Value of qualitative angiographic grading in aortic regurgitation

The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of angiographic grading of regurgitation in patients with aortic regurgitation (AR). In 204 adult patients (149 men, 55 women, aged 51 +/- 13 years) with AR, the forward cardiac index was measured by the indicator dilution technique, and the left ventricular angiographic index by the area length method, from which the regurgitant stroke index and the percentage of regurgitation were calculated. In 80 other patients without regurgitation, there was a good correlation between forward and angiographic cardiac indices (r = 0.83, P less than 0.001). Aortic regurgitation graded on a 1-4 scale was, in the 204 patients with AR, correlated with the percentage and the volume of regurgitation (respectively r = 0.87, P less than 0.001 and r = 0.92, P less than 0.001). The regurgitant stroke index and the percentage of regurgitation were significantly different from one group to another (P less than 0.001). However, there was a range in amount of regurgitation within each grade and an overlap from one grade to another. There were no differences in regurgitant stroke index or in the percentage of regurgitation when patients were categorized according to LV end-diastolic or endsystolic volume, LV ejection fraction, forward cardiac index or intracardiac pressure.

[Traumatic tricuspid insufficiency. Apropos of a case treated by conservative surgery]

Traumatic tricuspid insufficiency is a rare condition which raises the problem of when and how should its surgical correction be performed. Its diagnosis has been considerably facilitated by echocardiography. We report a case of traumatic tricuspid insufficiency with extensive lesions of the tricuspid valve system, which was diagnosed after a 15-year period without functional signs. Echocardiography and Doppler ultrasounds provided very accurate information on the lesions. Optimal correction was obtained by conservative surgery. The excellent results observed at short and medium term suggest that surgical indications should be extended.

[Results of valvular replacement in chronic or paucisymptomatic aortic insufficiency. Apropos of 79 patients]

The aim of this study was to assess the outcome of 79 patients operated for chronic, pure, severe aortic incompetence with little or no symptoms (Grades I or II of the NYHA Classification). The average age of the patients was 42 years (range 14 to 76 years) and the average follow-up period was 59.4 months (range 3 to 190 months). The preoperative left ventricular volumes on angiography were: end diastolic volume 224 +/- 47 ml/m2, end systolic volume 121 +/- 39 ml/m2. The ejection fraction was 48 +/- 10 p. 100. Forty two mechanical prostheses and 37 bioprostheses were implanted. There were no operative deaths. The 8 year survival rate was 87 p. 100. Ninety four per cent of the survivors remained asymptomatic; 91 p. 100 have had no thromboembolic complications and 90 p. 100 have not been reoperated. The incidence of myocardial dysfunction was 8.8 p. 100 during this period. The most significant poor prognostic factor was a preoperative ejection fraction of less than 40 p. 100. These results show that early surgery in patients with aortic incompetence and little or no symptoms has a low operative risk and a low incidence of late myocardial dysfunction despite severe left ventricular dilatation with decreased left ventricular function.

[Tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) in myocardial infarction. Biological aspects]

A group of 37 patients with myocardial infarction less than 6 hours old was given 5,000 IU of heparin and 0.75 mg/kg of tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) (Group A, N = 18) or placebo (Group B, N = 19) intravenously over 90 minutes in a double blind study. Blood sampling was performed before, during and after treatment. The plasma rt-PA concentrations (micrograms/ml) of Group A were as follows: (Table: see text) The concentrations of plasminogen and antiplasmin have decreased significantly as did the fibrinogen level: a concentration of 1 g/l was observed in 7 cases during rt-PA therapy, lasting for 4 to 8 hours after the end of the infusion of rt-PA in 3 cases. The increase of FDP during rt-PA (m = 551 and 222 micrograms/ml at the 60th and 90th minutes) was relatively moderate considering the average level of defibrination (61%). No significant biological changes were observed in Group B. These results support those of our in vitro trials: at comparable thrombolytic activities, the reduction of plasma fibrinogen is less with rt-PA than with streptokinase (SK) or urokinase (UK). However, at concentrations 1 microgram/ml, rt-PA causes almost complete defibrination.

