Microinvasive, catheter-based mitral valve repair of severe mitral regurgitation utilizes less invasive approaches with less procedural morbidity and mortality. The procedural steps and clinical benefits of the transcatheter transapical mitral valve annuloplasty (AMEND mitral repair implant) and transcatheter transapical chordal repair systems (Neochord DS 1000 device and Harpoon Mitral Valve Repair System) are reviewed in this manuscript.

We first report a successful transcatheter aortic valve implantation using J-Valve system in an elder patient with high-risk pure aortic regurgitation (PAR) and type III endoleak after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR).

Coronary ostial aneurysm is one of the complications after aortic root replacement especially in Marfan syndrome. How to reconstruct the coronary arteries is important problems during reoperation. Herein, we report a case of coronary artery bypass grafting using radial artery to repair bilateral coronary ostial aneurysms after aortic root replacement in a patient with Marfan syndrome.

Title Page:Title: Letter To The Editor: Long-Term Renal Function After Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.Article Type: Letter To The EditorCorrespondence: 1. Rohit KumarContact No: +923332669103 Email: [email protected]: Dow Medical CollegeAddress: Baba-e-urdu road, KarachiCo-Authors: 2. Sunil KumarContact No: +923008088669. Email: [email protected]: Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences.Word Count: 476Conflict of interest : NoneAcknowledgment : NoneDeclaration: NoneDisclosure : NoneFunding : None

Background: The radial artery (RA) is often utilized for diagnostic coronary angiography and percutaneous intervention. Recent high-level evidence supports RA use in preference to saphenous vein as a conduit for coronary revascularization. Aim: To demonstrate gross and histologic changes of the RA following transradial access. Methods: We present two patients who had open RA harvest for coronary bypass surgery after transradial catheterization. Results: Examination 8 years after transradial catheterization demonstrated thickened intima and dissection, and examination 12 years following transradial catheterization with percutaneous coronary intervention demonstrated chronic dissection with thickened intima and near occlusion of the lumen. Conclusion: Transradial access via the RA, even after several years, is associated significant injury, making it unusable as a conduit for surgical coronary revascularization. A RA that has been utilized for catheterization should not be considered for coronary revascularization.

Ever since the adoption of the newest heart allocation system in the Fall of 2018, clinicians have grappled with the safest method of utilizing temporary mechanical circulatory support to get patients successfully to transplantation. In unique patients that do not have a durable left ventricular assist device as a therapeutic option and have not had a full work-up for transplantation consideration, the establishment of ambulatory extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is an attractive solution.

The ascending aorta and arch have until recently been one of the last bastions of cardiovascular surgery, where life-threatening diseases impose the need for prompt correction and reversal of the impending adverse prognosis. Though a disease where dogmatic recommendations prevail, with upfront surgical intervention in the mind of every physician, type A acute aortic dissection (AAD) is a subject still blurred by many uncertainties. Endovascular intervention for the treatment of type A AAD are rapidly progressing and utilization of transcatheter therapies in the ascending aorta for treating type A AAD has demonstrated technical success in small studies, low early mortality rates, and relatively acceptable aorta-related mortality rates in the long-term. These findings strengthen the preponderant role of the endovascular heart surgeon on the management of these procedures, where a combination of wire skill training and surgical proficiency encompassing all technical options available makes it distinctive and resourceful, able to provide complete resolution to each multicomponent of this disease in one setting, besides the promptness to repair the inherent complications that are to accompany these interventions. Transcatheter procedures and open surgery are to coexist side by side and to be regarded as complementary rather than competing. Substantial more refinement and technological innovation will be necessary before endovascular repair of type A AAD comes to widespread use, the ideal timespan for cardiovascular surgeons to be involved, and prepared to take on the challenges of leading this new enterprise.

