Outcomes following surgical revascularization with single versus bilateral internal thoracic arterial grafts in patients with left main coronary artery disease undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting: insights from the EXCEL trial†

2022 Joint ESC/EACTS review of the 2018 guideline recommendations on the revascularization of left main coronary artery disease in patients at low surgical risk and anatomy suitable for PCI or CABG

In October 2021, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) jointly agreed to establish a Task Force (TF) to review recommendations of the 2018 ESC/EACTS Guidelines on myocardial revascularization as they apply to patients with left main (LM) disease with low-to-intermediate SYNTAX score (0-32). This followed the withdrawal of support by the EACTS in 2019 for the recommendations about the management of LM disease of the previous guideline. The TF was asked to review all new relevant data since the 2018 guidelines including updated aggregated data from the four randomized trials comparing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents vs. coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with LM disease. This document represents a summary of the work of the TF; suggested updated recommendations for the choice of revascularization modality in patients undergoing myocardial revascularization for LM disease are included. In stable patients with an indication for revascularization for LM disease, with coronary anatomy suitable for both procedures and a low predicted surgical mortality, the TF concludes that both treatment options are clinically reasonable based on patient preference, available expertise, and local operator volumes. The suggested recommendations for revascularization with CABG are Class I, Level of Evidence A. The recommendations for PCI are Class IIa, Level of Evidence A. The TF recognized several important gaps in knowledge related to revascularization in patients with LM disease and recognizes that aggregated data from the four randomized trials were still only large enough to exclude large differences in mortality.

The effect of the multiple arterial grafts compared with single arterial graft for coronary artery bypass grafting on sternal wound complications: A meta-analysis

A meta-analysis investigation was executed to measure the influence of multiple arterial grafts (MAGs) compared with single arterial graft (SAG) for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) on sternal wound complications (SWCs). A comprehensive literature inspection till February 2023 was applied and 1048 interrelated investigations were reviewed. The seven chosen investigations enclosed 11 201 individuals with CABG in the chosen investigations' starting point, 4870 of them were using MAGs, and 6331 were using SAG. Odds ratio (OR) in addition to 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were utilised to compute the value of the effect of the MAGs compared with SAG for CABG on SWCs by the dichotomous approaches and a fixed or random model. MAGs had significantly higher SWC (OR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.10-1.73, P = .005) compared with those with SAG in CABG. MAGs had significantly higher SWC compared with those with SAG in CABG. However, care must be exercised when dealing with its values because of the low number of selected investigations for the meta-analysis.

Risk factors for major adverse cardiovascular events after coronary artery bypass grafting using radial artery grafts

Background

Coronary artery bypass grafting using radial artery grafts (RA-CABG) has improved long-term outcomes. However, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE-4, including all-cause death, myocardial infarction, stroke, and repeat revascularization) after RA-CABG still occur and the predictors remain uncertain. This study aimed to detect independent risk factors of MACE-4 after RA-CABG.

Methods

This is a retrospective case-control study (NCT04935086) conducted among patients who underwent primary isolated RA-CABG between 2009 and 2019 in our center. Baseline characteristics, procedure characteristics, and medication use were compared to identify the independent predictors of MACE-4, all-cause death, and myocardial infarction (MI) with univariate and then multivariate logistic regression.

Results

A total of 370 patients were analyzed using a mean follow-up duration of 48.8 ± 41.0 months. MACE-4, all-cause death, and MI occurred in 102 (27.6%), 27 (7.3%), and 66 patients (17.8%), respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed prior MI (OR = 2.12, 95%CI 1.05-4.25, P = 0.04) and RA to the left anterior descending artery (LAD) (non-left internal mammary artery to LAD) (OR = 4.87, 95%CI 1.41-16.82, P = 0.01) as independent predictors of MACE-4 after surgery. Female (OR = 4.53, 95%CI 1.06-19.41, P = 0.04), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) <40% (OR = 21.00, 95%CI 1.20-368.35, P = 0.04), and RA to LAD (OR = 8.55, 95%CI 1.35-54.10, P = 0.02) were independent predictors of all-cause death. Prior MI (OR = 3.11, 95%CI 1.40-6.94, P = 0.006) emerged as an independent predictor of MI.

