Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Tunneling A Pulmonary Artery Graft: A Simplified Way To Insert And Remove A Temporary Right Ventricular Assist Device, Pankaj Saxena, Silvana F Marasco

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Right ventricular failure can occur early or late after left ventricular assist device implantation. Support with a right ventricular assist device is needed in patients whose right ventricular failure does not respond to conservative management. The use of a temporary right ventricular assist device can enable the recovery of right ventricular function and avoid the use of a more permanent biventricular assist device, which is associated with complications and higher costs. We present our technique of instituting temporary right ventricular assist device support in patients who have undergone left ventricular assist device implantation.

Multivariate Criteria Most Accurately Distinguish Cardiac From Noncardiac Causes Of Dyspnea., Mirza Nubair Ahmad, Syed Hasan Yusuf, Rafath Ullah, Mirza Mujadil Ahmad, Mary K Ellis, Haroon Yousaf, Timothy E Paterick, Khawaja Afzal Ammar

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing provides oxygen pulse as a continuous measure of stroke volume, which is superior to other stress-testing methods in which systolic function is measured at baseline and at peak stress. However, the optimal peak oxygen pulse criterion for distinguishing cardiac from noncardiac causes of exercise limitation is unknown.

In comparing several peak oxygen pulse criteria against the clinical standard of cardiopulmonary exercise testing, we retrospectively studied 54 consecutive patients referred for cardiopulmonary exercise testing. These exercise tests included measurement of oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, breathing reserve, arterial blood gases at baseline and at peak stress, exercise electrocardiogram, …

Saving Life And Brain With Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: A Single-Center Analysis Of In-Hospital Cardiac Arrests., Graham Peigh, Nicholas C. Cavarocchi, Hitoshi Hirose

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: Despite advances in medical care, survival to discharge and full neurologic recovery after cardiac arrest remains less than 20% after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. An alternate approach to traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation is extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which places patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation and provides immediate cardiopulmonary support when traditional resuscitation has been unsuccessful. We report the results from extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation at the Thomas Jefferson University.

METHODS: Between 2010 and June 2014, 107 adult extracorporeal membrane oxygenation procedures were performed at the Thomas Jefferson University. Patient demographics, survival to discharge, and neurologic recovery of patients who underwent extracorporeal …

Racial Disparities In Intravenous Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator Use Persist At Primary Stroke Centers., Hugo J. Aparicio, Brendan G. Carr, Scott E. Kasner, Michael J. Kallan, Karen C. Albright, Dawn O. Kleindorfer, Michael T. Mullen

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Primary stroke centers (PSCs) utilize more recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) than non-PSCs. The impact of PSCs on racial disparities in rt-PA use is unknown.

METHODS AND RESULTS: We used data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2004 to 2010, limited to states that publicly reported hospital identity and race. Hospitals certified as PSCs by The Joint Commission were identified. Adults with a diagnosis of ischemic stroke were analyzed. Rt-PA use was defined by the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision procedure code 99.10. Discharges (304 152 patients) from 26 states met eligibility criteria, and of these 71.5% were …

Simple New Risk Score Model For Adult Cardiac Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: Simple Cardiac Ecmo Score., Graham Peigh, Nicholas Cavarocchi, Scott W. Keith, Hitoshi Hirose

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Although the use of cardiac extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is increasing in adult patients, the field lacks understanding of associated risk factors. While standard intensive care unit risk scores such as SAPS II (simplified acute physiology score II), SOFA (sequential organ failure assessment), and APACHE II (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II), or disease-specific scores such as MELD (model for end-stage liver disease) and RIFLE (kidney risk, injury, failure, loss of function, ESRD) exist, they may not apply to adult cardiac ECMO patients as their risk factors differ from variables used in these scores.

METHODS: Between 2010 and …

Speckle-Tracking Echocardiographic Measures Of Right Ventricular Function Correlate With Improvement In Exercise Function After Percutaneous Pulmonary Valve Implantation., Shahryar M. Chowdhury, Ziyad M. Hijazi, John T. Fahey, John F. Rhodes, Saibal Kar, Raj Makkar, Michael Mullen, Qi-Ling Cao, Girish S. Shirali

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Speckle-tracking echocardiographic (STE) measures of right ventricular (RV) function appear to improve after transcatheter pulmonary valve implantation (TPVI). Measures of exercise function, such as ventilatory efficiency (the minute ventilation [VE]/carbon dioxide production [VCO2] slope), have been shown to be prognostic of mortality in patients who may require TPVI. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between STE measures of RV function and changes in VE/VCO2 after TPVI.

METHODS: Speckle-tracking echocardiography and cardiopulmonary exercise testing were performed at baseline and 6 months after TPVI in 24 patients from four centers. Conventional echocardiographic measures of RV function were …

Infusion Of Reconstituted High-Density Lipoprotein, Csl112, In Patients With Atherosclerosis: Safety And Pharmacokinetic Results From A Phase 2a Randomized Clinical Trial, Pierluigi Tricoci, Denise M. D'Andrea, Paul A. Gurbel, Zhenling Yao, Marina Cuchel, Brion Winston, Robert Schott, Robert Weiss, Michael A. Blazing, Louis Cannon, Alison L. Bailey, Dominick J. Angiolillo, Andreas Gille, Charles L. Shear, Samuel D. Wright, John H. Alexander

Gill Heart & Vascular Institute Faculty Publications

Background CSL112 is a new formulation of human apolipoprotein A‐I (apoA‐I) being developed to reduce cardiovascular events following acute coronary syndrome. This phase 2a, randomized, double‐blind, multicenter, dose‐ranging trial represents the first clinical investigation to assess the safety and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of a CSL112 infusion among patients with stable atherosclerotic disease.

Methods and Results Patients were randomized to single ascending doses of CSL112 (1.7, 3.4, or 6.8 g) or placebo, administered over a 2‐hour period. Primary safety assessments consisted of alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase elevations >3× upper limits of normal and study drug–related adverse events. Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic assessments included apoA‐I plasma …

Modified Maze Procedure For Atrial Fibrillation As An Adjunct To Elective Cardiac Surgery: Predictors Of Mid-Term Recurrence And Echocardiographic Follow-Up, Claudia Loardi, Francesco Alamanni, Fabrizio Veglia, Claudia Galli, Alessandro Parolari, Marco Zanobini

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

The radiofrequency maze procedure achieves sinus rhythm in 45%–95% of patients treated for atrial fibrillation. This retrospective study evaluates mid-term results of the radiofrequency maze—performed concomitant to elective cardiac surgery—to determine sinus-rhythm predictive factors, and describes the evolution of patients' echocardiographic variables.

From 2003 through 2011, 247 patients (mean age, 64 ± 9.5 yr) with structural heart disease (79.3% mitral disease) and atrial fibrillation underwent a concomitant radiofrequency modified maze procedure. Patients were monitored by 24-hour Holter at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months, then annually. Eighty-four mitral-valve patients underwent regular echocardiographic follow-up. Univariate and multivariate analysis for risk factors …

Quantification Of Atrial Dynamics Using Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance: Inter-Study Reproducibility., Johannes T. Kowallick, Geraint Morton, Pablo Lamata, Roy Jogiya, Shelby Kutty, Gerd Hasenfuß, Joachim Lotz, Eike Nagel, Amedeo Chiribiri, Andreas Schuster

Journal Articles: Cardiology

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) offers quantification of phasic atrial functions based on volumetric assessment and more recently, on CMR feature tracking (CMR-FT) quantitative strain and strain rate (SR) deformation imaging. Inter-study reproducibility is a key requirement for longitudinal studies but has not been defined for CMR-based quantification of left atrial (LA) and right atrial (RA) dynamics.

METHODS: Long-axis 2- and 4-chamber cine images were acquired at 9:00 (Exam A), 9:30 (Exam B) and 14:00 (Exam C) in 16 healthy volunteers. LA and RA reservoir, conduit and contractile booster pump functions were quantified by volumetric indexes as derived from fractional …

Prenatal Diagnosis Of Left Pulmonary Artery-To-Pulmonary Vein Fistula And Its Successful Surgical Repair In A Neonate, Oleksii Ostras, Andrii Kurkevych, Lyubomyr Bohuta, Tetyana Yalynska, Tammo Raad, Mark Lewin, Illya Yemets

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula is a rare disease. To the best of our knowledge, prenatal diagnosis of a fistula between the left pulmonary artery and the left pulmonary vein has not been described in the medical literature. We report a case of the prenatal diagnosis of a left pulmonary artery-to-pulmonary vein fistula, followed by successful neonatal surgical repair.

Changes In Speckle Tracking Echocardiography Measures Of Ventricular Function After Percutaneous Implantation Of The Edwards Sapien Transcatheter Heart Valve In The Pulmonary Position., Shahryar M. Chowdhury, Ziyad M. Hijazi, John F. Rhodes, Saibal Kar, Raj Makkar, Michael Mullen, Qi-Ling Cao, Lazar Mandinov, Jason Buckley, Nicholas P. Pietris, Girish S. Shirali

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Patients with free pulmonary regurgitation or mixed pulmonary stenosis and regurgitation and severely dilated right ventricles (RV) show little improvement in ventricular function after pulmonary valve replacement when assessed by traditional echocardiographic markers. We evaluated changes in right and left ventricular (LV) function using speckle tracking echocardiography in patients after SAPIEN transcatheter pulmonary valve (TPV) placement.

METHODS: Echocardiograms were evaluated at baseline, discharge, 1 and 6 months after TPV placement in 24 patients from 4 centers. Speckle tracking measures of function included peak longitudinal strain, strain rate, and early diastolic strain rate. RV fractional area change, tricuspid annular plane …

Echocardiographic Versus Histologic Findings In Marfan Syndrome, Xiaoyan Gu, Yihua He, Zhian Li, Jiancheng Han, Jian Chen, J V Ian Nixon

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

This retrospective study attempted to establish the prevalence of multiple-valve involvement in Marfan syndrome and to compare echocardiographic with histopathologic findings in Marfan patients undergoing valvular or aortic surgery.

We reviewed echocardiograms of 73 Marfan patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery from January 2004 through October 2009. Tissue histology was available for comparison in 29 patients.

Among the 73 patients, 66 underwent aortic valve replacement or the Bentall procedure. Histologic findings were available in 29 patients, all of whom had myxomatous degeneration. Of 63 patients with moderate or severe aortic regurgitation as determined by echocardiography, 4 had thickened aortic valves. The …

Impact And Predictors Of Noncircular Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Shapes On Estimating Aortic Stenosis Severity By Means Of Continuity Equations, Nirmanmoh Bhatia, Buddhadeb Dawn, Tariq S Siddiqui, Marcus F Stoddard

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Determining aortic stenosis (AS) severity is clinically important. Calculating aortic valve (AV) area by means of the continuity equation assumes a circular left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). The full impact of this assumption in calculating AV area is unknown. Predictors of noncircular LVOT shape in patients with AS are undefined.

In 109 adult patients with AS who underwent multiplanar transesophageal echocardiography, we calculated AV area by means of the standard continuity method and by a modified method involving planimetric LVOT area.

We found 54 circular, 37 horizontal-oval, 8 vertical-oval, and 10 irregular LVOTs. Area derived by direct planimetry correlated better …