Teerapong Tocharoenchok

Background: Open-heart surgery is associated with substantial postoperative morbidity. Guided by the Nursing Role Effectiveness Model, this study focused on the severity of 30-day postoperative complications rather than only the presence or absence of complications. Purpose: The study examined structural factors (health literacy, nutritional status, severity of comorbidities, anemia, and surgical mortality risk) and process factors (perception of patient-centered care, type of surgery, and cardiopulmonary bypass time) associated with complication severity after open-heart surgery. Patients and Methods: A prospective, single-center observational prognostic factor study with medical record review was conducted from June 2022 to July 2023 among 136 adult patients undergoing open-heart surgery at a tertiary hospital in Thailand. Data were collected from patient questionnaires and medical records. The primary outcome was 30-day complication severity measured using the Comprehensive Complication Index. Bivariate analyses and multiple linear regression were performed, with prespecified covariates selected based on clinical relevance. Results: Participants had a mean age of 61.32 years (SD = 13.09), and 61.8% were male. The mean Comprehensive Complication Index score was 37.25 (SD = 14.70). In the adjusted model, surgical mortality risk (standardized beta = 0.345, p < 0.001), anemia (standardized beta = 0.224, p = 0.018), nutritional status (standardized beta = − 0.218, p = 0.011), and cardiopulmonary bypass time (standardized beta = 0.198, p = 0.034) were independently associated with complication severity. Health literacy, comorbidity severity, and perceived patient-centered care were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Surgical mortality risk, anemia, nutritional status, and cardiopulmonary bypass time were key factors associated with 30-day complication severity. These findings support preoperative optimization of hematological and nutritional status and careful intraoperative management to reduce postoperative morbidity; however, interpretation should consider the single-center design and available covariates.

Background: In ventricular septal defect (VSD) closure, accurately defining the margins of the VSD is essential for success. Transatrial tricuspid valve detachment (TVD) aims at improving visualization, which is often impaired by the tricuspid valve apparatus. However, this may affect operative time, atrioventricular (AV) conduction, and tricuspid valve function. Methods: All pediatric patients who underwent transatrial isolated VSD closure from 2011 to 2020 were studied. Based on the use of TVD, postoperative outcomes, including tricuspid valve function, incidence of residual VSD and postoperative heart block, were compared between the two groups. Results: Of 268 patients, 88 (32.8%) underwent VSD closure with TVD and 180 (67.2%) without TVD. Preoperative characteristics were similar, including median age and weight (13.5 vs 12.5 months and 7 vs 6.9 kg; P = .98 and P = .60). The VSDs were predominantly perimembranous (83% [73/88] vs 88.3% [159/180]; P = .17), and of similar size (7.8 vs 7.5 mm; P = .32). There were no significant differences in the degree of postoperative tricuspid regurgitation (TR) (>mild 7.1% [6/84] vs 5% [9/180]; P = .38), small residual VSD (11.9% [10/84] vs [35/180] 19.6%; P = .12), or incidence of transient heart block (2.3% [2/84] vs 4.4% [8/179]; P = .38). At the median follow-up time of 38.3 months, there were no reoperations for TR nor residual VSD. Only one patient from the non-TVD group needed a reoperation for a permanent pacemaker. The cardiopulmonary bypass and cross-clamp times were longer in the TVD group (70 ± 25 vs 61 ± 19 min; P = .002) and (50 ± 18 vs 40 ± 15 min; P < .001). Conclusions: The tricuspid valve detachment technique for VSD closure is associated with comparable postoperative tricuspid valve function and AV conduction when compared with nondetachment techniques. It is a safe and effective approach for challenging-to-assess transatrial VSD closures.

Background: Systemic venous anomalies pose challenges to cavopulmonary connections in univentricular patients. At our unit, the intracardiac conduit (ICC) Fontan has been introduced for cases involving apicocaval juxtaposition (ACJ). This addresses issues of a long-curved extracardiac conduit (ECC) to the contralateral pulmonary artery (PA) and potential compression of the ECC to the ipsilateral PA. Methods: We present four patients at various stages who underwent an ICC Fontan operation. This includes primary Glenn connections with the setup for the cath lab Fontan. Results: The ICC placement was done in four levocardic patients. The first patient had an interrupted inferior vena cava (IVC) who previously underwent the Kawashima operation on the left side with pulmonary arteriovenous malformation. The ipsilateral drainage hepatic veins (HVs) were connected to the right PA using an ICC. The second and third patients with left ACJ and preexisting bilateral Glenns underwent IVC to the right PA connection using an ICC. The fourth patient had bilateral superior vena cava, left ACJ, ipsilateral HV drainage, and presented at 10 years of age having had no prior operations. He underwent construction of a bilateral bidirectionalGlenn, right HV to conduit baffling, and IVC to the main PA connection using an ICC with two fenestrations (to allow a gradual ventricular preload change; discharge saturation of 80%). This set him up for interventional closure of the larger fenestration later for physiologic Fontan completion. All the patients recovered with unobstructed conduits and were anticoagulated without thromboembolic/bleeding events. Conclusions: The ICC Fontan operation provides a safe and effective cavopulmonary connection in selected patients with complex systemic venous anomalies.