[Potential course of lesions of the ascending aorta in dystrophic aortic insufficiency]

Dystrophic aortic insufficiencies represent at present time an important etiology of operated on pure and voluminous aortic regurgitations (n = 95, i.e. 28.1% of cases followed by our working team). The valvular dysplasic lesions by which they are characterized were associated in 2 out of 3 cases with parietal lesions of the ascending aorta: annulo-ectasic disease (n = 42) or important non-aneurysmal dilatation of the ascending aorta (n = 20). However, these valvular dysplasias may also appear isolated in an aorta morphologically normal at peroperative examination (n = 33). Among the 42 patients suffering from, annulo-ectasic disease (group 1) the type of surgical correction varied with the period of operation. Valvular replacement isolated (n = 3, group 1 a) or associated with aortic supracoronary surgery (n = 17, group 1b) were the procedures before 1978. Since then, 22 patients (group 1c) had a total replacement of the ascending aorta were subjected to valvular interventions (19 replacements, 1 valvuloplasty). When performed, parietal biopsy of the aorta showed in 11 out of 15 cases signs of cystic medio-necrosis. After a delay of 53 +/- 40 months, 11 out of 20 patients of group 1a and 1b died, 5 of them from the evolution of lesions at the ascending aorta (3 ruptures and 2 dissections); one patient was reoperated 12 years after the placing of a supracoronary tube, because of the development of a voluminous aneurysm of the sinuses of Valvalva which initially were only simply dilated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Results and indications of coronarography in mitral valvulopathies]

Selective coronary angiography was carried out in 110 patients (68 women, 42 men; average age 57 +/- 8 years) with significant, isolated, non-ischaemic mitral valve disease. The indication for coronary angiography was angina or myocardial infarction in 42 cases and the investigation was carried out routinely in the other 68 cases. Coronary stenosis greater than 50 p. 100 was demonstrated in 25 cases (22.7 p. 100), 18 single vessel, 5 double or triple vessel disease and 2 cases of stenosis of the left main stem. The incidence of coronary artery disease was higher in patients with cardiovascular risk factors (0 factors: 13 p. 100; 1 factor: 22 p. 100, 2 or 3 factors: 45 p. 100; p less than 0.01). The coronary patients had higher mean pulmonary artery pressures (33 +/- 16 mmHg vs 25 +/- 8 mmHg, p 0.001), higher left ventricular end diastolic pressures (12.5 +/- 7 mmHg vs 9 +/- 5 mmHg, p less than 0.01) and greater left ventricular end diastolic volumes (83 + 40 ml/m2 vd 59 +/- 29 ml/m2, p less than 0.01). There was no difference in segmental wall motion between coronary and non coronary patients. 89 patients were referred for surgery, 17 of whom had coronary artery disease. 5 patients underwent coronary bypass surgery. The incidence of peroperative cardiac complications (low output, ventricular arrhythmias, myocardial infarction) was higher in the coronary patients (53 p. 100 vs 18 p. 100, p less than 0.01). The 6 year survival rate was 75 +/- 8 p. 100.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Thromboembolic and haemorrhagic risk in mechanical and biological aortic prostheses

Thromboembolism, valve thrombosis and haemorrhagic events have been compared in 356 Starr-Edwards (SE) 1260, 113 Björk-Shiley (BS), and 178 aortic bioprostheses operated upon between 1968 and 1982, and reviewed by the same group with less than 2% of patients lost of follow-up. Expressed in actuarial rate at 7 years the percentage of patients free of thromboembolism event is 87% for SE, 86% for BS, 94% for bioprostheses; the linearized rate is 2.9%/patient/year for SE, 2.2 for BS, 1.9 for bioprostheses (NS). Valve thrombosis was not observed in bioprostheses; 97.9% of patients with mechanical valves were free of valve thrombosis at 6.5 years. Haemorrhagic risk was lower with bioprostheses than with mechanical valves 0.2% patient/year vs 2.33 (P less than 0.005). The most important factor influencing thromboembolic and haemorrhagic risks is the quality of anticoagulant therapy. Other contributing factors are the date of the operation and associated mitral disease.

