Objective
To summarize the characteristics and management of pregnancy complicated with aortic dissection, and to explore the reasonable diagnosis and treatment plan.
Methods
The clinical data of 10 patients of pregnancy complicated with aortic dissection in Wuhan Tongji Hospital from January 2011 to June 2017 were collected. Their age was 25.2 (21-29) years.
Results
In the 10 patients, the majority (8 patients) were primipara, and most of them were in the late stages of pregnancy (5 patients) and puerperal (4 patients). Among them, 1 patient had gestational hypertension, and the blood pressure of the left and right upper extremities was significantly abnormal (initial blood pressure: left upper limb blood pressure: 90/60 mm Hg, right upper limb blood pressure: 150/90 mm Hg). The major clinical manifestations were severe chest and back pain which happened suddenly, with D-dimmer and C-creative protein increased which may be associated with inflammatory reaction. All patients were diagnosed by thoracoabdominal aortic CTA, including 5 patients of Stanford type A dissection and 5 patients of Stanford type B dissection. In the 10 patients, 1 patient refused surgery and eventually died of aortic rupture with the death of fetus before birth. And the remaining 9 patients underwent surgical treatment, 3 patients of endovascular graft exclusion for thoracic aortic stent graft, 2 patients underwent Bentall operation, 1 patient with Bentall + total aortic arch replacement + vascular thoracic aortic stent graft, 1 patient with Bentall operation combined with endovascular graft exclusion for thoracic aortic stent graft, 1 patient with Bentall + coronary artery bypass grafting, 1 patient of thoracoabdominal aortic vascular replacement. Among them, 1 patient underwent endovascular graft exclusion for thoracic aortic stent graft died of severe postoperative infection, and the remaining 8 patients were discharged from hospital. Nine patients were single birth, among them 5 newborn patients had severe asphyxia, 4 patients had mild asphyxia. Finally, 3 neonates died of severe complications, and the remaining 6 survived.
Conclusion
The ratio of pregnancy with Stanford type A aortic dissection is far higher than in the general population, the possibility of fetal intrauterine asphyxia is larger, but through active and effective surgical and perioperative treatment, we can effectively save the life of mother and fetus.
ObjectiveTo systematically review mortality risk prediction models for acute type A aortic dissection (AAAD). MethodsPubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP and CBM databases were electronically searched to collect studies of mortality risk prediction models for AAAD from inception to July 31th, 2021. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Systematic review was then performed. ResultsA total of 19 studies were included, of which 15 developed prediction models. The performance of prediction models varied substantially (AUC were 0.56 to 0.92). Only 6 studies reported calibration statistics, and all models had high risk of bias. ConclusionsCurrent prediction models for mortality and prognosis of AAAD patients are suboptimal, and the performance of the models varies significantly. It is still essential to establish novel prediction models based on more comprehensive and accurate statistical methods, and to conduct internal and a large number of external validations.
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical effect of in situ fenestration combined with chimney technique in the treatment of aortic dissection involving left common carotid artery.MethodsFrom January 2012 to June 2019, 53 patients with aortic dissection involving left common carotid artery were selected. There were 21 patients in the test group, including 14 males and 7 females, with an average age of 57.2±11.2 years; there were 32 patients in the control group, including 20 males and 12 females, with an average age of 56.7±12.1 years. In the test group, the left subclavian branch was reconstructed by in situ fenestration and the left common carotid artery was reconstructed by chimney technique. In the control group, the left common carotid artery was reconstructed by hybrid operation. The clinical data of the patients were compared.ResultsThe operation time of the test group was significantly longer than that of the control group (151.8±35.2 min vs. 101.3±29.6 min, P=0.00). The patients in the two groups were followed up for 6-20 months. There was no significant difference in the incidence of pulmonary infection, stroke, steal blood syndrome, false lumen thrombosis or internal leakage between the two groups (P>0.05). The diameters of the distal and proximal ends of the true cavity in the test group increased significantly compared with those in the control group (P<0.05).ConclusionIn situ fenestration combined with chimney technique is an effective method for the treatment of aortic dissection involving left common carotid artery, which is worthy of further clinical promotion.
During the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been controversy over whether emergency surgical management should be performed or not in the patients with COVID-19. Stanford type A aortic dissection is a very urgent life-threatening disease, and guidelines recommend surgical treatment for patients with type A aortic dissection in the first instance. However, intraoperative extracorporeal circulation can be fatal to patients recovering from COVID-19. During the pandemic, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has played an important role in supporting COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure. This article reports a successful V-V ECMO treatment for a Stanford type A aortic dissection patient, who suffered respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 after emergency surgery.
