Juntao Qiu

Background and Aim of the Study. The effects of sex on the prognosis of patients with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) have still remained controversial. This study aimed to explore the sex differences in outcomes of ATAAD patients undergoing surgery. Methods. Data of patients with ATAAD who were operated in our center from 2010 to 2018 were retrospectively collected. Data on pre-, intra-, and postoperative courses were analyzed. Propensity score weighting was performed to balance the baseline characteristics. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess predictors of early mortality in overall female and male patients. Results. A total of 1448 patients were enrolled, including 352 (24.3%) female patients and 1096 (75.7%) male patients. Females were significantly older than males (56.0 vs. 47.8 years, ). Dissection was less extensive (Fuwai Ct: 85.8% vs. 91.3%, ) and malperfusion syndrome was less frequently diagnosed (Penn Ab: 19.3% vs. 29.7%, ) in females. Males experienced more aortic root replacement (Bentall: 14.2% vs. 24.9%, ) and total arch replacement combined with frozen elephant trunk (56.8% vs. 75.8%, ) with the prolonged operation time (6.1 vs. 6.4 hours, ). In contrast, early mortality was higher in females (9.4% vs. 6.1%, ). No differences were found in long-term survival and reoperation rates. After propensity score weighting, sex suggested no influence on both early and long-term outcomes. Cardiopulmonary bypass time was an independent risk factor for early mortality in both overall and sex-related populations according to the multivariable logistic regression. Conclusions. In ATAAD, different presentations and surgical strategies were noted in male and female patients. However, there were no significant differences in early and long-term outcomes between sexes after propensity score weighting.

Objective: The duration of hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA) is one of the important factors affecting the prognosis of arch surgery, which is still controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of HCA duration on early prognosis in type A aortic dissection (TAAD) patients who underwent arch surgery in our center.Methods: All consecutive patients who underwent surgical treatment for TAAD in Fuwai Hospital from January 2013 to December 2018 were included in this study and divided into four quartile groups based on HCA time. Baseline characteristics, perioperative indicators, and early mortality were statistically analyzed by propensity score matching (PSM) and restricted cubic spline (RCS) method. Perioperative adverse events were confirmed according to the American STS database and Penn classification.Results: About 1,018 consecutive patients (mean age 49.11 ± 1.4 years, male 74.7%) with TAAD treated surgically were eventually included in this study. After PSM, with the prolongation of HCA time, the surgical mortality rates of group [2,15], (15,18], (18,22], and (22,73] were 4.1, 6.6, 7.8, and 10.9% with p = 0.041, respectively. As shown in RCS, the mortality rate increased sharply after the HCA time exceeded 22 min. And from the subgroup analysis, the HCA time of 22 min or less was associated with better clinical outcomes (OR 2.09, 95%CI 1.25–3.45, p = 0.004).Conclusions: The early mortality increases significantly with the duration of HCA time when arch surgery was performed. And multiple systems throughout the body can be adversely affected.

Background: This study employed three surgical techniques: total arch replacement (TAR) with frozen elephant trunk (FET), aortic balloon occlusion technique (ABO) and hybrid aortic arch repair (HAR) on patients with type I aortic dissection in Fuwai Hospital, aiming to compare the early outcomes of these surgical armamentariums.Methods: From January 2016 to December 2018, an overall 633 patients (431 of TAR+FET, 122 of HAR, and 80 of ABO) with type I aortic dissection were included in the study. Thirty-day mortality, stroke, paraplegia, re-exploration for bleeding, and renal replacement therapy were compared using the matching weight method (MWM).Results: After MWM process, the baseline characteristics were comparable among three TAR groups. It showed that ABO group had the longest cardiopulmonary bypass (p < 0.001) and aortic cross-clamp time (p < 0.001), while the operation time was longest in the HAR group (p = 0.039). There was no significant difference in 30-day mortality among groups (p = 0.783). Furthermore, the incidence of stroke (p = 0.679), paraplegia (p = 0.104), re-exploration for bleeding (p = 0.313), and CRRT (p = 0.834) demonstrated no significant difference. Of note, no significant differences were found regarding these outcomes even before using MWM.Conclusions: Based on the early outcomes, the three TAR approaches were equally applicable to type I aortic dissection. We may choose the specific procedure relatively flexibly according to patient status and surgeon's expertise. Importantly, long-term investigations are warranted to determine whether above approaches remain to be of equivalent efficacy and safety.

Background: To evaluate whether the heated humidified ventilation can effectively maintain core temperature and improve prognosis in normothermic thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm repair surgery. Methods: Patients who were scheduled for normothermic thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm repair surgery were randomized into the group using heated humidified ventilation combined with water blanket and the group using water blanket only. During the operation, the core temperature will be measured every 30 minutes. We analyzed intraoperative core-temperature, coagulation function and in-hospital mortality. Results: HHV&WB group showed lesser decrease in core temperature than WB groups in the first two hours, while WB group had a higher body temperature at the third to fifth hour (2-hour: 35.45±0.47 vs. 35.24±0.59 °C, P=0.284; 5-hour: 35.38±0.70 vs. 35.51±0.88 °C, P=0.664). There was less blood loss, dosage of coagulation drugs and in-hospital mortality (13.33% vs. 20.00%, P=1) in the HHV&WB group. Conclusions: Heated humidified ventilation can improve the prognosis of normothermic thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm repair surgery to some extent, but it can only maintain the core temperature during the first 2 hours.