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ABSTRACT: Intraoperative cerebral microemboli are associated with the development of postoperative stroke and neurocognitive decline in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Although cardiopulmonary bypass is responsible for the generation of a significant number of such emboli, the elimination of cardiopulmonary bypass alone has not been conclusively shown to improve neurocognitive outcome. The current study was performed to determine the effects of combined off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting and sutureless proximal aortic anastomotic techniques on the generation of intraoperative cerebral microemboli compared with standard coronary artery bypass grafting techniques of cardiopulmonary bypass and hand-sewn proximal anastomoses.
Fifty-three patients underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting by using the sutureless Symmetry aortic connector device (St Jude Medical, St Paul, Minn) for all proximal anastomoses. Eighteen of these patients received intraoperative transcranial Doppler ultrasonography to determine right- and left-sided cerebral microembolic counts. These results were compared with those obtained from a similar group of 17 patients undergoing standard coronary artery bypass grafting, in whom cardiopulmonary bypass and hand-sewn proximal anastomoses were used.
Our use of the proximal anastomotic device in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting was safe, with no aortic complications, postoperative strokes, or in-hospital deaths. Microembolic counts to both the right and left cerebral circulation were significantly reduced in the patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (right = 21.9 +/- 20.7 emboli, left = 24.9 +/- 19.2 emboli) compared with those in patients undergoing standard coronary artery bypass grafting (right = 181.6 +/- 85.3, left = 189.9 +/- 60.401, P <.0001).
Our use of a sutureless proximal anastomotic device during off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting is safe and significantly decreases cerebral microembolism when compared with standard coronary artery bypass grafting with cardiopulmonary bypass and hand-sewn anastomoses. Long-term follow-up is needed to determine the effects of this technical strategy on neurocognitive outcome.
Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 11/2003; 126(5):1561-7. · 3.41 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Studies that have shown clinical depression to be a risk factor for cardiac events after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery have had small sample sizes, short follow-up, and have not had adequate power to assess mortality. We sought to assess whether depression is associated with an increased risk of mortality.
We assessed 817 patients undergoing CABG at Duke University Medical Center between May, 1989, and May, 2001. Patients completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale before surgery, 6 months after CABG, and were followed-up for up to 12 years.
In 817 patients there were 122 deaths (15%) in a mean follow-up of 5.2 years. 310 patients (38%) met the criterion for depression (CES-D > or =16): 213 (26%) for mild depression (CES-D 16-26) and 97 (12%) for moderate to severe depression (CES-D > or =27). Survival analyses, controlling for age, sex, number of grafts, diabetes, smoking, left ventricular ejection fraction, and previous myocardial infarction, showed that patients with moderate to severe depression at baseline (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 2.4, [95% CI 1.4-4.0]; p=0.001) and mild or moderate to severe depression that persisted from baseline to 6 months (adjusted HR 2.2, [1.2-4.2]; p=0.015) had higher rates of death than did those with no depression.
Despite advances in surgical and medical management of patients after CABG, depression is an important independent predictor of death after CABG and should be carefully monitored and treated if necessary.
The Lancet 08/2003; 362(9384):604-9. · 38.28 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Neurologic injury, in the form of either stroke or more subtle neurocognitive impairment, is a frequent and potentially devastating complication of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The etiology of CABG-associated neurologic injury is likely multifactorial, with the phenomena of cerebral hypoperfusion and embolism being the major contributors. Several perioperative strategies have been developed in an effort to reduce the incidence of CABG-associated neurologic complications. Hypothermic cerebral perfusion, alpha stat acid-base management, and slow patient rewarming have been shown by several investigators to minimize adverse neurologic sequelae associated with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. Performing CABG without cardiopulmonary bypass (off-pump CABG), meanwhile, has been shown to reduce the risk of perioperative stroke, especially in high-risk patients such as the elderly. Whether off-pump CABG reduces the incidence of less severe neurocognitive impairment has not yet been clearly established and merits further investigation in the form of large, multicenter, randomized trials. Other technical innovations, such as the use of sutureless and clampless aortic anastomotic devices, also may be able to further minimize the neurologic complications associated with CABG.
Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 02/2003; 15(1):52-62.
