Right Ventricular Failure After Left Ventricular Assist Device Placement-The Beginning of the End or Just Another Challenge?

Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy has greatly improved outcomes in patients with end-stage heart failure. However, development of right ventricular failure (RVF) in LVAD recipients is associated with increased long- and short-term morbidity and mortality. The incidence of RVF after LVAD placement is difficult to assess due to the lack of a common definition.

Monitored Anesthesia Care for Subcutaneous Cardioverter-Defibrillator Implantation: A Single-Center Experience.

Background: To date, general anesthesia has been suggested as the preferred approach for implantation of a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD). The purpose of this study was to assess the use of monitored anesthesia care (MAC) for S-ICD implantation. The goals were to assess adequate sedation and analgesia (efficacy endpoints) and major perioperative airway or hemodynamic compromise (safety endpoints).

Anesthesia care for subcutaneous implantable cardioverter/defibrillator placement: a single-center experience.

Background: The recently approved subcutaneous implantable cardioverter/defibrillator (S-ICD) uses a single extrathoracic subcutaneous lead to treat life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias, such as ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. This is different from conventional transvenous ICDs, which are typically implanted under sedation. Currently, there are no reports regarding the anesthetic management of patients undergoing S-ICD implantation.

The role of perioperative sodium bicarbonate infusion affecting renal function after cardiothoracic surgery.

Cardiac surgery associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) is associated with poor outcomes including increased mortality, length of hospital stay (LOS) and cost. The incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) is reported to be between 3 and 30% depending on the definition of AKI. We designed a multicenter randomized controlled trial to test our hypothesis that a perioperative infusion of sodium bicarbonate (SB) during cardiac surgery will attenuate the post-operative rise in creatinine indicating renal injury when compared to a perioperative infusion with normal saline.