Giovanni Jr Soletti

Background: Postoperative bleeding requiring re-exploration is a serious complication that occurs in 2.8–4.6% of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Re-exploration has previously been associated with a higher risk of short-term mortality. However, a comprehensive analysis of long-term outcomes after re-exploration for bleeding has not been published. Materials and methods: The authors performed a systematic, three databases search to identify studies reporting long-term outcomes in patients who required re-exploration for bleeding after cardiac surgery compared to patients who did not, with at least 1-year of follow-up. Long-term survival was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were operative mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, renal and respiratory complications, and hospital length of stay. Random-effects models was used. Individual patient survival data was extracted from available survival curves and reconstructed using restricted mean survival time. Results: Six studies totaling 135 456 patients were included. The average follow-up was 5.5 years. In the individual patient data, patients who required re-exploration had a significantly higher risk of death compared with patients who did not [hazard ratio (HR): 1.21; 95% CI: 1.14–1.27; PPPPPPPP=0.0007). Conclusion: Postoperative bleeding requiring re-exploration is associated with lower long-term survival and increased risk of short-term adverse events including operative mortality, stroke, renal and respiratory complications, and longer hospital length of stay. To improve both short-term and long-term outcomes, strategies to prevent the need for re-exploration are necessary.

OBJECTIVES: The association between obesity and graft failure after coronary artery bypass grafting has not been previously investigated. METHODS: We pooled individual patient data from randomized clinical trials with systematic postoperative coronary imaging to evaluate the association between obesity and graft failure at the individual graft and patient levels. Penalized cubic regression splines and mixed-effects multivariable logistic regression models were performed. RESULTS: Six trials comprising 3928 patients and 12 048 grafts were included. The median time to imaging was 1.03 (interquartile range 1.00–1.09) years. By body mass index (BMI) category, 800 (20.4%) patients were normal weight (BMI 18.5–24.9), 1668 (42.5%) were overweight (BMI 25–29.9), 983 (25.0%) were obesity class 1 (BMI 30–34.9), 344 (8.8%) were obesity class 2 (BMI 35–39.9) and 116 (2.9%) were obesity class 3 (BMI 40+). As a continuous variable, BMI was associated with reduced graft failure [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.98 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.97–0.99)] at the individual graft level. Compared to normal weight patients, graft failure at the individual graft level was reduced in overweight [aOR 0.79 (95% CI 0.64–0.96)], obesity class 1 [aOR 0.81 (95% CI 0.64–1.01)] and obesity class 2 [aOR 0.61 (95% CI 0.45–0.83)] patients, but not different compared to obesity class 3 [aOR 0.94 (95% CI 0.62–1.42)] patients. Findings were similar, but did not reach significance, at the patient level. CONCLUSIONS: In a pooled individual patient data analysis of randomized clinical trials, BMI and obesity appear to be associated with reduced graft failure at 1 year after coronary artery bypass grafting.

The external stenting of saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) has been proven to reduce intimal hyperplasia (IH) in animal models, paving the way for human randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to be conducted. Herein, we performed a study-level meta-analysis to assess the impact of the Venous External SupporT (VEST) device, an external stent, on the outcomes of SVGs. A systematic search was conducted to identify all RCTs comparing VEST-stented to non-stented SVGs in patients undergoing CABG. The primary outcome was graft occlusion. The main secondary outcomes were repeat revascularization, SVG IH area, and intimal-medial thickness. Two RCTs totaling 407 patients were included. At a mean follow-up of 1.5 years, there was no difference in graft occlusion between groups (incidence rate ratio: 1.11; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.80–1.53). The rate of repeat revascularization was also similar (odds ratio: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.27–1.64). The IH area (standardized mean difference (SMD): −0.45; 95% CI: −0.79 to −0.10) and intimal-medial thickness (SMD: −0.50; 95% CI: −0.90 to −0.10) were significantly reduced in the VEST group. Our findings show that significant reductions in the IH area and the intimal-medial thickness in VEST-stented SVGs do not currently translate into a lesser need for repeat revascularization or less graft occlusion events compared to non-stented SVGs at 1.5 years after CABG.

Saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) are the most frequently used conduits in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), but their higher rate of occlusion compared to arterial conduits remains a concern. Previous studies have shown that SVG failure is mainly driven by intimal hyperplasia, an adaptative response to higher pressures of the arterial circulation. The VEST^TM device (Vascular Graft Solutions, Tel Aviv, Israel), an external support designed to mitigate intimal hyperplasia in SVGs, has been tested in few clinical trials (RCTs). Herein, we descriptively evaluated the randomized evidence on the VEST device.

BACKGROUND: Graft patency is the postulated mechanism for the benefits of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). However, systematic graft imaging assessment after CABG is rare, and there is a lack of contemporary data on the factors associated with graft failure and on the association between graft failure and clinical events after CABG. METHODS: We pooled individual patient data from randomized clinical trials with systematic CABG graft imaging to assess the incidence of graft failure and its association with clinical risk factors. The primary outcome was the composite of myocardial infarction or repeat revascularization occurring after CABG and before imaging. A 2-stage meta-analytic approach was used to evaluate the association between graft failure and the primary outcome. We also assessed the association between graft failure and myocardial infarction, repeat revascularization, or all-cause death occurring after imaging. RESULTS: Seven trials were included comprising 4413 patients (mean age, 64.4±9.1 years; 777 [17.6%] women; 3636 [82.4%] men) and 13 163 grafts (8740 saphenous vein grafts and 4423 arterial grafts). The median time to imaging was 1.02 years (interquartile range [IQR], 1.00–1.03). Graft failure occurred in 1487 (33.7%) patients and in 2190 (16.6%) grafts. Age (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.08 [per 10-year increment] [95% CI, 1.01–1.15]; P =0.03), female sex (aOR, 1.27 [95% CI, 1.08–1.50]; P =0.004), and smoking (aOR, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.04–1.38]; P =0.01) were independently associated with graft failure, whereas statins were associated with a protective effect (aOR, 0.74 [95% CI, 0.63–0.88]; P P P P <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In contemporary practice, graft failure remains common among patients undergoing CABG and is strongly associated with adverse cardiac events.

Background: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is the most frequent complication of cardiac surgery. Despite clinical and economic implications, ample variability in POAF assessment method and definition exist across studies. We performed a study‐level meta‐analysis to evaluate the influence of POAF assessment method and definition on its incidence and association with clinical outcomes. Methods and Results: A systematic literature search was conducted to identify studies comparing the outcomes of patients with and without POAF after cardiac surgery that also reported POAF assessment method. The primary outcome was POAF incidence. The secondary outcomes were in‐hospital mortality, stroke, intensive care unit length of stay, and postoperative length of stay. Fifty‐nine studies totaling 197 774 patients were included. POAF cumulative incidence was 26% (range: 7.3%–53.1%). There were no differences in POAF incidence among assessment methods (27%, [range: 7.3%–53.1%] for continuous telemetry, 27% [range: 7.9%–50%] for telemetry plus daily ECG, and 19% [range: 7.8%–42.4%] for daily ECG only; P >0.05 for all comparisons). No differences in in‐hospital mortality, stroke, intensive care unit length of stay, and postoperative length of stay were found between assessment methods. No differences in POAF incidence or any other outcomes were found between POAF definitions. Continuous telemetry and telemetry plus daily ECG were associated with higher POAF incidence compared with daily ECG in studies including only patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting. Conclusions: POAF incidence after cardiac surgery remains high, and detection rates are variable among studies. POAF incidence and its association with adverse outcomes are not influenced by the assessment method and definition used, except in patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting.