UNIDAD CORONARIA

Severe aortic regurgitation (AR) is a rare but significant complication of ventricular assist device therapy. Experience with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in this setting of patients is very limited, while the scarcely reported cases exclusively refer to TAVR under continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices. Here, we present the first successful TAVR while running a pulsatile-flow biventricular assist device (PF-BiVAD). Clinical data were collected based on the patient's electronic medical records after the patient's consent was obtained...

OBJECTIVES: This report relates the authors' ongoing experience with percutaneous left ventricular (LV) unloading by using a transaortic LV assist device in combination with venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) and provides an in-depth analysis of the hemodynamic benefit of this approach. BACKGROUND: VA-ECMO is increasingly used in cases of severe cardiogenic shock. However, increase in afterload with subsequent LV overload is a major drawback of VA-ECMO...

There is a delicate balance between bleeding and clotting in patients on circuits such as ventricular assist devices or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Traditional coagulation tests, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and anti-factor Xa levels, are used to monitor patients on these devices. However, turnaround times and inability to assess global hemostasis, including platelets and fibrinogen have contributed to a recognition that faster, accurate, and more informative coagulation tests are needed...

Implantable continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs) are used for long-term LV support in bridging patients to heart transplantation or as destination therapy. With prolonged support times, some patients will have repeat complications necessitating multiple device exchanges. To elucidate the safety and efficacy of repeat device exchange, we retrospectively reviewed data from 25 patients who underwent two or more CF-LVAD implantations between July 2005 and August 2017. Indications for exchange were thrombus/hemolysis (n = 8, 32%), electromechanical device malfunction (n = 14, 56%), and infection (n = 3, 12%)...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Intraaortic balloon pump (IABP) has been the most widely used device to help patients recover from circulatory disorder mainly because of cardiogenic shock; however, no evidence-based clinical benefit derived from IABP support has been reported in recent clinical trials. This review provides an overview of the current outcomes and challenges in perioperative IABP use for cardiogenic shock patients. RECENT FINDINGS: Although IABP support yielded no significant difference in mortality for myocardial infarction complicated by cardiogenic shock, perioperative IABP use generated beneficial clinical outcomes for high-risk patients undergoing coronary revascularization...

Management of the cardiac transplant recipient includes careful titration of inotropes and vasopressors. Recipient pulmonary hypertension and ventilatory status must be optimized to prevent allograft right ventricular failure. Vasoplegia, coagulopathy, arrhythmias, and renal dysfunction also require careful management to achieve an optimal outcome. Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) can be an ominous problem after cardiac transplantation. Although mild degrees of PGD may be managed medically, mechanical circulatory support with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or temporary ventricular assist devices may be required...

Extracorporeal liver support (ECLS) emerged from the need stabilize high-acuity liver failure patients with the highest risk of death. The goal is to optimize the hemodynamic, neurologic, and biochemical parameters in preparation for transplantation or to facilitate spontaneous recovery. Patients with acute liver failure and acute-on-chronic liver failure stand to benefit from these devices, especially because they have lost many of the primary functions of the liver, including detoxifying the blood of various endogenous and exogenous substances, manufacturing circulating proteins, secreting bile, and storing energy...

Renal complications are common following heart and/or lung transplantation and lead to increased morbidity and mortality. Renal dysfunction is also associated with increased mortality for patients on the transplant wait list. Dialysis dependence is a relative contraindication for heart or lung transplantation at most centers, and such patients are often listed for a simultaneous kidney transplant. Several factors contribute to the impaired renal function in patients undergoing heart and/or lung transplantation, including the interplay between cardiopulmonary and renal hemodynamics, complex perioperative issues, and exposure to nephrotoxic medications, mainly calcineurin inhibitors...

Infections in heart and lung transplant recipients are complex and heterogeneous. This article reviews the epidemiology, risk factors, specific clinical syndromes, and most frequent opportunistic infections in heart and/or lung transplant recipients that will be encountered in the intensive care unit and will provide a practical approach of empirical management.

Continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is commonly used to provide renal support for critically ill patients with acute kidney injury, particularly patients who are hemodynamically unstable. A variety of techniques that differ in their mode of solute clearance may be used, including continuous venovenous hemofiltration with predominantly convective solute clearance, continuous venovenous hemodialysis with predominantly diffusive solute clearance, and continuous venovenous hemodiafiltration, which combines both dialysis and hemofiltration...

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a safe and minimally invasive tool that can routinely provide high-quality anatomic and hemodynamic information in the severely ill. Despite its potential for frontline acute care clinicians, TEE use has typically been reserved for diagnostic experts in the cardiac-surgical milieu. With the continued evolution of point-of-care ultrasound into increasingly sophisticated domains, TEE has gained steady uptake in many nontraditional environments for both advanced echocardiographic assessment as well as answering more goal directed, fundamental questions...

Current management of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) involves prompt discontinuation of all heparin products and concomitant initiation of a direct thrombin or anti-Xa inhibitor for anticoagulation. In the setting of HIT complicated by an urgent need for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), the safety and the efficacy of short-term heparin-based anticoagulation after therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) have been previously demonstrated. Patients with HIT requiring TPE are frequently on extracorporeal circuits (either CPB, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation [ECMO] or external ventricular assist devices [VADs])...

Controversy exists with respect to the role of intensive glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes and pre-existing cardiovascular disease (CVD). Thus, the aim of this systematic-review and meta-analysis was to determine in the subset of people with type 2 diabetes and pre-existing CVD, the CV effect of intensive glucose control versus standard of care. We searched Medline, the Cochrane library, EMBASE and the NIH Trial registration database for randomized controlled trials that evaluated the effect of intensive glucose control versus standard glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes on incident CVD...

The in-hospital mortality rate of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has dramatically decreased due to the treatment at the coronary care unit (CCU), especially with the progress of arrhythmia therapy and reperfusion therapy. On the other hand, severe heart failure and multiple organ failure are increasing due to aging populations and multiple organ diseases. As a result, patients with AMI without complications are less likely to be admitted to the CCU, and cardiologists staying in the CCU have also decreased...

There is growing evidence both in the perioperative period and in the field of intensive care (ICU) on the association between left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) and worse outcomes in patients. The recent American Society of Echocardiography and European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging joint recommendations have tried to simplify the diagnosis and the grading of LVDD. However, both an often unknown pre-morbid LV diastolic function and the presence of several confounders-i.e., use of vasopressors, positive pressure ventilation, volume loading-make the proposed parameters difficult to interpret, especially in the ICU...

Mechanical ventilation is a useful treatment option for respiratory insufficiency following thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. Ventilation mode is classified as volume-controlled-ventilation(VCV) and pressure-controlled ventilation(PCV). Non-invasive ventilation(NIV) without tracheal intubation has been recently developed and is effective in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation. Several pulmonary complications by mechanical ventilation such as ventilator-induced lung injury(VILI) or ventilator-associated pneumonia(VAP) could be avoided with NIV...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The clinical use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) in the growing epidemic of heart failure has improved quality of life and long-term survival for this otherwise devastating disease. The current generation of commercially available devices offers a smaller profile that simplifies surgical implantation, a design that optimizes blood flow characteristics, with less adverse events and improved durability than their predecessors. Despite this, the risk for adverse events remains significant, as do burdens for patients and their caregivers...

Heart failure patients on durable left ventricular assist device support experience improved survival, quality of life, and exercise capacity. The complication rate, however, remains unacceptably high, although it has declined with improvements in pump design, better patient selection, and greater understanding of the pump physiology and flow dynamics. Most complications are categorized as those related to the pump-patient interface or those related to patient physiology. It is hoped that further engineering progress, and better patient selection through risk stratification, will allow for left ventricular assist device to be totally biocompatible and perform effectively, without affecting biology and homeostasis of the different organ systems...

The authors discuss principles of continuous flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) operation, basic differences between the axial and centrifugal flow designs and hemodynamic performance, normal LVAD physiology, and device interaction with the heart. Systematic interpretation of LVAD parameters and recognition of abnormal patterns of flow and pulsatility on the device interrogation are necessary for clinical assessment of the patient. Optimization of pump flow using LVAD parameters and echocardiographic and hemodynamics guidance are reviewed...