Conclusion

Our data suggested that prior MI and RA to LAD were independent predictors of MACE-4 after RA-CABG. Being female, having an LVEF < 40% and RA to LAD indicated death. Prior MI indicated new MI.

Bypass Grafting to Circumflex: Left Internal Thoracic Artery versus Saphenous Vein

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to compare the short- and long-term outcomes of saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) and in situ left internal thoracic artery (LITA) grafts to the left circumflex artery (LCX) territory.

METHODS

This study included 678 patients who underwent LITA-left anterior descending (LAD) + SVG-LCX grafts and 286 patients who underwent right internal thoracic artery (RITA)-LAD + in situ LITA-LCX grafts from January 2002 to December 2020. Short-term and long-term clinical outcomes were compared using inverse probability of treatment weighting adjustment to reduce selection bias.

RESULTS

In-hospital mortality was significantly higher for the SVG-LCX group (p = 0.008), whereas deep sternal wound infection was significantly higher in the LITA-LCX group (p = 0.013).Survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 83.12 and 71.45% in the SVG-LCX group, whereas 75.24 and 65.54% in the LITA-LCX group (log-rank p = 0.114). Rates of freedom from cardiac events at 5 and 10 years were 92.82 and 85.24% in the SVG-LCX group, whereas 94.89 and 89.46% in the LITA-LCX group (log-rank p = 0.179).Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that proximal severe stenosis was significantly protective against graft dysfunction before discharge (odds ratio, 0.43; 95% confidence interval, 0.23-0.81).

CONCLUSION

Deep sternal wound infection was significantly higher for LITA to LCX bypass whereas in-hospital mortality was higher for SVG to LCX. In situ LITA to LCX bypass grafting exhibited similar long-term outcomes with SVG to LCX bypass grafting in adjusted patient cohorts. Proximal severe stenosis of LCX was protective against graft dysfunction.

2022 Joint ESC/EACTS review of the 2018 guideline recommendations on the revascularization of left main coronary artery disease in patients at low surgical risk and anatomy suitable for PCI or CABG

Task Force structure and summary of clinical evidence of 2022 ESC/EACTS review of the 2018 guideline recommendations on the revascularization of left main coronary artery disease. CABG, coronary artery bypass grafting; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention; LM, left main; SYNTAX, Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with TAXUS and Cardiac Surgery. a'Event' refers to the composite of death, myocardial infarction (according to Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction if available, otherwise protocol defined) or stroke. In October 2021, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) jointly agreed to establish a Task Force (TF) to review recommendations of the 2018 ESC/EACTS Guidelines on myocardial revascularization as they apply to patients with left main (LM) disease with low-to-intermediate SYNTAX score (0-32). This followed the withdrawal of support by the EACTS in 2019 for the recommendations about the management of LM disease of the previous guideline. The TF was asked to review all new relevant data since the 2018 guidelines including updated aggregated data from the four randomized trials comparing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents vs. coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with LM disease. This document represents a summary of the work of the TF; suggested updated recommendations for the choice of revascularization modality in patients undergoing myocardial revascularization for LM disease are included. In stable patients with an indication for revascularization for LM disease, with coronary anatomy suitable for both procedures and a low predicted surgical mortality, the TF concludes that both treatment options are clinically reasonable based on patient preference, available expertise, and local operator volumes. The suggested recommendations for revascularization with CABG are Class I, Level of Evidence A. The recommendations for PCI are Class IIa, Level of Evidence A. The TF recognized several important gaps in knowledge related to revascularization in patients with LM disease and recognizes that aggregated data from the four randomized trials were still only large enough to exclude large differences in mortality.

Long-term survival after coronary bypass surgery with multiple versus single arterial grafts

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to evaluate the long-term differences in survival between multiple arterial grafts (MAG) and single arterial grafts (SAG) in patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in the SYNTAX study.

METHODS

The present analysis included the randomized and registry-treated CABG patients (n = 1509) from the SYNTAX Extended Survival study (SYNTAXES). Patients with only venous (n = 42) or synthetic grafts (n = 1) were excluded. The primary end point was all-cause death at the longest follow-up. Multivariable Cox regression was used to adjust for differences in baseline characteristics. Sensitivity analysis using propensity matching with inverse probability for treatment weights was performed.

