Successful reversal of delayed paraplegia associated with chronic type A aortic dissection using a spinal drain

Hotspots and development frontiers of postoperative complications of AD: Bibliometric analysis - a review

The research on the postoperative complications of aortic dissection (AD) has received great attention from scholars all over the world, and the number of research articles in this field has consistently increased year after year. However, no bibliometric reports have been published yet to analyze the scientific output and the current situation in this field. The Bibliometrix R-package, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace software were used to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the hotspots and development frontiers of AD. A total of 1242 articles were retrieved. The USA, China, and Japan had the highest number of publications. The five keywords with the highest frequency were "analysis," "incidence," "acute type," "graft," and "risk factor." The results also indicated that the research in related fields had shifted from surgical treatment and utilizing experience to the evidence-based exploration of risk factors and the construction of prediction models to help better manage postoperative complications of AD. This is the first bibliometric analysis of global publications on the postoperative complications of AD. The current research hotspots focus on three areas: common postoperative complications of AD, exploration of the related risk factors, and management of complications. Future research could focus on identifying risk factors through meta-analysis and using a multicenter database for AD as well as building relevant models to predict the development of complications to better facilitate the clinical management of AD patients.

Hemodynamic Patterns of Spinal Cord Perfusion in Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair

Paraplegia in aortic surgery is due to its impact on spinal cord perfusion whose hemodynamic patterns (SCPHP) are not clearly defined. Detailed morphological analysis of vascular network and collateral network modifications within Monro-Kellie postulate due to the fixed theca confines was performed to identify SCPHP. SCPHP may begin with intraspinal "backflow" (I-BF), that is, hemorrhage from anterior and posterior spinal arteries, backward via the connected anterior and posterior radicular medullary arteries, through the increasing diameter and decreasing resistance of segmental arteries (SAs), off their aortic orifices outside vascular network at 0 operative field pressure. The I-BF blood bypasses both intra- and extraspinal capillary networks and causes depressurization (0 diastolic pressure) and full ischemia of dependent spinal cord. When the occlusion of those SAs orifices arrests I-BF, the hemodynamic pattern of intraspinal "steal" (I-S) may take place. The formerly I-BF blood, in fact, is now variably shared between the fraction maintained in its physiological intraspinal network and that keeping flowing as I-S through the extraspinal capillary network. I-S is, however, counteracted by the extraspinal "steal" from the connected mammary/paraspinous-independent extraspinal feeders, all physically competing for the same room left by the missed physiological SA direct aortic blood inflow. Steal phenomenon evolves within the 120-hour time frame of CNm, whose intraspinal anatomical changes may offer the physical basis within the Monro-Kelly postulate, respectively of the intraoperative and postoperative paraplegia. The current procedures could not prevent the unphysiological SCPHP but awareness of details of their various features may offer the basis for improvements tailored, to the adopted intra- and postoperative procedures.

Clinical dilemma in the surgical treatment of organ malperfusion caused by acute type A aortic dissection

The malperfusion syndrome associated with acute aortic dissection draws attention because the clinical picture is very dramatic, and patients with malperfusion have poorer clinical outcomes. To improve surgical outcomes, the ischemic damages associated with organ malperfusion should be minimized by restoring perfusion as early as possible, which occasionally can hardly coexist with central repair. This paper reviews the current evidence, problems, and dilemma related to the diagnosis and treatment of the malperfusion syndrome caused by acute type A aortic dissection.