Gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery are relatively rare entities but carry a high mortality. We identified over 70 articles written since 2010 using the PubMed database. We included 40 in our review. The most common complications include paralytic ileus, gastrointestinal bleeding, and bowel ischemia. Patients who undergo cardiac procedures are at risk for poor perfusion of the gastrointestinal tract and, thus, at risk for resulting complications. Risk factors for these complications include peri-operative use of vasopressors, prolonged operative time, and the time of cardiopulmonary bypass. Presentation of gastrointestinal complications tends to differ as patients after open heart surgery can remain intubated, and exams can be limited. Early recognition and aggressive therapy are paramount. We aim to provide a review that will help the reader get familiar with the most common gastrointestinal complications that can negatively affect outcomes after cardiac surgery.

Acute Type A aortic dissection is a surgical emergency. Urgent repair is indicated to avoid complications such as acute aortic insufficiency, coronary ischemia and aortic rupture with cardiac tamponade. This report details the management of a patient with acute Type A aortic dissection complicated by an extensive anterolateral myocardial infarction and cardiogenic shock who was successfully bridged to transplantation with a total artificial heart.

Background and Objective: The most common valvular heart disease in the US is moderate to severe mitral regurgitation (MR). Function MR or secondary MR comprises many of these cases. Moderate and severe secondary MR are independently associated with increased all-cause mortality and rehospitalization for heart failure. Both ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy can cause secondary MR via similar pathophysiology that leads to inadequate valve leaflets coaptation. The management of secondary MR is complex. The optimal treatment strategy for secondary MR remains controversial, reflected in the vast array of treatment options and the complexity of therapeutic decision-making. Several surgical mitral valve repair techniques have been described in the literature. Many of these aims to facilitate adequate valve leaflet coaptation. In this review, the pathophysiology of MR is described with a focus on evaluating and managing secondary MR. Methods: A literature review was performed using PubMed and Google Scholar. Clinical trials, meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, reviews, and systematic reviews were considered from January 1, 1995 through December 31, 2022. Articles published in languages other than English with limited text availability were excluded. Key Content and Findings: Optimal therapeutic approach in severe secondary MR is complex and several patient factor should be considered. We provide a framework for the surgical management of secondary MR based on echocardiographic parameters, the presence of ischemia, and myocardial viability. Conclusions: Further study is needed to guide the selection of patients most likely to benefit from mitral valve repair or replacement in the setting of secondary MR.

Background. The Perceval S is a sutureless, bovine pericardial aortic prosthesis on a nitinol stent, which has limited data on outcomes, as well as cost, from the United States. Methods. We performed a retrospective review of Perceval S implantation at a single center between 2015 and 2018. After exclusion criteria, we compared 234 patients who underwent sutureless aortic valve (SLV) implantation with 370 patients who underwent standard sutured aortic valves (SAVR). Hospital cost data were reviewed, and risk adjustment, done by propensity score and inverse probability weighting, was used to compare outcomes. Results. Compared to those undergoing SAVR, the SLV group was older and had a higher proportion of multicomponent operations, higher preoperative white blood cell count, higher rate of previous percutaneous coronary interventions, more comorbid conditions (diabetes, renal insufficiency, and dialysis), and more three-vessel coronary disease. For isolated AVR, partial upper hemisternotomy was more frequent in SLV. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass and cross-clamp times for isolated SLV were significantly lower than SAVR. After adjustment, the cohort was balanced. Operative differences for SLV were lower cross-clamp and pump time, larger valve size, more minimally invasive approaches, and shorter operating room times. There were no differences in other postoperative complications (postoperative atrial fibrillation, stroke, renal failure, prolonged ventilation, and in-hospital mortality; for all). Mean and median hospital costs were higher in the SLV group, largely due to the cost of the implant. Conclusion. Sutureless tissue aortic valves can be used safely with lower cardiopulmonary bypass and clamp times than sutured prostheses and facilitate use of minimally invasive approaches. This valve may be advantageous in older, higher risk patients requiring more complex operations.

Introduction. Recent national guidelines recommending mitral valve replacement (MVR) for severe secondary mitral regurgitation have resulted in an increased utilization of mitral bioprosthesis. There is a paucity of data on how longitudinal clinical outcomes vary by prosthesis type. We examined long-term survival and risk of reoperation between patients having bovine vs. porcine MVR. Study Design. A retrospective analysis of MVR or MVR + coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) from 2001 to 2017 among seven hospitals reporting to a prospectively maintained clinical registry was conducted. The analytic cohort included 1,284 patients undergoing MVR (801 bovine and 483 porcine). Baseline comorbidities were balanced using 1 : 1 propensity score matching with 432 patients in each group. The primary end point was all-cause mortality. Secondary end points included in-hospital morbidity, 30-day mortality, length of stay, and risk of reoperation. Results. In the overall cohort, patients receiving porcine valves were more likely to have diabetes (19% bovine vs. 29% porcine; ), COPD (20% bovine vs. 27% porcine; ), dialysis or creatinine >2 mg/dL (4% bovine vs. 7% porcine; ), and coronary artery disease (65% bovine vs. 77% porcine; ). There was no difference in stroke, acute kidney injury, mediastinitis, pneumonia, length of stay, in-hospital morbidity, or 30-day mortality. In the overall cohort, there was a difference in long-term survival (porcine HR 1.17 (95% CI: 1.00–1.37; )) . However, there was no difference in reoperation (porcine HR 0.56 (95% CI: 0.23–1.32; )) . In the propensity-matched cohort, patients were matched on all baseline characteristics. There was no difference in postoperative complications or in-hospital morbidity and 30-day mortality. After 1 : 1 propensity score matching, there was no difference in long-term survival (porcine HR 0.97 (95% CI: 0.81–1.17; )) or risk of reoperation (porcine HR 0.54 (95% CI: 0.20–1.47; )) . Conclusions. In this multicenter analysis of patients undergoing bioprosthetic MVR, there was no difference in perioperative complications and risk of reoperation of long-term survival after matching.