RESULTS

Of the 1466 included patients, 465 (31.7%) received MAG and 1001 (68.3%) SAG. Patients receiving MAG were younger and at lower risk. At the longest follow-up of 12.6 years, all-cause death occurred in 23.6% of MAG and 40.0% of SAG patients [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.55-0.98); P = 0.038], which was confirmed by sensitivity analysis. MAG in patients with the three-vessel disease was associated with significant lower unadjusted and adjusted all-cause death at 12.6 years [adjusted HR 0.65, 95% CI (0.44-0.97); P = 0.033]. In contrast, no significance was observed after risk adjustment in patients with the left main disease, with and without diabetes, or among SYNTAX score tertiles.

CONCLUSIONS

In the present post hoc analysis of all-comers patients from the SYNTAX trial, MAG resulted in markedly lower all-cause death at 12.6-year follow-up compared to a SAG strategy. Hence, this striking long-term survival benefit of MAG over SAG encourages more extensive use of multiple arterial grafting in selected patients with reasonable life expectancy.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

SYNTAXES ClinicalTrials.gov reference: NCT03417050; SYNTAX ClinicalTrials.gov reference: NCT00114972.

Prognostic impact of myosteatosis in patients with colorectal cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Myosteatosis has been reported to be a novel biomarker that could predict survival outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer. However, results have been conflicting. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the long-term impact of myosteatosis on the survival of these patients.

METHODS

A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane up to 27 November 2019 generated 7022 records. Studies that reported hazard ratio (HR) for overall survival, cancer-specific survival, or disease-free survival based on myosteatosis or radiodensity were included. A total of 110 full-text articles were considered for inclusion, and 14 were selected for qualitative analysis. Inverse variance method was used with random effects model for data analysis.

RESULTS

The total number of enrolled patients included in the meta-analysis was 6518 for univariate and 8572 for multivariate HR analysis, from 12 and 10 studies, respectively. Patients with myosteatosis had a significant increase in overall mortality compared with non-myosteatosis patients by both univariate analysis [HR 1.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21 to 1.58, P < 0.00001] and multivariate analysis (HR 1.55, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.96, P < 0.00001). In subgroup analysis based on studies that reported HRs of both sarcopenia and myosteatosis, the negative effect of myosteatosis on overall survival was independent of sarcopenia using univariate values (sarcopenia HR 1.48, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.91, P = 0.003 vs. myosteatosis HR 1.51, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.96, P = 0.002) and multivariate values (sarcopenia HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.49, P = 0.002 vs. myosteatosis HR 1.38, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.80, P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

This meta-analysis demonstrates that myosteatosis is associated with worse overall survival in patients with colorectal cancer. More investigation is needed to standardize the measurement protocol for myosteatosis and to further optimize its prognostic power for colorectal cancer patients.

The use of both internal thoracic arteries for coronary revascularization increases the estimate of post-operative lower limb ischemia in patients with peripheral artery disease

BACKGROUND

Patients with a history of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) exhibit higher rates of complications. There are conflicting data on the survival benefits for bilateral thoracic artery (BITA) grafting compared with left internal thoracic artery (LITA) CABG in patients with PAD. The aim of the study was to explore the influence of the use of BITA grafts vs. LITA for CABG on post-operative acute lower limb ischemia (ALLI) and main post-operative complications in patients with concomitant PAD.

METHODS

We used a propensity-score (PS) based analysis to compare outcomes between the two surgical procedures, BITA and LITA. The inverse probability of treatment weighting PS technique was applied to adjust for pre- and intra-operative confounders, and to get optimal balancing of the pre-operative data. The primary outcome was the estimate of postoperative ALLI. Secondary outcomes included overall death and death of cardiac causes within 30 days of surgery, stroke and acute kidney disease (AKD).

RESULTS

The study population consisted of 1961 patients. The LITA procedure was performed in 1768 patients whereas 193 patients underwent a BITA technique. The estimate of ALLI was 14% higher in the BITA compared to the LITA (p < 0.001) group. Thirty-day mortality, cardiac death, occurrence of stroke and AKI did not differ significantly between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of both ITAs led to a significant increase in ALLI. This result was most likely caused by the complete disruption of the ITA collateral providing additional blood supply to the lower extremities. Based on our data, BITA should be used with extreme caution in PAD patients. Further research on this topic is necessary to confirm our findings.

