Current spectrum, challenges and new developments in the surgical care of adults with congenital heart disease

Surgical Considerations in Adult Congenital Heart Disease Heart Failure

Surgical intervention is often used in the management of heart failure in patients with adult congenital heart disease. This review addresses anatomic variations and complications due to prior surgical interventions, including sternal reentry, collateral vessels, and the neo-aortic root after the Damus-Kaye-Stansel procedure. Surgical considerations for systemic atrioventricular valvular surgery, Fontan revision, and advanced heart failure therapies including ventricular assist devices, heart transplant, and combined heart-liver transplant are discussed, with a focus on unique patient populations including those with systemic right ventricles and those with Fontan circulation.

Risk evaluation in adult congenital heart surgery: analysis of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database risk models on data from the European Congenital Heart Surgeons Association Congenital Database

 

OBJECTIVES

We sought to evaluate the predictive power of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons-European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (STAT) mortality score and the adult congenital heart surgery (ACHS) mortality score for the adults undergoing congenital heart operations entered into the European Congenital Heart Surgeons Association (ECHSA) database.

METHODS

The data set comprised 17 662 major operations performed between 1997 and 2019, on patients 18 years of age or older, in European centres participating in the ECHSA database. Each operation was assigned a STAT mortality score and category and an ACHS mortality score. Operative mortality was based on the 30-day status and on the status at hospital discharge. The discriminatory power of the STAT and ACHS scores was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (c-index).

RESULTS

A total of 17 214 (97.46%) operations were assigned ACHS scores. The 3 most frequent primary procedures were closure of the atrial septal defect (19.0%), aortic valve replacement (8.8%) and non-valve-sparing aortic root replacement (6.1%). Operative mortality for ACHS-coded operations was 2.07%. The procedures with the highest mortality were atrial septal defect creation/enlargement (19.0%), lung transplantation (18.8%) and heart transplantation (18.2%). A total of 17 638 (99.86%) operations were assigned a STAT score and category. The operative mortality for STAT-coded operations was 2.27%. The c-index for mortality was 0.720 for the STAT mortality score and 0.701 for the ACHS score.

CONCLUSIONS

The ACHS mortality score and the STAT mortality score reached similar, moderate predictive power in adult patients undergoing congenital heart surgery in ECHSA database.

Native Pulmonary Valve Restoration Late Following Transannular Patch Repair of Tetralogy of Fallot

We present a surgical case of native pulmonary valve (PV) restoration in a 16-year-old boy with a previous history of transannular patch repair of tetralogy of Fallot in infancy. The PV was restored by approximation of split anterior commissure in the presence of developed and pliable leaflets well preserved after initial surgery. Postoperative echocardiogram showed a competent valve with peak velocity of 2.8 m/s. At six-week follow-up, the patient remained well, and echocardiogram demonstrated a competent PV with decreased velocity of 2.1 m/s across it. We encourage a mindful preservation of PV leaflets whenever it is possible at time of initial repair to implement this relatively easy operation to restore PV function later in life.

German Heart Centre Munich-45 years of surgery in adults with congenital heart defects: from primary corrections of septal defects and coarctation to complex reoperations

Background

Our historical overview in the form of a cohort study aimed to describe the changes in the cardiac operations in adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD), over 45 years in the German Heart Centre in Munich.

Methods

The study population comprised all consecutive patients aged 18 or more, who underwent surgery for congenital heart disease (CHD) at the German Heart Centre Munich, between 1974 and 2018. Operations were coded according to the Adult Congenital Heart Surgery (ACHS) score. Two-tailed chi-square test was used for testing on differences in the frequency of procedural groups between the decades.

Results

During the examined 45-year period, 2,882 operations were performed on ACHD. The number of operations per year increased with a correlation coefficient r=0.533, P<0.001. Overall operative mortality was 3.2%. There was no significant difference in mortality over the decades. The percentage of primary CHD diagnosis being the indication for the operation was 99% in the 1970s and decreased significantly to 56% in the 2010s, P<0.001. There was a significant decrease in the relative frequency of atrial septal defect closures from 45% in the 1970s and 1980s to 9% in 2010s (P<0.001). Coarctation repair made up 15% of all operations in the 1970s, then dropped significantly to 1% in the 2010s (P<0.001). The percentage of reoperations increased significantly from 7% in the 1970s to 50% in 2010s (P<0.001).