ObjectiveTo evaluate whether long frozen elephant trunk (FET) increases the risk of spinal cord injury in patients with acute type A aortic dissection.MethodsFrom 2018 to 2019, 172 patients with acute type A aortic dissection were treated in Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital. They were divided into two groups according to the length of FET: patients treated with stents of 100 mm in length were enrolled into a short FET group, and those with stents of 150 mm in length into a long FET group. There were 124 patients in the short FET group, including 108 (87.1%) males and 16 (12.9%) females with a mean age of 51.8±7.9 years. There were 48 patients in the long FET group, including 44 (91.7%) males and 4 (8.3%) females with a mean age of 50.6±9.7 years. The clinical data and prognosis of the patients were analyzed.ResultsThe mean distal stent graft was at the level of T 8.5±0.7 in the long FET group, and at the level of T 6.8±0.6 in the short FET group (P=0.001). Sixteen patients died after operation in the two groups, including 13 (10.5%) in the short FET group and 3 (6.2%) in the long FET group (P=0.561). There were 7 patients of spinal cord injury in the two groups, including 6 (4.8%) in the short FET group and 1 (2.2%) in the long FET group (P=0.675). There was no statistical difference in other complications between the two groups. The follow-up time was 16.7 (1-30) months. During the follow-up, 2 patients died in the long FET group and 5 died in the short FET group. No new spinal cord injury or distal reintervention occurred during the follow-up.ConclusionLong FET does not increase the incidence of spinal cord injury in patients with acute type A aortic dissection.
Aortic aneurysm and dissection are critical cardiovascular diseases that threaten human life and health seriously. No pharmacological treatment can effectively prevent disease progression. The imbalance of aortic wall cells and non-cellular components leads to structural or functional degeneration of the aorta, which is a prerequisite for disease occurrence. As the important non-cellular component, extracellular matrix (ECM) is crucial to maintain the aortic structure, function, and homeostasis. Abnormal production of elastin and collagen, destruction of cross-linking between elastic fibers and collagen fibers, and the imbalance of metalloproteinase and inhibitors leads to excessive degradation of ECM proteins, all of which have destroyed the structure and function of aorta. It will provide more ideas for disease prevention and treatment by learning ECM proteins and their metabolic mechanism. Here, we focus on the ECM proteins that have been reported to be involved in aortic aneurysm and dissection, and discuss the regulatory mechanism of metalloproteinase and inhibitors.
Objective To analyze the risk factors for delirium of the Stanford A aortic dissection patients after surgery.
Method We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 335 patients with type A aortic dissection in Guangdong Cardiac Institution from January 2012 through December 2014. There were 280 males and 55 females. The average of age was 48.5±10.3 years. Delirium status of the patients were evaluated based on confusion assessment method for intensive care unit (CAM-ICU). The patients were divided into two groups including a delirium group and a control group. We tried to find the risk factors for postoperative delirium.
Results There were 169 patients of delirium with a incident rate of 50.4%. One-way analysis of variance and multivariate analysis indicated that pre-operative D-dimer level (OR=2.480, 95% CI 1.347-4.564, P<0.01), the minimum mean arterial pressure during operation (OR=0.667, 95% CI 0.612-0.727, P<0.01), the postoperative ventilation time (OR=2.771, 95% CI 1.506-5.101, P<0.01) and the postoperative acute kidney failure (OR=1.911, 95% CI 1.065-3.430, P<0.05) were the independent risk factors for delirium of the Stanford A aortic dissection patient after surgery.
Conclusion The incident rate of postoperative delirium of the Standford A aortic dissection patient is relatively high. Patients in this study with elevated pre-operative D-dimer level, lower intraoperative mean arterial pressure, longer postoperative ventilation and combination of acute kidney failure have a higher rate of postoperative delirium. Better understanding and intervention of these factors are meaningful to reduce the occurrence of postoperative delirium.
ObjectiveTo analyze the clinical outcomes of Cabrol procedure for the treatment of Stanford type A aortic dissection.
MethodsClinical data of 37 patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection underwent Cabrol procedure at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute from January 2009 to April 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 34 males and 3 females aged at 21 to 66 years. The average interval time from onset to getting operation was 15.2±28.5 days. All patients received Cabrol procedure was performed for aortic root. According to different aortic arch conditions, hemiarch replacement or total arch replacement combined endovascular aortic repair with stent were performed.
