A contemporary analysis of pulmonary hypertension in patients undergoing mitral valve surgery: Is this a risk factor?

Objective: Pulmonary hypertension (PHT) has been considered a risk factor for mortality in cardiac surgery. Among mitral valve surgery (MVS) patients, we sought to determine if severe PHT increases mortality risk and if patients who undergo concomitant tricuspid valve surgery (TVS) incur additional risk.

Methods: Preoperative PHT was assessed in 1571 patients undergoing MVS, from 2004 to 2013.

Paravalvular regurgitation after conventional aortic and mitral valve replacement: A benchmark for alternative approaches.

Objective: Paravalvular regurgitation is a known complication after transcatheter and sutureless aortic valve replacement. Paravalvular regurgitation also may develop in patients undergoing percutaneous mitral valve replacement. There are few studies on contemporary surgical valve replacement for comparison.

The addition of hemiarch replacement to aortic root surgery does not affect safety.

Objectives: A hemiarch reconstruction, using deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, is the conventional approach for proximal aortic arch reconstruction, but it carries risks of neurologic events and coagulopathy. The addition of a hemiarch reconstruction to an aortic root replacement may prevent future aortic arch pathology. Outcomes of this approach at a tertiary care institution were examined to determine whether the addition of a hemiarch reconstruction to an aortic root replacement conferred any additional risk.