Conclusions

The spectrum of cardiac surgery in ACHD changed significantly over the last 45 years, from primary repair of septal defects and coarctation of the aorta in the 1970s to complex reoperations in the 2010s.

Cardiac transplantation in adult congenital heart disease with prior sternotomy

BACKGROUND

Adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) patients who require orthotopic heart transplantation are surgically complex due to anatomical abnormalities and multiple prior surgeries. In this study, we investigated these patients' outcomes using our institutional database.

METHODS

ACHD patients who had prior intracardiac repair and subsequent heart transplant were included (2008-2018). Adult patients without ACHD were extracted as a control. A comparison of patients with functional single ventricular (SV) and biventricular (BV) hearts was performed.

RESULTS

There were 9 SV and 24 BV patients. The SV group had higher central venous pressure/pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (P = .028), hemoglobin concentration (P = .010), alkaline phosphatase (P = .022), and were more likely to have liver congestion (P = .006). Major complications included infection in 16 (48.5%), temporary dialysis in 12 (36.4%), and graft dysfunction requiring perioperative mechanical support in 7 (21.2%). Overall in-hospital mortality was 15.2%. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a higher, but not statistically significant, survival after 10 years between the ACHD and control groups (ACHD 84.9% vs. control 67.5%, P = .429). There was no significant difference in 10-year survival between SV and BV groups (78% vs. 88%, P = .467).

CONCLUSIONS

Complex ACHD cardiac transplant recipients have a high incidence of early morbidities after transplantation. However, long-term outcomes were acceptable.

Congenital heart disease in adults (when kids grow up) pediatric geriatric anesthesia

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The current review focuses on the new development of adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) patients in the areas of imaging, percutaneous interventions, ventricular assist devices and transplantation.

RECENT FINDINGS

Since the last ACHD publication in the journal, several advances have been made in the evaluation and treatment of these patients. As CHD patients' longevity increases pregnancy, comorbities and acquired heart disease become a concern. Recent data show that the incidence of complications in low-risk CHD is not higher that the regular population. In addition, breakthrough research in percutaneous valve implantation has been published showing good outcomes but needing intensive care recovery in a significant number of patients. In the ACHD heart failure population, assist device and transplant fields mounting evidence shows that these therapies should not be the last resort since low-risk ACHD patient may have similar outcomes to those with acquired heart disease. Finally risk stratification is important in ACHD to define better ways to recover from surgery and anesthesia.

SUMMARY

The field of anesthesia for ACHD is growing with new indications for diagnostic, interventional and surgical procedures. Tailoring cardiac and noncardiac care to the different risk profile in ACHD patients will be defined in the next few years.

VIDEO ABSTRACT

Motta summary clip: http://links.lww.com/COAN/A65.

Transplantation in Congenital Heart Disease: A Challenge

BACKGROUND

Heart failure is the leading cause of death in grown-up congenital heart disease patients (GUCH). Although heart transplantation (OHT) remains the gold standard in end-stage heart failure, the ratio of GUCH patients undergoing this procedure remains low.

OBJECTIVE

Describe the cohort of GUCH patients undergoing heart transplantation at a third-level hospital.

METHODS

A retrospective review of GUCH patients undergoing OHT between 1997 and 2019 was conducted at a single tertiary university hospital. We included different preoperative (demographic and clinical data, cardiac catheterization data from the last routine hemodynamic monitoring) and postoperative variables (complications, survival).

RESULTS

Fourteen patients were enrolled. The median age was 25.5 years (range, 20.7-32.2). Eight patients (57.1%) were male. The median preoperative left ventricular ejection fraction was 37% (range, 22.5%-55%). As for preoperative hemodynamic evaluation, the median for the mean arterial pulmonary pressure was 19 mm Hg (range, 12-22.5), for the capillary wedge pressure was 16 mm Hg (range, 13.5-19.5), and for pulmonary vascular resistance was 1.83 Wood units (range, 1-4). After OHT, 6 patients (42.9%) suffered an infection, the most common of which was respiratory (3 out of 6). Four patients (28.6%) needed renal replacement therapy, and 4 patients (28.6%) presented liver failure. Four patients (28.6%) developed graft failure, thus requiring mechanical support with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation during a median of 6 days (range, 1-17.5). Survival rate of patients under extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was 50%, and overall survival rate was 78.6%.

CONCLUSION

OHT represents a good option for GUCH patients, with good overall survival rates.