Objectives: This study aimed to report the incidence of cardiac arrest and in-hospital mortality after pediatric congenital heart surgery in a middle-income country. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in Thailand. Patients Results: Overall, 116 cases of cardiac arrest following 1,928 congenital heart surgery operations were included, which resulted in 93/116 (80%) deaths. The incidence of cardiac arrest and in-hospital mortality per 100 patients (95% confidence interval) were 6.0% [116/1,928 (5.0%-7.2%)] and 4.8% [93/1,928 (4.0%-5.9%)], respectively. The incidence of cardiac arrest was higher in neonates (33.6%, 47/140), high-risk STAT 5 surgery (54.8%, 23/43), and emergent/urgent surgery (25.4%, 81/319). Most cardiac arrests occurred within 24 h (66/116, 57%) and in the intensive care unit (90/116, 78%). The most common cause of cardiac arrest was cardiovascular-related (74.1%, 86/116). Multivariable analysis showed the factors associated with mortality (adjusted odds ratio, [95% confidence interval]) included cardiac arrest after 72 h (5.594 [1.073-29.167]), multiple cardiac arrests (10.231 [1.884-55.566]), and every minute increase in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (1.027 [1.005-1.048]). Conclusions: Congenital heart surgery at our middle income cardiac surgical center was associated with relatively high incidence rates of cardiac arrest and in-hospital mortality, and a very high mortality rate following cardiac arrest. The mortality-associated factors after cardiac arrest were cardiac arrest after 72 h, multiple cardiac arrests, and longer duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the outcomes of heterotaxy patients who underwent the Fontan operation, focusing on morphological features and surgical techniques. METHODS: Eighty-two consecutive heterotaxy patients who underwent the Fontan operation from 1985 to 2021 were compared to 150 patients with tricuspid atresia (TA) and 144 patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). The Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazard model were used to analyse transplant-free survival and predictor of outcomes. RESULTS: The 20-year transplant-free survival rates were comparable between right atrial isomerism (RAI, n = 45) and left atrial isomerism (LAI, n = 37) [RAI versus LAI, 76% (95% confidence interval, 57–87%) vs 68% (47–82%), P = 0.22], although more pulmonary vein interventions at Fontan were needed in RAI. Surgical techniques included extracardiac conduit in 66%, intra-atrial conduit in 9% and lateral tunnel in 18% of the cases. Cardiac position and apicocaval juxtaposition did not influence outcomes, but the inferior vena cava (IVC)-contralateral pulmonary artery (PA) Fontan was associated with 100% survival, while the IVC-ipsilateral PA Fontan at the cardiac apex showed a 67% (34–87%) survival rate at 20 years. In-hospital mortality was higher in heterotaxy [9.8% (5–19%)] compared to TA [1.3% (0.3–5.3%), P<0.01) and HLHS [2.8% (1.1–7.3%), P = 0.02], with no early death after 2000 in any group. The 20-year transplant-free survival in heterotaxy [72% (59–82%)] was similar to that in HLHS [80% (69–87%), P = 0.11]. CONCLUSIONS: Various routing techniques can be successfully applied to overcome anatomical challenges in heterotaxy. Despite higher in-hospital mortality, overall survival was similar to HLHS. RAI had comparable survival to LAI with more pulmonary vein interventions at Fontan.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the short- and long-term outcomes of patients who underwent the arterial switch operation (ASO) at Siriraj Hospital in Thailand, and to identify postoperative complications and factors that significantly affect patient survival. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively studied all patients with dextro-transposition of the great arteries and anatomic variants who underwent the ASO from January 1995 to December 2020. Twenty-year overall survival and 15-year freedom from reoperation/reintervention were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify factors independently associated with 30-day mortality. Results: Of the 171 patients included, there were 116 males (67.84%). The median (minimum, maximum) age at operation was 33.5 (3-4,499) days, and the median (minimum, maximum) bodyweight was 3.4 (2.2-44.9) kg. Most patients (115/171, 67.25%) had an intact ventricular septum, whereas 48/171 (28.07%), had ventricular septal defects. The typical coronary anatomic pattern (1LCx-2R) was found in 120 patients (70.1%). Early mortality was 8.7% ± 4.4%, and there was no late death up to 20 years postoperatively with a median follow-up of five years. Fifteen-year freedom from reoperation or reintervention was 85.7%. Atypical coronary pattern was an independent factor for survival with an adjusted hazard ratio of 5.1 (95% confidence interval: 1.22-21.4; P = .026). Conclusions: The results of this study revealed excellent short- and long-term outcomes of the ASO at our center. Atypical coronary anatomy was found to be the only factor that independently predicted 30-day mortality.

Background: The management of atrial isomerism across various countries may impact survival outcomes. Methods: This retrospective study involved patients diagnosed with atrial isomerism undergoing single ventricular palliation between 2000 and 2021. The objective was to evaluate survival outcomes within the right atrial isomerism (RAI) and left atrial isomerism (LAI) groups, as well as overall survival. Results: Of the 125 patients diagnosed with atrial isomerism, 105 (84%) had RAI, and 20 (16%) had LAI. The median age at presentation was 3 days (range: birth to 7.1 years), with median follow-up of 6.6 years (range: 0.59 months to 30.8 years). In the overall cohort, survival rates at one, five, and ten years were 85.6%, 72.3%, and 66.8%, respectively, with no statistically significant difference between RAI and LAI groups (log rank P value = .293). Specifically, survival rates in the RAI group at one, five, and ten years were 83.8%, 69.0%, and 62.6%, respectively, while in the LAI group, there were 95.0%, 89.7%, and 81.6%, respectively. Following the third-stage operation, overall survival rates at one and five years were 76.4% and 76.4%, respectively. Among patients in the RAI group, survival rates at one and five years post-third stage operation were 80.2% and 80.2%, respectively. Conclusions: Despite resource limitations, the survival outcomes of patients with atrial isomerism were found to be similar with those observed in high-income countries. Although an increased mortality rate was noted within the first year of life, focusing efforts on neonatal and infant care holds potential for improving overall outcomes.

We present 2 cases of patients with univentricular heart physiology of different anatomic variants who successfully underwent minimally invasive bidirectional cavopulmonary anastomosis via the right vertical axillary mini-thoracotomy.