Meta-Analysis Comparing Multiple Arterial Grafts Versus Single Arterial Graft for Coronary-Artery Bypass Grafting

Observational studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have shown conflicting outcomes for multiple arterial graft (MAG) coronary artery bypass graft surgery compared with single arterial grafts (SAGs). The predominant evidence supporting the use of MAGs is observational. The aim of this meta-analysis of RCTs is to compare outcomes following MAG and SAG. We searched multiple databases for RCTs comparing MAG versus SAG. The clinical outcomes studied were all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), revascularization, stroke, sternal wound complications, and major bleeding. We used hazard ratio (HR), relative risk (RR), and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) for measuring outcomes. Ten RCTs (6392 patients) were included. The average follow-up in the studies was 4.2 years. The average age of the patients in the studies ranged from 56.3 years to 74.6. No significant difference was seen between MAG and SAG groups for all-cause mortality (11.8% vs 12.7%, HR 0.94, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.09, p 0.36), cardiac mortality (4.1% vs 4.5%, HR 0.96 95% CI 0.74 to 1.26, p 0.77), MI (3.5% vs 5.1%, HR 0.87 95% CI 0.67 to 1.12, p 0.28), and major bleeding (3.3% vs 4.9%, RR 0.85 95% CI 0.64 to 1.13, p 0.26). Repeat revascularization in MAG showed a lower RR than SAG when one of the confounding studies was excluded (RR 0.63, 95% CI 0.4 to 0.99, p 0.04). The incidence of stroke was lower in MAG than SAG (2.9% vs 3.9%, RR 0.74 95% CI 0.56 to 0.98, p 0.03). MAG had higher incidence of sternal wound complications than SAG (2.9% vs 1.7%, RR 1.75 95% CI 1.19 to 2.55, p 0.004). In conclusion, MAG does not have a survival advantage compared with SAG but is better in revascularization and risk of stroke. This benefit may be set off by a higher incidence of sternal wound complications in MAG.

The EXCEL Trial: The Surgeons' Perspective

There have been several investigations comparing the efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass grafting surgery for treatment of left main stem disease. This includes the Evaluation of XIENCE versus Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery for Effectiveness of Left Main Revascularizaton (EXCEL) trial, which has garnered significant controversy surrounding its experimental design and reporting of its results. The authors review the methodology, results, caveats and statements on the EXCEL trial. They also review the other trials in the management of left main stem disease comparing percutaneous coronary intervention with coronary artery bypass grafting, as well as the SYNTAX score and its role in future guidelines for revascularisation. These findings have significant implications for current practice, influencing the growing role for multidisciplinary team meeting and allowing clinicians and patients to make the right choice.

Sternal wound closure in the current era: the need of a tailored approach

OBJECTIVE

Median sternotomy remains the most common access to perform cardiac surgery procedures. However, the experience of the operating surgeon remains a crucial factor during sternal closure to avoid potential complications related to poor sternal healing, such as mediastinitis. Considering the lack of major randomized controlled trials and the heterogeneity of the current literature, this narrative review aims to summarize the different techniques and approaches to sternal closure with the aim to investigate their reflections into clinical outcomes and to inform the choice on the most effective closure method after median sternotomy.

METHODS

A literature search through PubMed, Embase, EBSCO, Cochrane database of systematic reviews, and Web of Science from its inception up to April 2019 using the following search keywords in various combinations: sternal, sternotomy, mediastinitis, deep sternal wound infection, cardiac surgery, closure.

RESULTS

Single wire fixation methods, at present, seems the most useful method to perform sternal closure in routine patients, although patients with a fragile sternum might benefit more from a figure-of-eight technique. In high-risk patients (e.g. chronic pulmonary disease, obesity, bilateral internal mammary artery harvesting, diabetes, off-midline sternotomy), rigid plate fixation is currently the most effective method, if available; alternatively, weave techniques could be used.

CONCLUSION

The choice among the sternal closure techniques should be mainly inspired and tailored on the patient's characteristics, and correct judgement and experience play a pivotal role. A decisional algorithm has been proposed as an attempt to overcome the absence of specific guidelines and to guide the operative approach. This operative approach might be used also in non-cardiac procedure in which median sternotomy is required, such as in case of thoracic surgery.