[Valve replacement, a possible factor in myocardial deterioration]

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) may be a cause of myocardial damage in a small number of patients undergoing valve replacement (4 out of 1576 valve replacements). The responsibility of CPB can only be presumed when: the degree of myocardial dysfunction after surgery can be quantified, other causes of myocardial dysfunction are excluded. the type of valvular disease is taken into consideration. Variations in load after correction of certain lesions (mitral regurgitation) makes changes of LV systolic function difficult to interpret. The first case concerned a 23 year old patient operated for aortic regurgitation (Björk prosthesis) under local and general hypothermia and followed-up for 1 year after surgery. Ventricular extrasystoles and left bundle branch block were observed during surgery and radiological and echocardiographic LV dilatation persisted with deterioration of echographic, isotopic, haemodynamic and angiographic parameters of LV function: ejection fraction fell from 62% before surgery to 35% with diffuse hypokinesia and persistent LV dilatation (191 vs 188 ml). In the absence of prosthetic valve dysfunction, associated valve lesions or coronary artery disease, LV deterioration was attributed to CPB and inadequate myocardial protection. In two other cases (60 and 62 years) correction of aortic stenosis (Starr 1260) with coronary perfusion was followed by cardiac failure with left bundle branch block, deterioration of LV function, and death after 3 years in one case and precarious survival at 10 years in the other. In a fourth case (mixed mitral valve disease corrected by a Starr prosthesis under aortic clamping), the variation of cardiac load before and after surgery made changes in LV function difficult to interpret. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Role of antidiuretic hormone in impaired water excretion of patients with congestive heart failure

Plasma antidiuretic hormone (ADH), PRA, plasma osmolality, and the parameters of renal water excretion were measured after overnight dehydration and for 5 h after an oral load in 14 patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) treated with diuretics (group 1), 8 hypertensive patients without CHF also treated with diuretics (group 2), and 11 patients with coronary artery disease but without CHF who were not treated with diuretics (group 3). Under basal conditions, mean plasma osmolality was lower in group 1 than in group 3, but was not different in groups 1 and 2. Mean plasma ADH was higher in group 1 than in group 2 or 3. In response to the water load, plasma osmolality and plasma ADH levels decreased in the 3 groups. ADH levels remained significantly greater in group 1 than in groups 2 and 3 from 2-4 h after the water load despite more marked hypoosmolality in group 1 compared with that in either of the 2 control groups. Plasma ADH was significantly correlated with plasma osmolality only in the 2 control groups. Mean PRA was greater in patients with CHF and patients without CHF treated with diuretics than in untreated patients. Cumulative water excretion was lower in patients with CHF than in patients in the 2 control groups from 2-5 h after the water load. At 5 h, the mean percentage excretion of the ingested loads was 56.8%, 90.7%, and 91.2% in the patients of groups 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Free water clearance was lower and minimal urinary osmolality was greater in the patients with CHF than in those in the 2 control groups. Two patients with CHF, who excreted more than 75% of the water load, also had low plasma basal ADH levels. These data show that patients with CHF have an inappropriate response of plasma ADH to a marked fall in plasma osmolality. This disorder is not due to the diuretic therapy, since hypertensive patients treated with diuretics behaved similarly to untreated patients without CHF. The reasons for this inappropriate response of plasma ADH during a water load in patients with CHF are probably multifactorial.