ResultsAll the operations were successfully performed including isolated Cabrol procedure in 4 patients, right hemiarch replacement in 10 patients and total arch replacement combined endovascular aortic repair with stent in 23 patients. One patient (2.7%) underwent reexploration for postoperative bleeding. Postoperative mortality was 10.8% (4/37). Follow-up duration was 1-24 months, 2 patients died during follow-up.
ConclusionCabrol procedure has satisfactory clinical outcomes for Stanford type A AD and long-term patency of aortic without coronary oppression.
Abstract: Objective To evaluate surgical strategies for the treatment of acute Stanford type A aortic dissection with involvement of the aortic root. Methods From January 2005 to December 2010, 62 consecutive patients underwent emergency surgical intervention for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection with involvement of the aortic root in Renji Hospital Affiliated to Medical School of Shanghai Jiaotong University. According to different methods for the management of proximal aortic dissection, these patients were divided into 3 groups: group A, aortic valve commissural suspension＋supracommissural replacement of the ascending aorta （SCR）,including 28 patients （20 males and 8 females，mean age 45.2±15.6 years）; group B, partial sinus remodeling+ascending aortic replacement, including 10 patients （7 males and 3 females，mean age 44.6±14.9 years）；group C, Bentall procedure,including 24 patients （17 males and 7 females，mean age 46.2±15.6 years）. Clinical outcomes were compared among the three groups. Results Six patients died peri-operatively and in-hospital mortality was 9.67% （6/62）. Fifty-four patients were followed up, and the mean follow-up time was 27.3±15.7 months. During follow up, 2 patients died, one for lung cancer and the other for unknown reason. One patient in group A underwent CT scan 6 months after surgery which showed aortic root pseudo-aneurysm. Cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic cross-clamping time of group C were significantly longer than those of group A and group B （274±97 min vs. 194±65 min, 210±77 min, t=22.482, 30.419, P=0.002， 0.122；150±56 min vs. 97±33 min, 105±46 min, t=12.630, 17.089, P=0.000，0.034）. There was no statistical difference in mortality （t=1.352，P=0.516）, incidence of postoperative reexploration for bleeding, acute renal failure and neurological complication （t=0.855, 0.342, 2.281; P=0.652, 0.863, 0.320） among the three groups. Conclusion For patients with acute aortic dissection involving the aortic root, aortic valve commissural suspension+SCR，partial sinus remodeling＋ascending aortic replacement and Bentall procedure may be considered the surgical treatment of choice with respective advantages and disadvantages. Satisfactory clinical outcomes can be achieveed if surgical indications and procedures are properly employed.
Objective To introduce the experience of treating 85 cases of stanford type B aortic dissection by endovascular implantment of stent-grafts，to provide more clinical evidence for endovascular repairment for stanford B type aortic dissections.Methods Imaging examination by computed tomography angiography （CTA） were done to obtain anatomical detail of dissection. Stent-grafts were implanted under the guide of DSA in all cases. The patients were followed-up for 3 months，6 months，12 months，and then annually by CTA examination to observe the complications and morphological changes of the aneurysm.Results The technical success rate was 95.3%（81/85），and the clinical success rate was 91.8%（78/85）. Eight patients died after operation in hospital，who were all in acute phase，and no patients of chronic phase died，there had statistic differences （P＜0.05）. The perioperative complications’ incidence of endovascular repair which happened in patients of acute phase was higher than that patients of chronic phase （38.2% vs.13.3%，P＜0.05）. Left subclavian artery were covered completely for 13 cases，and partially covered for 22 cases，there was no obvious cerebralvascular insufficiency. There were 41 patients of whom other tears which were not covered during operation exsited at abdominal aortic and one year following-up showed that at those section thromblization of false cavity was not clear. The rest of patients whose abdominal aortic didn’t exist tears hadn’t new tears appeared.Conclusions Regardless in the acute or chronic stage，endovascular therapy is an effective mathod of treating stanford type B dissection. However，implanting stent-grafts have a higher security in chronic period than doing that in acute period. If the right carotid artery，vertebra and Willis ring are smoothly，there is little need to set up a by-pass to left subclavian artery before endovascular repairment. For those patients that other uncovered tears exited，following-up should be a must，and further strategy should be studied and prepared in advance.
