Anesthesia

decision-making, and for assessment in difficult case scenarios (Table 1). The SCA/ASE guidelines defined perioperative echocardiography as TEE, epicardial echocardiography, and epiaortic ultrasonography performed in surgical patients before, during, or after the operation. 8 When we refer to a particular TEE view, the nomenclature and standard views as recommended by the SCA/ASE task force 7 will be used.

Although there has been much debate about the causes of neurologic complications associated with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), there is good evidence linking such complications with some of the pathophysiologic changes associated with use of conventional cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Several studies indicate that it is possible to significantly lower risk of stroke and other central nervous system (CNS) morbidity in patients undergoing CPB for CABG by application of selected techniques and equipment modifications. The resurgence of interest in coronary revascularization by using beating heart surgery (BHS) offers a unique opportunity to evaluate neurologic outcome independent of CPB. Currently, BHS would appear to significantly reduce morbidity in the elderly and to decrease the costs and resource use in coronary revascularization patients. It is hoped that by understanding the mechanisms of CNS injury associated with CABG, techniques can be developed to decrease the risk of neurologic injury associated with coronary revascularization, whether or not CPB is used. Definitive conclusions regarding outcomes after best practice CPB or BHS await large-scale, risk-stratisfied multicenter trials.

Volatile anesthetics possess cardioprotective properties, but it is unknown if the cardioprotective effects extend equally to all members of the class. Although sevoflurane is a relatively newer anesthetic than isoflurane, its introduction into practice was not preceded by a head-to-head comparison with isoflurane in a trial focusing on clinically important outcomes. Our objective was to determine whether sevoflurane was non-inferior to isoflurane on a clinically important primary outcome in a heterogeneous group of adults undergoing cardiac surgery. This was a pragmatic randomized non-inferiority comparative effectiveness clinical trial in 464 adults having coronary artery bypass graft and/or single valve surgery during November 2011 to March 2014. The intervention was maintenance of anesthesia with sevoflurane (n = 231) or isoflurane (n = 233) administered at a dose of 0.5-2.0 MAC throughout the entire operation. All caregivers were blinded except for the anesthesiologist and perf...

Less invasive techniques are commonly used to treat patients with anatomically suitable secundum atrial septal defects; however, repair of more complex atrial septal defects are still performed through sternotomy. Cosmetically appealing periareolar incisions have been used in breast reconstructive surgery and may provide an esthetically superior alternative to the anterolateral minithoracotomy incision used in minimally invasive cardiac surgery. We describe a patient with an unroofed coronary sinus atrial septal defect who underwent successful minimally invasive, endoscopic repair of this defect with autologous pericardial baffle reconstruction of the coronary sinus roof and closure of the interatrial communication through a periareolar approach.

Hybrid coronary revascularization offers and combines the advantages of both surgical and percutaneous revascularization and eliminates at the same time the disadvantages of both procedures. The objective of this study was to assess graft and stent patency at 6 months, rate of bleeding, intensive care unit and hospital stay, rate of reintervention, and long-term clinical follow-up. From March 2004 to November 2015, a total of 203 patients underwent robotic-assisted minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass graft of the left internal thoracic artery to the left anterior descending artery and PCI of a non-left anterior descending vessel in a single or two stage, at three different centers. Patients underwent 6-month angiographic follow-up. The mean ± SD clinical follow-up was 77.82 ± 41.4 months. Successful hybrid coronary revascularization occurred in 196 of the 203 patients. One hundred forty-six patients underwent simultaneous surgical and percutaneous intervention. Nineteen...

Contemporary anesthetic techniques have enabled shorter sedation and early extubation in off-pump and minimally invasive coronary artery bypass (CABG) surgery. Robotic-assisted CABG represents the optimal surgical approach for ultrafast track anesthesia, with patients able to bypass the cardiac surgical intensive care unit with recovery in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) and inpatient ward. In-hospital postoperative outcomes from ninety patients who underwent either elective or urgent robotically-assisted CABG at our institution were reviewed. These patients were carefully selected by a multidisciplinary team to undergo fast-track anesthesia: extubation in the operating room, 4-hour recovery in the postanesthesia care unit and transfer to the inpatient ward. Intrathecal, paravertebral local, and patient-controlled anesthesia techniques were used to facilitate transition to oral analgesics. Average patient age was 61 ± 9 years. Sixty-six patients (73%) were male. Seventy cases we...

Cor triatriatum sinister is an uncommon cardiac abnormality characterized by a membrane that divides the left atrium into two chambers. Definitive management requires surgical resection, traditionally through sternotomy. Minimally invasive reparative techniques are associated with reduced blood loss, shorter hospitalization, faster recovery time, and improved cosmesis with excellent patient satisfaction. We present a 29-year-old woman with cor triatriatum sinister and associated atrial septal defect who underwent successful minimally invasive repair through a right periareolar approach.

Objective Conversion to sternotomy is a primary bailout method for robotically assisted coronary artery bypass grafting procedures. The aims of this study were to identify the primary reasons for conversion from robotically assisted coronary artery bypass grafting to sternotomy and to evaluate the in-hospital outcomes in such patients. Methods Prospectively collected data from February 2004 to April 2017 were reviewed for 72 patients (56 men; mean age = 63.8 years) who required conversion to sternotomy during a robotically assisted coronary artery bypass grafting procedure with planned endoscopic left internal thoracic artery harvest and anastomosis to the left anterior descending on the beating heart. Results The overall rate of conversion was 12.4% (72/581). Conversions occurred either during attempted endoscopic left internal thoracic artery harvest (31.9%), during endoscopic left anterior descending isolation (40.3%), during manual isolation and anastomosis of the left anterior ...