[Subvalvular aortic stenosis in adults. Apropos of 31 cases]

The aim of this cooperative study was to analyse the clinical profile of subvalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) in adults. Thirty one cases were collected : patients aged 17 to 60 years (average 34 years). The diagnosis was confirmed in all patients either at surgery (30 cases) or at autopsy (1 case). The overall incidence of SVAS in patients with fixed obstruction to left ventricular ejection operated in the same period was 3.5%. Associated congenital malformations were detected in 15% of cases but intracardiac shunts were rare. Adult SVAS is a purer malformation than in children, probably because of spontaneous and surgical selection. The anatomical type of stenosing lesion in this series was a subaortic ring or membrane; 45% of patients, usually over 40 years of age (7 out of 9) had localised septal hypertrophy at the level of the diaphragmatic obstruction. The clinical presentation was that of mixed aortic disease with associated stenosis and regurgitation. Over 80% of patients had aortic incompetence diagnosed clinically (26 out of 31 cases) or on aortography (24 out of 25 cases); the regurgitant flow was assessed as mild in 15 cases, moderate in 6 cases and severe in 3 cases. There were obvious valvular lesions at surgery in 19 cases, especially in patients over 40 years of age (8 out of 9 cases). The mechanism was variable : non-specific (8 cases), destructive (6 cases), rheumatic (2 cases) or congenital (3 cases). Bacterial endocarditis was particularly common (26% of cases). Adult SVAS is a particularly difficult clinical diagnosis : the electrocardiogram and chest X-ray are not very informative.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Unusual development of ventricular aneurysms. Echocardiographic diagnosis]

Two cases of posterior left ventricular aneurysms compressing the left atrium diagnosed by 2D echocardiography are reported. The diagnosis was made on visualisation of an abnormal intra-left atrial cavity, contiguous with the mitral ring, exhibiting systolic expansion, which could not be opacified by peripheral venous injection of echo-contrast.

[Role of surgery in the treatment of chronic aortic insufficiency]

The long-term prognostic factors which determine the indications for surgery are studied on the basis of a series of 198 cases operated for chronic aortic incompetence, in terms of their influence on the actuarial long-term mortality rate due to heart disease and irreversible myocardial dysfunction. The mortality in the first month after surgery is 5 per cent. The factors which significantly modify the long-term outcome of operated patients are clinical (cardiomegaly, degree of preoperative heart failure, ventricular extrasystole, functional grade) and haemodynamic (mean pulmonary artery pressure, end-systolic and-end diastolic left ventricular pressures, left ventricular ejection fraction). Multifactorial studies have shown that ventricular dilatation is the most important prognostic factor. Left ventricular function is severely altered, even in patients with few or no symptoms, but, in the absence of marked functional disturbance, the prognosis is usually good, whatever the repercussions on the myocardium. Surgery should be performed routinely in patients with severe functional disturbance, in the absence of reliable individual criteria capable of predicting when the indications have been exceeded. Surgery is also legitimate in patients with few or no symptoms when investigations reveal severe effects on the left ventricular function.

[Aneurysm of the interauricular septum and operated left-right shunt. Echocardiographic aspects]

The echocardiographic appearances of a patient with a rare congenital malformation, interatrial septal aneurysm (IASA) associated with a hemodynamically significant left-to-right shunt, are described. A 52 year old man with Noonan's syndrome was admitted to hospital for atrial flutter with right heart failure, which, on investigation, led to the diagnosis of a rare type of atrial septal defect; 2D echocardiography showed an isolated aneurysm of the interatrial septum; cardiac catheterisation demonstrated a significant left-to-right (5 volumes of oxygen per 100 ml). The patient underwent surgery which confirmed the presence of a multiperforated aneurysm of the interatrial septum in the region of the fossa ovalis. This abnormality was resected and the interatrial defect closed; there were no postoperative complications and the cardiomegaly regressed significantly. The authors underline the M mode and 2D appearances of this condition; although it may be difficult on M mode examination to distinguish an IASA from other conditions giving rise to mobile intra-right atrial echos, such as Chiari's malformation, tricuspid valve vegetations, intraatrial tumour or thrombus or Eustachian valve, 2D examination using different incidences and contrast injections generally confirms the diagnosis. Surgery is often necessary after the detection of this echocardiographic abnormality: the surgical indications are described.