Lipoblastoma is a rare, benign, fatty tissue tumour that occurs in infancy and early childhood. Intrathoracic and mediastinal involvement of this tumour is rare, and an intracardiac location is even rarer. In this study, we report the case of a 15-month-old girl who presented with a tumour in the pulmonary valve. A complete resection of the tumour was undertaken, with a histopathology report confirming the diagnosis of lipoblastoma.

The results of a meta-analysis are more than just the reported odds ratio, 95% confidence interval, and P value. Of equal importance is the fine print of the study which should include assessment of risk of bias, certainty in evidence, and heterogeneity in the individual point estimates and confidence intervals. These areas all have influence on the quality of the data in the analysis. Reading and understanding the fine print is important.

Title : Submitral Aneurysm: Exploring a Rare PathologyAuthors : Kellen Round BS1, Jake L. Rosen BA1, Colin C. Yost BA1, T. Sloane Guy MD, MBA21Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, 1025 Walnut St #100, Philadelphia, PA 191072Division of Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Curtis Bldg, Ste 620, 1015 Walnut St Philadelphia, PA 19107Running Title: Submitral Aneurysm Commentary

Title: Bicuspid Aortic Valve: Progression of Stenosis and Clinical RelevanceRunning Head: Progression of Stenosis in Bicuspid Aortic ValveAuthors: Saqib Masroor, MD, MBA, MHSUniversity of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic SurgeryMeeting Presentation: NoneDisclosure: NoneWord Count: 717

Background VIV-TAVR is established and provides good initial clinical and hemodynamic outcomes. Lacking long-term durability data baffle the expand to lower risk patients. For those purposes, the present study adds a hemodynamic 3-years follow-up. Methods A total of 77 patients underwent VIV-TAVR for failing aortic bioprosthesis during a 7-years period. Predominant mode of failure was stenosis in 87.0%. Patients had a mean age of 79.4±5.8 years and a mean logistic EuroSCORE of 30.8±15.7%. The STS-PROM averaged 5.79±2.63%. Clinical results and hemodynamic outcomes are reported for 30-days, 1-, 2- and 3-years. Completeness of follow-up was 100% with 44 patients at risk after 3-years. Follow-up ranged up to 7.1 years. Results Majority of the surgical valves were stented (94.8%) with a mean labeled size of 23.1±2.3mm and true-ID of 20.4±2.6mm. A true-ID ≤21mm had 58.4% of the patients. Self-expanding valves were implanted in 68.8% (mean labeled size 24.1±1.8mm) and balloon-expanded in 31.2% (mean size 24.1±1.8mm). No patient died intraoperatively. Hospital mortality was 1.3% and three-years survival 57.1%. All patients experienced an initial significant dPmean-reduction to 16.8±7.1mmHg. After 3-years mean dPmean raised to 26.0±12.2mmHg. This observation was independent from true-ID or type of TAVR-prosthesis. Patients with a true-ID ≤21mm had a higher initial (18.3±5.3mmHg vs. 14.9±7.1mmHg; p=0.005) and dPmean after 1-year (29.2±8.2mmHg vs. 13.0±6.7mmHg; p=0.004). There were no significant differences in survival. Conclusions VIV-TAVR is safe and effective in the early period. In surgical valves with a true-ID≤21mm inferior hemodynamic and survival outcomes must be expected. Nonetheless, also patients with larger true-ID’s showed steadily increasing transvalvular gradients. This raises concern about durability.

Aorto-Pulmonary Mismatch (APM) in Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) may be accountable for dilatation of neoaortic root and regurgitation of neoaortic valve as late complications of ASO. The manuscript from Arcieri et al. highlights an important aspect about ASO technique: should we approach APM during ASO and what would be the best strategy to do so? Techniques to approach APM at the time of ASO have been published sporadically and are very rarely employed by surgeons. Reconstruction of the neoaorta is generally achieved by trimming of the suture line between pulmonary root (neoaortic root) and ascending aorta resulting in an abnormal dilated and bulky neoaortic root already at the time of ASO. Reduction of the pulmonary root dimension by ressection of a fragment of the pulmonary artery wall possibly results in a more homogenous neoaorta with consequent better hemodynamics. We believe that approaching APM during ASO will have a compelling positive impact in the late survival of the patients with complex TGA.

