Tricuspid and pulmonary valve replacement in patients with carcinoid heart disease (CaHD) reduces right heart failure and improves prognosis. The surgical literature is limited concerning technical aspects of valve replacement in CaHD. Although dedicated multidisciplinary care is required, optimization of surgical details is important and may lead to better postoperative outcomes in these frail patients.

Outcomes in partial sternotomy for aortic root surgery: the new routine procedure?Running Head: Partial sternotomy for aortic root repair

Cor triatriatum is a rare congenital heart disease. A 57-years-old woman had cor triatriatum with severe mitral valve regurgitation (MR) and atrial fibrillation (AF). We perfomed mitral valve repair, left atrial appendage resection, and maze procedure by resection of the anomalous septum in the left atrium. At result, MR was controllable and AF disappeared after the operation. Although there is no established maze procedure with cor triatriatum, removing the septum was effective to complete it.

Cardiac pseudoaneurysm is a contained rupture of the cardiac wall. Rarely symptomatic, the risk of death by stroke or rupture is high and suggests surgical treatment. Surgical strategy depends on its anatomical considerations. We reported the case of a submitral pseudoaneurysm. We excluded it by a conservative transmitral approach, without any short- and long-term complication.

Background: Infective endocarditis (IE) remains an expressive health problem with high morbimortali-ty rates. Despite its importance, epidemiological and microbiological data remain scarce, especially in developing countries. Aim: This study aims to describe IE epidemiological, clinical, and microbiological profile in a tertiary university center in South America, and to identify in-hospital mortality rate and predictors. Methods: Observational, retrospective study of 167 patients, who fulfilled modified Duke’s criteria during a six-year enrollment period, from January 2010 to December 2015. Primary outcome was de-fined as in-hospital mortality analyzed according to treatment received (clinical vs. surgical). Multivari-ate analysis identified mortality predictors. Results: Median age was 60years (Q1-Q3 50-71), and 66% were male. Echocardiogram demonstrated vegetations in 90.4%. An infective agent was identified in 76.6%, being Staphylococcus aureus (19%), Enterococcus (12%), Coagulase-negative staphylococci (10%), and Streptococcus viridans (9.6%) the most prevalent. Overall in-hospital mortality was 41.9%, varying from 49.4% to 34.1%, in clinical and surgical patients, respectively (p=0.047). On multivariate analysis, diabetes mellitus (OR 2.5), previous structural heart disease (OR 3.1), and mitral valve infection (OR 2.1) were all-cause death predictors. Surgical treatment was the only variable related to better outcome (OR 0.45; 95%IC 0.2-0.9). Conclusion: This study presents IE profile and all-cause mortality in a large patient’s cohort, compris-ing a 6-years’ time window, a rare initiative in developing countries. Elderly and male patients predom-inated, while Staphylococcus aureus was the main microbiological agent. Patients conservatively treated presented higher mortality than surgically managed ones. Epidemiological studies from developing countries are essential to increase IE understanding.

Outcomes in superior transeptal and left atrial approach: does the number of valves matter?Running Head: Approaches to the Mitral valve

Colonoscopy is generally considered a safe procedure, with a low rate of complications. Although rare, the migration of the colonoscope may represents a life-threating events, requiring emergency treatment. We herein describe the case of an elective colonoscopy complicated by an irretrievable colonoscope that migrated, through a previous traumatic diaphragmatic hernia, in the chest cavity. This hernia was likely a chronic complication of a previous abdominal trauma. Several attempts to retrieve the scope were unsuccessful. After further investigations and collegial discussion, a left thoracotomy was performed, with the aim to retrieve the colonoscope and to reduce the hernia.

We report a case of intravenous drug use-associated tricuspid valve endocarditis in a 28-year-old pregnant female at 26-weeks gestation. Despite appropriate intravenous antibiotics, the patient developed life-threatening complications and underwent planned cesarean delivery at 28 weeks 6 days gestation followed by interval tricuspid valve replacement one week later. Both the patient and her infant were successfully managed through the perioperative period.

This is a response to the Letter to Editor received regarding the article “Outcomes of Non-Cardiotomy Patients Requiring Postoperative Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.”

Objective Affecting 1 in 500 individuals; Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an autosomal dominant cardiovascular disorder which is prevalent throughout the world. Surgical myectomy and alcohol septal ablation (ASA) are two methods currently used for the management of drug refractory Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). ASA may prove to be a useful, less invasive tool when confronting patients with HOCM especially those who are more elderly or deemed to be a higher surgical risk. Methods Electronic literature search was conducted to identify relevant articles that discussed invasive methods to treat drug refractory HOCM. No limits were placed on timing of the publication or the type of article. Key words and MeSH terms were used to conduct the search and the results were summarized in the relevant section. Results Current evidence suggests that alcohol septal ablation is a safe and effective procedure in treating patients with HOCM with similar short- and long-term outcomes when compared with surgical myectomy. Selection of patient with appropriate assessment is the key for satisfactory outcomes. Conclusion ASA has been shown to be a safe and reliable procedure; advanced imaging techniques and dedicated multi-disciplinary teams can be used to carefully select patients with HOCM. Though surgical myectomy is recommended as gold standard treatment for drug refractory HOCM, however, ASA may play an increasing role in the near future due an ageing population; both ASA and SM can have a synergistic effect in treating those who are affected by HOCM.

