Enrico Citterio | PubMed Health

PubMed2004

Aspergillus left ventricular assist device endocarditis.

Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support is an established therapy for patients with end-stage heart failure as a bridge to transplant; its usage as an alternative for those patients not eligible for transplant is not an established therapy yet. A 68-year-old male had a Thoratec-Heartmate LVAD implanted as destination therapy. After an uneventful (apart from early fever) recovery in the intensive care unit, the patient developed an intractable high temperature, and generalized sepsis and died 21 days following implant. The white cell blood count never exceeded the guard limits, and the patient succumbed with severe LVAD valve malfunction. At post-mortem examination friable material consisting of fungal hyphae was found on the inflow and outflow valves. According to published clinical trials, infection accounts for more than 40% of mortality in LVAD supported patients. Fungal LVAD endocarditis is a particularly deadly disease. Successful management requires a high level of suspicion and timely institution of antifungal therapy to control the infection. This has led some authors to recommend empiric antifungal therapy in LVAD recipients with culture-negative sepsis unresponsive to broad-spectrum antibiotics.

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PubMed2003

Cryoablation of the left posterior atrial wall: 95 patients and 3 years of mean follow-up.

OBJECTIVE: Endocardial ablation of the left atrial posterior wall has been used to treat atrial fibrillation. Aim of the study was to evaluate its efficacy looking for the ablation pattern allowing a fast execution with limited interference on atrial contractility. Moreover a statistical analysis to identify predictors of long-term sinus rhythm recovery has been provided. METHODS: From April 1998 to May 2002, 95 patients with permanent (mean duration 65 months) or persistent (33%) atrial fibrillation have undergone three different ablation patterns, only 1 patient being affected by lone atrial fibrillation. Mean antero-posterior left atrial diameter was 76.2 mm. The prospective study collected information regarding variables related to patients' demographics, disease's characteristics and type of surgical ablation employed. Dependent variables were presence of sinus rhythm either at discharge and at 6 months. A logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between the collected variables and sinus rhythm restoration. RESULTS: In-hospital and late mortality rate were 3.2 and 6.3% respectively. At discharge 67 patients (72.8%) were in sinus rhythm while at a mean follow-up of 3 years, 81.4% of 86 surviving patients are in sinus rhythm. Major adverse events rate including cardiac reoperation, pace-maker implantation and cerebrovascular accident were 8.5, 6.3 and 4.2%, respectively. Pre-operative atrial fibrillation duration, left atrial dimension and type of mitral disease did not show any correlation with long term success while the lesion pattern and the rhythm at discharge were significant predictive factors. Survival is significantly higher in patients who converted to sinus rhythm at discharge (P=0.014) with respect to those who remained in atrial fibrillation. CONCLUSIONS: Permanent and persistent atrial fibrillation associated to a major cardiac disease can be safely treated with a linear ablation of the left atrial posterior wall. Satisfactory results in terms of rhythm restoration may be achieved regardless of the duration of the arrhythmia and its effects on atrial diameter. Any effort should be prompted to discharge patients in sinus rhythm. Life expectancy is longer if sinus rhythm is restored.

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PubMed2003

Surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation in the beating heart: a novel approach.

Up to 50% of patients undergoing mitral valve surgery have concomitant atrial fibrillation. An epicardial approach may offer the benefit of reducing the aortic cross-clamping time and avoiding an undue left atriotomy. During the last year we have been developing a simple technique to reproduce epicardially the same lesion pattern we had previously achieved endocardially. Two patients with chronic atrial fibrillation received atrial ablation using a microwave energy probe (Flex-10, AFx Inc., Fremont, CA, USA) immediately before undergoing a concomitant cardiac procedure. The procedure is relatively quick to perform and with appropriate care can be conducted with a low risk of perioperative adverse events.

Atrial Fibrillation↗