High plasma antidiuretic hormone in patients with cardiac failure: influence of age

Plasma antidiuretic hormone (ADH) was greater in patients with cardiac failure than in healthy subjects. Plasma ADH increased significantly with age in both groups. Covariance analysis showed that the difference between patients and controls occurred whatever the age. Plasma sodium and plasma osmolality were lower in cardiac patients than in healthy subjects. This showed that increase in plasma ADH observed in patients was inappropriate since it coexisted with inhibitory levels of plasma osmolality. Plasma creatinine was greater in cardiac patients than in healthy subjects and for each group in elderly than in young people. But there was no significant correlation between plasma ADH and creatinine. This suggested that increase in plasma ADH observed in cardiac failure was due more to an augmented release than to a diminished catabolism. No clear influence of etiology, severity, length of the disease and treatment with diuretics could be demonstrated.

[Relationship between symptoms and hemodynamics in aortic insufficiency (author's transl)]

To determine the relationship between functional classes (NYHA) and hemodynamics in patients (pts) with chronic aortic insufficiency, indices of left ventricular (LV) function derived from hemodynamic and biplane left cineventriculographic data were compared with the clinical status in 51 AI pts, including 15 pts in class I, 26 pts in class II and 10 pts in class III. Regurgitant fraction (0.55 +/- 0.15 mean +/- SD), cardiac index (3.1 +/- 0.7 l/mn/m2) and LV end-diastolic pressure (14 +/- 7 mmHg) were of the same order of magnitude in 3 classes patients. A significant correlation was evidenced between functional classes and 1/LV ejection fraction (0.53 +/- 0.13, 0.50 +/- 0.39, 0.42 +/- 0.17 in class I, II, III pts, respectively, p less than 0.04), 2/LV end-systolic volume (88 +/- 48, 90 +/- 31, 138 +/- 68 ml/m2 in class I, II and III pts, respectively p less than 0.02), 3/ and LV mass (168 +/- 57, 204 +/- 94, 291 +/- 128 g/m2 in class I, II and III pts respectively, p less than 0.003). Only the latter parameter could discriminate symptomatic from asymptomatic AI pts.

[Operated aortic stenosis. Evaluation of the long-term prognosis using clinical and hemodynamic parameters in a series of 249 cases]

The long-term results and the prognostic factors in aortic valve replacement for aortic stenosis were assessed from a series of 249 operated cases (comprising 199 pure or dominant stenosis and 50 mixed aortic lesions) followed up for a maximal period of 9 years. The postoperative survival rate, 71% at 5 years, 62,6% at 8 years, including the operative mortality, is better than in a comparable series of pure chronic aortic incompetence (58% at 5 years) despite a higher average age. In the same age group the difference is significant at the 6th year. However, no difference was observed between mixed aortic disease and aortic stenosis. Irreversible myocardial dysfunction is relatively rare (6,6% of survivors at 1 month, 24% of poor results or late deaths) and much less common than in aortic incompetence of which it represents the main cause of failure. Even in these cases, prolonged symptomatic improvement may be observed. 3 prognostic factors affect the operative and late mortality. They act to variable degrees and independantly of each other. They are : age, cardiomegaly and heart failure. The actuarial 5 year survival is: 81,77% and 53% for under 50, 50 to 65 and over 65 years age group respectively; 88%, 78% and 48% for cardiothoracic ratios of less than 0,50, between 0,50 and 0,58 and greater than 0,58 respectively; 83%, 65% and 47% for patients without signs of heart failure, with a history of pulmonary oedema, and with a history of congestive cardiac failure respectively. These results encourage a liberal attitude towards surgery, even in old patients with severe valvular lesions.