Since the first in-human implantation, trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has shown an exciting development in both technical and technological terms, becoming the standard of care for many patients, even not only inoperable ones. Although trans-femoral (TF) access has the scepter of first-line route for TAVR, in some cases, this access is not feasible, so several alternative routes were introduces over time. The network meta-analysis by Hameed et al has the great merit to provide a comprehensive picture. Hence, through either direct and indirect comparison, the authors confirmed as TF is the gold standard as access, followed by trans-carotid and trans-subclavian. Conversely, trans-thoracic (trans apical and trans-aortic) routes are the least safe and should be reserved only to sporadic cases.

Redo cardiac surgery can present a unique set of challenges even to the experienced surgeon. Although outcomes have steadily improved in the modern era; if an intraoperative adverse event occurs, there is a 5% incidence of mortality and 19% incidence of myocardial infarction, stroke or death [(1)](#ref-0001). Overall, the modern incidence of mortality at reoperation varies but be segregated into low and higher risk cohorts depending on the planning computed tomography imaging and risk to substernal structures on re-entry [(2, 3)](#ref-0002). Patients with ascending aortic or root pseudoaneurysms represent a particularly difficult subset of high-risk patients requiring re-operative cardiac surgery due to the danger of exsanguination and air embolization [(4)](#ref-0004). Some surgeons advocate the use of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) to achieve safe re-entry in such cases however this can result in unpredictable DHCA duration depending on the degree of pericardial adhesions [(5)](#ref-0005). We report a case of aortic pseudoaneurysm in a patient with patent coronary grafts managed using an endoballoon precisely positioned relative to the proximal anastomoses resulting in a safe surgical re-entry and shorter DHCA time.

Understanding the heterogeneity of “mitral atresia” with patent aortic root

Background: Presently, there are limited reports in the literature on the post-operative (mid-term) clinical outcome for pure Aortic Regurgitation (AR) following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR). Methods: Between March 2014 and June 2019, a total of 134 high-risk patients with pure, symptomatic severe AR patients were enrolled in the current study. The outcome was assessed according to the VARC-2 criteria. Procedural results, clinical outcomes, and the patients’ hemodynamics for a period of 1-year were analyzed. Results: Patient mean was 73.1±6.4 years and 25.4% were female. The average STS score was 9.8+5.3%. Procedural success was 97.1% (130/134), and the device success rate was 96.3% (129/134). Five cases were converted to open surgery, while two patients underwent valvular reinterventions (surgical aortic valve replacement for thrombosis and increasing paravalvular regurgitation). The mean aortic valve gradient was 10.2±4.1 mmHg, while the moderate and severe aortic regurgitation was 1.6% at 1 year. Paravalvular regurgitation was none/trivial in 79.8% and mild in 18.5%. The 1-year all-cause mortality rate was 7.4%. At 1-year, the stroke incidence rate was 2.2%. And pacemaker was implanted in 8.9% of the enrolled patients. Conclusions: In high-risk patients undergoing transapical-TAVR for AR, the use of the J-Valve is safe and effective TAVR should be considered as a reasonable option for high-risk patients with pure AR.

Aorto-tracheal fistulas are rare and highly lethal, with few reports of successful surgical intervention. We present a 48 year old man with aorto-tracheal fistula induced by radiation therapy for tracheal squamous cell carcinoma. He presented with hemoptysis and chest pain and workup revealed the aorta-tracheal fistula between the posterior aortic arch and anterior distal trachea. He was emergently taken to surgery. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an aorto-tracheal fistula successfully treated with a transverse aortic arch replacement and complex tracheal repair using autologous pericardium with an omental buttress.