A 20-year experience in cardiac tumors: a single center surgical experience and a review of literature.

Introduction: Cardiac tumors are rare and heterogeneous entities which still remain a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. The treatment for most cardiac tumors is prompt surgical resection. We sought to provide an overview of surgical results from a series of consecutive patients treated at our tertiary care center during almost a 20-year experience.

Surgical management and outcomes in patients with acute type A aortic dissection and cerebral malperfusion.

Objective: The study objective was to evaluate the surgical results in patients with acute type A aortic dissection and cerebral malperfusion.

Methods: From 2000 to 2019, 234 patients with type A aortic dissection and cerebral malperfusion were stratified into 3 groups: 50 (21%) with syncope (group 1), 152 (65%) with persistent loss of focal neurological function (group 2), and 32 (14%) with coma (group 3). Results were evaluated and compared by univariable and multivariable analyses.

Gender-related presentation, surgical treatment, outcome and failure to rescue after surgery for type A aortic dissection: results from a multicentre registry.

Objectives: Reports on gender-related differences in perioperative characteristics and the outcome after surgery for type A acute aortic dissection are contradictory.

Methods: Perioperative characteristics, outcome and overall or itemized failure-to-rescue rates were collected retrospectively and dichotomized by gender in patients operated on at 5 referral institutions. A propensity score matched analysis was performed to compared males and females with similar preoperative risk profiles.

A case of primary cardiac sarcoma with an acute presentation: The role of multimodality imaging.

The case highlights the value of contrast echocardiography in raising clinical suspicion of malignancy, allowing a diagnostic work-up and the treatment of the primitive heart tumors.

Cardiac surgery practice during the COVID-19 outbreak: a multicentre national survey.

Objectives: Healthcare systems worldwide have been overburdened by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Accordingly, hospitals had to implement strategies to profoundly reshape both non-COVID-19 medical care and surgical activities. Knowledge about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cardiac surgery practice is pivotal.

Bacterial colonization of explanted non-endocarditis cardiac valves: evidence and characterization of the valvular microbiome.

Bacterial colonization has been already demonstrated in heart valve tissues of patients without cardiovascular infections. However, the evidence of a valvular microbiome is still scarce. The next-generation sequencing method was carried out on 34 specimens of aortic (n = 20) and mitral valves (n = 14) explanted from 34 patients having neither evidence nor history of infectious diseases, particularly infective endocarditis.

Isolated left atrial cryoablation of atrial fibrillation in conventional mitral valve surgery.

Background: Recent trends of surgery for atrial fibrillation (AF) are towards more safe and effective energy sources, as well as to simplified sets of atrial lesions.

Methods: One hundred eighteen (mean age, 67.4 ± 9.

Risk stratification tool for all surgical site infections after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Objective: To develop a risk score for surgical site infections (SSIs) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Design: Retrospective study.

Setting: University hospital.

Impact of a natural versus commercial enteral-feeding on the occurrence of diarrhea in critically ill cardiac surgery patients. A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Diarrhea is an important complication in critically ill patients undergoing enteral feeding. The occurrence of diarrhea may lead to systemic and local complications and negatively impacts on nursing workload and patient's wellbeing. An enteral feeding based on blenderized natural food could be beneficial in reducing the risk of diarrhea.

Preoperative risk stratification of deep sternal wound infection after coronary surgery.

Objective: To develop a risk score for deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Design: Multicenter, prospective study.

Setting: Tertiary-care referral hospitals.

Validation and Performance Comparison of Two Scoring Systems Created Specifically to Predict the Risk of Deep Sternal Wound Infection after Bilateral Internal Thoracic Artery Grafting.

The Gatti and the bilateral internal mammary artery (BIMA) scores were created to predict the risk of deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) after bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) grafting. Both scores were evaluated retrospectively in two consecutive series of patients undergoing isolated multi-vessel coronary surgical procedures-i.e.

Bilateral Internal Thoracic Artery Grafting Concomitant With Other Cardiac Operations - Insights From a European Multicenter Retrospective Study on 1,123 Consecutive Patients.

Background: The use of bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) grafting concomitant with other cardiac operations is regarded as a risky strategy and the long-term advantages of BITA use remain unproven.

Methods and results: Pooled results from 3 series of patients (totaling 1,123 patients; mean age, 71.3 years; mean EuroSCORE II, 7.

Modified Bentall procedure: Mechanical vs biological valved conduits in patients older than 65 years.

Background: The modified Bentall procedure is still the treatment of choice for patients requiring combined replacement of the ascending aorta and aortic valve. We compared the long-term outcome of patients >65 years of age undergoing Bentall procedure with biological vs mechanical valved conduits in a multi institutional study.

