patient demographic.

Methods: The methods for this systematic review and meta-analysis adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement. Four databases were searched, using appropriate search terminology. Meta-analysis using proportions or means, as appropriate, were applied, and were presented as per routine practice. Kaplan-Meier curves were digitized and aggregated using previously reported, validated techniques. Quality assessment and risk of bias of each study were assessed systematically. Patient populations were subcategorized as per established technical definitions.

Results: Thirty-five studies were identified through the literature search, with three studies having subgroupings appropriate for separate analysis (yielding 42 data points maximally). A total of 9,078 patients (69% male), with a mean age of 62.3 years, were identified across the study period. On actuarial assessment, survival at yearly assessment from 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-yearly intervals was determined to be 95%, 94%, 92%, 90%, and 88%, respectively.

Conclusions: The present systematic review and meta-analysis demonstrated that short-term mortality, operative time, and admission [intensive care unit (ICU) and overall length of stay] outcomes were encouraging in the Atlantic demographic. Freedom from long-term mortality assessment of a smaller cohort showed encouraging results. A major caveat to the present analysis is the high degree of heterogeneity in the reporting of data. Analysis of future randomized controlled trials will be vital in establishing these procedures as commonplace.