The antegrade reperfusion test avoids the risk of mitral regurgitation recurrence optimizing valve repair.

Saline injection into the left ventricle trough mitral valve (saline test) is the most commonly used intraoperative assessment method in mitral valve repair. However, potential discrepancies between the saline test findings and intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography results after the weaning of cardiopulmonary by-pass, remain significant. Here, we describe a new antegrade reperfusion test, reproducing intraoperatively, the physiologic conditions of loaded and beating heart for direct transatrial evaluation of valve tightness.

Valvular surgery in donor hearts before orthotopic heart transplantation.

Background: Donor heart shortage has extended the waiting time and increased the mortality of patients on the transplant waiting list. Widening old standard donor criteria has successfully increased the number of heart transplantations, but for many years, a valve disease in a donor heart has been considered a primary contraindication for organ donation.

Aims: To analyse the results of aortic and mitral valvular surgery in marginal donor hearts with valvulopathy before orthotopic heart transplantation.

Combined transcarotid transcatheter aortic valve implantation and endarterectomy of the ipsilateral internal carotid artery.

The transcarotid pathway remains a safe route for transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) when more traditional approaches are contraindicated. We report a series of three patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) and symptomatic significant stenosis of the ipsilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) in patients with high operative risk. All patients were treated successfully within the same setting in our center by endarterectomy first followed by a TAVI with an uneventful postoperative course without new neurological deficits (Modine et al.