The incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction is reported to 2–8%. The aim of the study (retrospectively registered) was to evaluate whether control coronary angiography after surgery is useful in case of suspected postoperative myocardial ischemia. All patients who demonstrated signs of myocardial ischemia post CABG and underwent coronary angiography from 6/2008 to 06/2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Myocardial ischemia post CABG was defined as an increase of CK/CK-MB, occasionally associated with arrhythmias or low output syndrome. Overall, 108 patients (age 66 ± 9 years) demonstrated signs of myocardial ischemia post CABG and underwent coronary angiography corresponding to an incidence of 2.2%. Of them, 70 patients (65%) demonstrated graft pathologies. A therapeutic consequence was drawn in 62 Patients (57%), which consisted of redo surgery in 10 patients (9%) and PCI with stent placement in 52 patients (48%). Of the remaining 46 patients, 29 patients showed intact bypass grafts (27%), whereas 17 patients had minor pathologies (16%). Demographic data including the extent of the coronary artery disease, urgency of operation, comorbidities, EuroScore, surgical technique, postoperative lab tests and transfusion requirements were comparable among the groups. Redo surgery patients had prior PCI in 33% of patients, which was much higher than in the other groups. Patients with reintervention had a 30d-mortality rate of 13%, conservatively treated patients only 2.2%. Mortality was highest after redo surgery with 25%. Postoperative coronary angiography is a useful tool with a significant therapeutic value. Pathological findings mandate further revascularization therapy in roughly half of the patients. PCI is a safe choice in the majority of patients, redo surgery is much less indicated.

LVAD speed adjustment according to a functioning aortic valve has hypothetic advantages but could lead to submaximal support. The consequences of an open aortic valve policy on exercise capacity and hemodynamics have not yet been investigated systematically.

Objective: Cardiogenic shock is associated with mortality rates up to 70%, even if patients are treated with intensive care support or thrombolytic therapy. Early coronary revascularisation can be life-saving but it is oftentimes not available at the hospital to which the patient was initially taken. Up to now, transferring patients in a state of severe cardiogenic shock and/or cardiopulmonary resuscitation is mostly decided to be impossible. We report on the use of two newly developed minimised systems for hand-held-extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) (ELS-System™ and CARDIOHELP™, both from MAQUET Cardiopulmonary AG, Germany), which we have used for rapid extracorporeal life support and interhospital transfer on Mini-ECMO. We characterise the emergency use, safety instructions and bridging function of these novel Mini-ECMO devices. Methods: Between June 2007 and August 2010, we administered percutaneous Mini-ECMO support to 21 adult cardiogenic shock patients. The main components of each Mini-ECMO system are a centrifugal pump and a membrane oxygenator. The systems can act independently from wall connection points, and are they are small enough to be attached nearby a patient’s side during transport. Results: On ECMO, gas exchange improved significantly, vasopressor support could be significantly marked down and signs of shock disappeared in all patients. Emergency medical service was carried out in re-established blood-flow and oxygen delivery. The patients were bridged to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) (n = 6), ventricular assist device (n = 1) or pulmonary embolectomy (n = 1) or specialised intensive care (n = 13). Thirteen patients (62%) had completely recovered. Conclusions: The use of hand-held Mini-ECMO systems enables for the first time the rapid onset of extracorporeal life support independent from the patient’s current location. However, success is extremely time- and team dependent. Highly skilled interdisciplinary patient management is essential to let minimised-ECMO become a new and highly effective bridge to recovery in out-of-centre cardiogenic shock patients.

Background Over the years, open heart surgery has become more complex, and especially reoperative surgery, more demanding. The risk of third-time or more sternotomy procedures is unclear. Methods We reviewed our institutional experience of 25 years based on two generations of cardiac surgeons in a German university medical center to document frequency, outcome, and complications of the various types of open heart procedures. Results Overall, we included 104 patients with a mean age of 64 ± 13 years. The EuroSCORE II (European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation) calculated an average mortality risk of 15.7 ± 15.4%. Subgroup comparison of isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), aortic valve replacement, and mitral valve replacement procedures did not delineate significantly different risk profiles except for the incidence of acute myocardial infarction, which was present in every second patient (53.3%) scheduled for CABG surgery. The time interval to previous surgery was 4.7 ± 6.3 years on average. Most frequent surgical procedures were valve operations, which were accomplished in 72 patients (69.2%), whereas coronary bypass surgery was performed in 23 patients (22.1%) only. Combined procedures were performed in 27 patients. Complex aortic arch replacement with a frozen elephant trunk procedure was necessary in six patients. Overall, 30-day survival was 81.7%. Conclusion In conclusion, third-time and more sternotomy procedures offer acceptable outcome and should therefore be considered in appropriate patients.