Methods: A total of 282 patients, undergoing a Bentall operation (January 1994-May 2015), with a biological (Group 1, 173 patients) or a mechanical (Group 2, 109 patients) conduit were reviewed, the primary outcome being analysis of late survival and freedom from major adverse events.

Pericardiectomy for constrictive pericarditis: a risk factor analysis for early and late failure.

Predictors of early and late failure of pericardiectomy for constrictive pericarditis (CP) have not been established. Early and late outcomes of a cumulative series of 81 (mean age 60 years; mean EuroSCORE II, 3.3%) consecutive patients from three European cardiac surgery centers were reviewed.

Risk scores and surgery for infective endocarditis: in search of a good predictive score.

: To evaluate scoring systems that have been created to predict the risk of death post-surgery in infective endocarditis (IE). : Eight scores - (1) The Society of Thoracic Surgery (STS) risk score for IE, (2) De Feo score, (3) PALSUSE score (prosthetic valve, age ≥70, large intracardiac destruction, Staphylococcus spp, urgent surgery, sex [female], EuroSCORE ≥10), (4) ANCLA score (anemia, New York Heart Association class IV, critical state, large intracardiac destruction, surgery of thoracic aorta), (5) Risk-Endocarditis Score (RISK-E), (6) score for heart valve or prosthesis IE (EndoSCORE), and (7,8) Association pour l'Étude et la Prévention de l'Endocadite Infectieuse (AEPEI) score I and II - were evaluated in 324 (mean age, 61.8 ± 14.

Safe cross-clamp time using Custodiol-histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate cardioplegia in the adult.

Introduction: Safe cross-clamp time using single-dose Custodiol-histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate cardioplegia has not been established conclusively.

Methods: Immediate post-operative outcomes of 1,420 non-consecutive, cardiac surgery patients were reviewed retrospectively. Predictors of a combined endpoint made of in-hospital mortality and any major complication post-surgery were found with the multivariable method.

Clinical Validation of a Coronary Surgery Technique That Minimizes Aortic Manipulation.

Background: To minimize aortic manipulation and maximize use of arterial conduits are aims of modern coronary surgery.

Methods: From March 2012 to October 2016, 890 consecutive patients with multivessel coronary disease underwent isolated coronary operations using both internal thoracic arteries (ITAs). In 205 (23%; mean age, 67.

The fate of patients having deep sternal infection after bilateral internal thoracic artery grafting in the negative pressure wound therapy era.

Background: Late survival of patients having deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) after bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) grafting is largely unexplored.

Methods: Outcomes of 3391 consecutive BITA patients were reviewed retrospectively. Patients with DSWI after surgery (n = 142, 4.

Routine use of bilateral internal thoracic artery grafting in women does not increase in-hospital mortality and could improve long-term survival.

Background: Bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) grafting is underused in women.

Methods: Outcomes of 798 consecutive women with multivessel coronary disease who underwent isolated coronary surgery (1999-2016) using BITA (n=530, 66.4%) or single internal thoracic artery (SITA) grafting (n=268, 33.

Management of closed sternal incision after bilateral internal thoracic artery grafting with a single-use negative pressure system.

Single-use, closed incision management (CIM) systems offer a practical means of delivering negative pressure wound therapy to patients. This prospective study evaluates the Prevena™ Therapy system in a cohort of coronary patients at high risk of deep sternal wound infection (DSWI). Fifty-three consecutive patients undergoing bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) grafting were preoperatively elected for CIM with the Prevena™ Therapy system, which was applied immediately after surgery.

Outcomes comparison of different surgical strategies for the management of severe aortic valve stenosis: study protocol of a prospective multicentre European registry (E-AVR registry).

Introduction: Traditional and transcatheter surgical treatments of severe aortic valve stenosis (SAVS) are increasing in parallel with the improved life expectancy. Recent randomised controlled trials (RCTs) reported comparable or non-inferior mortality with transcatheter treatments compared with traditional surgery. However, RCTs have the limitation of being a mirror of the predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria, without reflecting the 'real clinical world'.

Early Outcome of Bilateral Versus Single Internal Mammary Artery Grafting in the Elderly.

Background: Bilateral internal mammary artery (BIMA) grafting is increasingly used in elderly patients without evidence of its risks or benefits compared with single internal mammary artery (SIMA) grafting.

Methods: In all, 2,899 patients aged 70 years or older (855 [29.5%] underwent BIMA grafting) operated on from January 2015 to December 2016 and included in the prospective multicenter Outcome After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (E-CABG) study were considered in this analysis.