Double-outlet left ventricle (DOLV) is a rare congenital cardiac anomaly. The aorta and the main pulmonary arterial trunk arises predominantly from the left ventricle(LV) and is associated with a malaligned ventricular septal defect(VSD), various degrees of hypoplasia of the right ventricle, and presence or absence of pulmonary stenosis. Bi-ventricular repair is the preferred treatment option whenever possible. Various techniques for bi-ventricular repair have been described. The best option for DOLV correction is by translocating the pulmonary root to the right ventricle(RV)[1]. In this series, we report four patients who underwent biventricular repair of DOLV in our institute with excellent outcomes. All patient details were collected from the institute patient record system. Echocardiographic data were obtained from the records. Intraoperative charts were reviewed for further information on the surgical procedure and cardiopulmonary bypass. Postoperative data included survival, functional status and followup echocardiography. Of the four children, three underwent pulmonary root translocation and one child underwent Reparation al etage Ventriculaire(REV) procedure. There was no mortality and all children are in stable clinical condition in the recent follow-up and no re-operations or interventions were required following primary surgical correction. Thus DOLV is anatomically and surgically a challenging subset. Pulmonary root translocation in this anatomy is technically challenging but safe and superior option when compared to other alternative surgical procedures and it can be performed with excellent results, even in infants.

While there is significant awareness regarding droplet and contact transmission, aerosols are generally underestimated as a potential mode of transmission of SARS-Cov-2 infection. With the gradual resumption of cardiac surgical activities, the cardiac surgical operating room will become an important potential source of infection to the cardiac surgeon and other healthcare workers participating in the operation. There is also diminished awareness about the different aerosol generating procedures (AGP) in the cardiac surgical operating room. In this mini-review we intend to highlight the various aerosol generating procedures that are common in cardiac surgery. This will help increase the awareness among surgeons to AGP. A practical approach to taking preventive measures have also been discussed.

Background: With the limited number of available suitable donor hearts resulting in plateaued numbers of heart transplantations, short- and long-term mechanical circulatory support devices, including the implantation of total artificial hearts (TAH) are modalities that are increasingly being used as treatment options for patients with end-stage heart failure. The superior vena cava syndrome has been described in this context in various disease processes. We report successful venoplasty for superior vena cava syndrome in a patient with a TAH. Case Presentation: A 65 years old man with a history of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy had received a left ventricular assist device, and then two years later underwent orthotopic heart transplantation using the bicaval anastomosis technique. The post procedural course was complicated by primary graft failure, resulting in the need for the implantation of a TAH. About 5 months after the TAH implantation he started to develop complications such as volume retention, swelling of the upper extremities, and was diagnosed to have a superior vena cava syndrome. The patient underwent a successful venoplasty of his superior vena cava by interventional radiology with resolution of upper body edema, normalization of renal and liver function. Conclusion: Potential fatal complications caused by catheter or wire entrapment in the right sided mechanical valve of a TAH have been reported. We describe a safe method for the treatment of superior vena cava syndrome in patients with TAH.

Objectives The impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on the treatment of patient with aortic valve stenosis is unknown and there is uncertainty on the optimal strategies in managing these patients. Methods This study is supported and endorsed by the Asia Pacific Society of Interventional Cardiology. Due to the inability to have face to face discussions during the pandemic, an online survey was performed by inviting key opinion leaders ( cardiac surgeon/interventional cardiologist/echocardiologist) in the field of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in Asia to participate. The answers to a series of questions pertaining to the impact of COVID-19 on TAVI were collected and analyzed. These led subsequently to an expert consensus recommendations on the conduct of TAVI during the pandemic Results The COVID 19 pandemic had resulted in a 25% (10-80) reduction of case volume and 53% of operators required triaging to manage their patients with severe aortic stenosis. The two most important parameters used to triage were symptoms and valve area. Periprocedural changes included the introduction of teleconsultation, pre-procedure COVD 19 testing, optimization of pre-tests and catheterization laboratory set up. In addition, length of stay was reduced from a mean of 4.4 to 4 days. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the delivery of TAVI services to patients in Asia. This expert recommendations on best practices may be a useful to guide to help TAVI teams during this period until a COVID 19 vaccine becomes widely available

We report the successful endovascular repair of a rare case of aortic rupture caused by axillary intra-aortic balloon pump insertion failure. A 38-year-old Jehovah’s Witness female with situs inversus totalis was referred to our hospital for acute decompensated heart failure. We placed an axillary intra-aortic balloon pump for circulatory support. However, an exchange was required due to balloon malfunction (kinked driveline). Unfortunately, the exchange was complicated by an iatrogenic aortic rupture along with large hematoma compressing the trachea. Emergent endovascular repair was performed successfully without any blood transfusion. Postoperative computed tomography showed a successfully repaired aorta and resolving hematoma.

Severe recurrent mitral regurgitation (MR) within 1 year of mitral valve repair is usually attributed to a technical issue with the original repair procedure. However, when artificial chordae are employed to correct mitral valve prolapse, ventricular remodeling (i.e. decreased ventricular size) can lead to recurrent prolapse and valve dysfunction. To highlight this phenomena, we present 2 patients who experienced early failure after undergoing mitral valve repair with artificial chordae.

Less invasive techniques for cardiothoracic surgical procedures are designed to limit surgical trauma, but technical requirements and preoperative planning are more demanding than those for conventional sternotomy. Patient selection, interdisciplinary collaboration, and surgical skills are key factors for procedural success. Aortic valve replacement is frequently performed through an upper hemisternotomy, but the right anterior minithoracotomy represents an even less traumatic, technical advancement. Preoperative assessment of the ascending aorta in relation to the sternum is mandatory to select patients and the intercostal access site. This description of the surgical technique focuses on the specific procedural details including the obligatory planning with computed tomography, and our cannulation strategy. We also sought to define the anatomical ascending aorto-sternal relationship, as it is of utmost importance in preoperative computed tomographic planning.

We describe the case of a 59-year old female affected by aortic extensive endocarditis with communication between aortic annulus and right cavities, treated with double pericardial patch reconstruction and rapid-deployment aortic valve prosthesis implantation.