Assessment of Left Ventricular Dimensions by Transoesophageal Echocardiography in Patients During Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery.

Objective: Normative values of left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic area and diameter (EDA and EDD) for intraoperative transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) have not been established. We aimed to define the ranges of LV EDA and EDD for intraoperative TEE examinations in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

Methods: A MEDLINE search for studies reporting LV EDA and EDD in CABG patients was performed.

Additional cross-sectional transesophageal echocardiography views improve perioperative right heart assessment.

Background: Right heart failure is an important cause of perioperative morbidity and mortality, and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is crucial for its diagnosis. However, only four of the 20 cross-sectional views recommended in current guidelines for intraoperative TEE focus on the right heart. This study analyzed whether incorporating additional views into the standard TEE examination improves assessment of the right heart.

A Swiss anaesthesiology closed claims analysis: report of events in the years 1987-2008.

Background And Objective: In 1999, the Swiss Society of Anaesthesiology and Reanimation (SSAR) initiated an analysis of closed malpractice claims filed against anaesthetists in a project intended to improve patient safety. This article discusses the results of a review of closed claims between 1987 and 2008 and filed up to the end of 2009.

Methods: Records of closed claims were provided by Swiss professional medical liability insurance companies and the Office for Extrajudicial Expert Review of the Swiss Medical Association.

A randomized comparison of right ventricular function after on-pump versus off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Objectives: Right ventricular dysfunction occurs very soon after conventional coronary bypass surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and might not recover within 1 year after the operation. It has been postulated that performing coronary surgery without cardiopulmonary bypass might preserve right ventricular function. We hypothesized that right ventricular global and overall systolic functions are better preserved 3 months after off-pump surgery than after conventional coronary bypass surgery.

Feasibility of measuring myocardial performance index of the right ventricle in anesthetized patients.

Objective: Myocardial performance index, the sum of the 2 isovolumic times divided by the ejection time, contains information on global systolic and diastolic function. This study was performed to determine the feasibility of right ventricular myocardial performance index measurements if measured by transesophageal echocardiography in patients under general anesthesia and positive-pressure ventilation.

Design: A prospective cohort study.

Transesophageal Doppler echocardiographic detection of intramyocardial collateral flow to the right coronary artery and changes in the flow to the inferior left ventricular wall immediately after coronary artery bypass grafting.

This study examined the feasibility of Doppler transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) to detect collateral flow to the myocardium supplied by the right coronary artery (RCA) in the inferior left ventricular wall. Forty-four patients who underwent elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were prospectively studied. Presence of collateral flow to the RCA was diagnosed on preoperative angiography using the Rentrop score and by intraoperative Doppler TEE.

Effects of on-pump versus off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery on right ventricular function.

Objectives: Right ventricular dysfunction is a possible cause of cardiac failure after coronary surgery. The use of cardiopulmonary bypass is regarded as a major cause for its occurrence, and it has been postulated that performing coronary surgery without cardiopulmonary bypass might reduce ventricular dysfunction. Therefore, this prospective, randomized, controlled study tested the hypothesis that off-pump coronary surgery would better preserve right ventricular systolic and diastolic function than conventional bypass surgery.

Accuracy of tissue Doppler estimation of the right atrial pressure in anesthetized, paralyzed, and mechanically ventilated patients.

The ratio of tricuspid peak early inflow velocity to peak early diastolic velocity of the lateral tricuspid annulus (the E/Ea ratio) measured by transthoracic echocardiography has been reported to correlate with right atrial (RA) pressure. In this study, the correlation between the E/Ea ratio and RA pressure was tested in 44 anesthetized, paralyzed, and mechanically ventilated patients by transesophageal echocardiography. Mean RA pressure and the following echocardiographic data were recorded simultaneously: tricuspid peak early inflow velocities by Doppler echocardiography, peak early diastolic velocity of the lateral tricuspid annulus by tissue Doppler imaging, and right ventricular and left ventricular end-diastolic areas.

Transesophageal echocardiography for monitoring segmental wall motion during off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery.

In this prospective, observational study, we evaluated whether transesophageal echocardiography allows for monitoring left ventricular segmental wall motion during cardiac displacement for off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) surgery. On the basis of a pilot study that showed frequent loss of transgastric views during OPCAB surgery, we analyzed only midesophageal views. The midesophageal 4-chamber view, 2-chamber view, and long-axis view were recorded in 60 patients after opening the chest and placing an epicardial stabilizer on the displaced heart.

Heart rate variability and cardiac troponin I are incremental and independent predictors of one-year all-cause mortality after major noncardiac surgery in patients at risk of coronary artery disease.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether perioperative measurements of heart rate variability (HRV) and cardiac troponin I (cTnI) add additional prognostic information to established risk scores for first-year mortality in patients at risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing major noncardiac surgery.

Background: In cardiac-risk patients undergoing major noncardiac surgery, the short- and long-term prognoses are mainly influenced by perioperative cardiac complications. Heart rate variability and cTnI are important prognostic markers in patients with congestive heart failure and myocardial infarction.