[Surgically treated chronic aortic valve insufficiency. Long term results. Surgical indications]

The timing of surgery in chronic aortic regurgitation depends to a large extent on the operative results that may be expected in this type of valve disease. In 88 cases of chronic aortic regurgitation submitted to surgery there were 6 operative deaths (6.8%). Five years after operation the actuarial survival was 58% for the whole of the group and 68% for cases of rheumatic aortic regurgitation. Analysis of the causes of failures, late deaths, persistence or recurrence of severe impairment of activity, and of serious disturbances of ventricular rhythm, showed that the most important cause was myocardial dysfunction, which was responsible for two thirds of the bad results. Analysis of the late prognosis as a function of the various pre-operative parameters revealed the bad influence of cardiomegaly as measured by radiological examination (cardio-thoracic ratio and cineangiography) and of disturbances in left ventricular function. The actuarial survival curves showed very significant differences according to whether the cardiothoracic ratio was greater or smaller than 58%, and according to the amount of heart failure pre-operatively. Similarly, an end-diastolic volume index of 240 ml/m2 and an ejection fraction less than. 40 seemed to be serious findings. These facts, taken in conjunction with the natural history of this valve lesion, suggest that the indications for surgery should not only be symptomatic aortic regurgitation but also well tolerated regurgitation in which cardiomegaly, end-diastolic volume and/or the ejection fraction have reached a certain level.

[The risk of hemorrhage versus the thromboembolic risk in patients with prosthetic valve]

376 adults were followed up for between 2 and 153 months after surgery (mean: 3.8 years); all of them, with the exception of 8, received anticoagulant treatment. The results were subjected to statistical analysis using several tests. Thromboembolic complications occurred in 16 per 100 after 5 years, and 8.5. per 100 of them were fatal. Among the factors favoring this complication are the type of valvular disorder (the rate of throembolism being 4 times greater with mitral valve defects), the type of prosthesis, and the efficiency of the anticoagulant therapy (the risk of thromboembolism being four times greater in those patients whose treatment has been inneffective). Against the vitamin antagonists must be set the haemorrhages: the incidence of lethal haemorrhage in this series was 6.4 per 100 patients per treatment year. There was a proven hypoprothrombinaemia to below the desirable level in two thirds of these cases, and in one case out of four an additional predisposing factor could be demonstrated. Haemorrhage and thromboembolism are together responsible for one in four of the late deaths. In order to reduce the mortality, several solutions are considered, one of which is to utilise anti-aggregation treatment. However, the vitamin K antagonists remain an essential part of treatment in the majority of cases; it can only be justifiable to withhold them in those patients in whom the risks of haemorrhage are for various reasons considered to be too high. The introduction of biological valves or of valves with a lessened risk of embolism is highly desirable in such cases.

[Valve replacement by ball prosthesis. Study of risk factors]

245 patients had consecutive operations for replacement of a valve by a ball-valve prosthesis in the aortic position (114) in the mitral position (91), or in more than one position (40) between 1970 and March 1973. The operative mortality was 14.3% (9.5% if emergency operations are excluded). A statistical study of the risk factors has shown the relatively minor influence of the patients' preoperative status (age, NYHA functional classification, cardiomegaly, mean pulmonary arterial pressure, mean capillary pressure) and of the conditions during surgery (duration of extacorporeal circulation, size of the prosthesis). The majority of the early deaths (19 deaths out of 35) occur as part of a syndrome of low cardiac output (9) and/or of a severe disorder of ventricular rhythm (11). 9 of the 14 post-mortem examinations on such patients showed a haemorrhagic subendocardial lesion and/or, in 4, an intracardiac thrombosis on the prosthesis. The coronary arteries were normal (14), or slightly atheromatous (1). The histological picture is one of a haemorrhagic interstitial infiltration mainly in the subendocardial layers. The late failures (secondary deaths and poor results) are essentially related with poor preoperative status (age, functional classification, cardiothoracic ratio) or with complications which would be treatable given proper and regular follow-up supervision of the patients (porsthesis which pulls away or fails to function, thromboembolic accident, coronary complication).