Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a primary myocardial disease characterized by left ventricular hypertrophy in the absence of other etiologies. Clinical presentation may vary from asymptomatic to sudden cardiac death. Medical treatment is the first-line therapy for symptomatic patients. Extended left ventricular septal myectomy is the procedure of choice if medical treatment is unsuccessful or intolerable. Mayo Clinic experience: More than 3,000 patients have had septal myectomy for HCM at the Mayo Clinic (MN, USA) from 1993 to 2016. Risk of hospital death after isolated septal myectomy for obstructive HCM is <1% and is similar to the risk of operation for elective mitral valve repair. Complications, such as complete heart block requiring permanent pacemaker, are uncommon (2%), although partial or complete left bundle branch block is a frequent finding on the postoperative ECG. Relief of left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction with septal myectomy dramatically improves symptoms and exercise capacity in symptomatic patients with obstructive HCM. More than 90% of severely symptomatic patients have improvement by at least two functional classes, and reduction of outflow gradients by myectomy decreases or eliminates symptoms of dyspnea, angina and/or syncope. Basal obstruction with systolic anterior motion (SAM) is treated by transaortic myectomy. The transapical approach was applied in 115 patients with obstructive midventricular and apical variants of HCM between 1993 and 2012. All patients with midventricular obstruction had gradient relief and none developed an apical aneurysm or ventricular septal defect. Recurrent obstruction after satisfactory myectomy was rare. Conclusions: Septal myectomy effectively and definitively relieves LVOT obstruction and cardiac symptoms in patients with obstructive HCM. In experienced centers, early mortality for isolated septal myectomy is less than 1%, and overall results are excellent and continue to improve in the current era.

Patients with symptomatic severe mitral annular calcification present a therapeutic challenge. Direct transatrial implantation of SAPIEN valve has emerged as an alternative to surgical mitral valve (MV) replacement for high-risk surgical candidates. This series includes 6 consecutive patients with symptomatic severe mitral annular calcification deemed to be at high risk for standard surgery. All patients underwent direct transatrial implantation of balloon-expandable SAPIEN valve in the mitral position. Mean age was 81 years [3 (50%) female], with an average Society of Thoracic Surgeons score of 10.3%. All patients had at least New York Heart Association Class III symptoms. Procedure was performed using normothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. The MV was approached through a standard left atriotomy in 4 patients and via a vertical trans-septal approach in the remaining 2 patients. Resection of the anterior leaflet of the MV was performed in 4 patients. The valve was successfully deployed in all patients. The diastolic mean gradient across the MV decreased from an average of 14 ± 3 to 5 ± 1 mmHg post deployment. There was no left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. MV periprosthetic regurgitation was severe in 3 patients and moderate to severe in 1 patient. In-hospital mortality occurred in 3 (50%) patients due to a non-cardiac cause in 1 patient and cardiogenic shock in the other 2 patients. Early experience with direct transatrial balloon-expandable implantation for severe mitral annular calcification revealed feasibility of this approach but significant morbidity and mortality primarily related to periprosthetic regurgitation that requires further refinement of the technique.

Infective endocarditis (IE) remains a life-threatening disease, despite the improvement in diagnostic and therapeutic measures. We reviewed our outcomes for all adults who underwent surgery for endocarditis at our centre. Between January 1995 and December 2013, 801 patients [586 men (73%)] underwent surgery for IE. Mean age was 60 ± 14.7 years. Native endocarditis (NE) was present in 372 patients (46%), and 379 (47%) patients had active IE. The mean follow-up period was 4.6 ± 4.75 years (maximum 20 years). Single-valve endocarditis was present in 551 (69%) patients (392 aortic and 159 mitral). Multivalve involvement was present in 250 (31%) patients. Preoperative stroke was present in 149 (19%) patients, while 62 (8%) patients were on dialysis prior to surgery. Valve repair was possible in 122 (15%) patients, while 679 (85%) patients underwent valve replacement. Mechanical valves were used in 312 (39%) patients. Aortic homografts were used in 84 (10%) patients. Early mortality occurred in 64 (8%) patients. Overall survival at 5, 10 and 20 years was 68%, 45% and 8.4%, respectively. Postoperative stroke occurred in 16 (2%) patients, while 59 (7%) patients required new dialysis postoperatively. Multivariate analysis revealed active IE (P = 0.002), preoperative dialysis (P = 0.007), previous coronary artery bypass grafting (P = 0.001), root abscess (P = 0.006) and tricuspid valve or multivalve involvement (P = 0.002) to be predictors of early mortality. The need for dialysis (P < 0.001), previous coronary artery bypass grafting (P < 0.001) and mitral valve (P = 0.002) and tricuspid valve/multivalve involvement (P < 0.001) were significant predictors of late mortality. Active IE is associated with high perioperative mortality especially with multivalve and aortic root involvement. Preoperative stroke has no impact on perioperative mortality. Long-term survival for those who survived the immediate postoperative period is satisfactory, and mechanical valves are associated with the best long-term survival.

Objective Limited data exist regarding the outcomes of non-cardiac procedures (NCPs) in adult patients after Fontan operations (Fontan patients). Methods To compare procedural outcomes after NCPs in Fontan patients with outcomes for two matched control groups: patients with repaired congenital heart disease and biventricular circulation (CHD-BiV) and patients with no heart disease (NHD). We defined cyanosis as oxygen saturation <90% and procedural hypoxia as saturation 10% from baseline. Results There were 538 NCPs in 154 Fontan patients (mean age, 30 years) performed in 1990–2015. Sedation and anaesthesia types were monitored anaesthesia care (256,48%), general anaesthesia (51,9%), minimal sedation (105,20%), local anaesthesia (75,14%) and regional anaesthesia (51,9%). Ninety-three complications occurred in 79 procedures (15%) and included arrhythmia requiring intervention (9), hypotension (14), bradycardia (8), hypoxia (38), heart failure requiring intravenous diuretics (2), acute kidney injury (3), bleeding requiring blood transfusion (1), unplanned procedures for dialysis catheter placement (2), readmission (2), unplanned hospitalisation for hypoxia (8) and unplanned transfer to intensive care unit (1). Baseline cyanosis was the only multivariable risk factor for complications (HR, 1.87 (95% CI 1.14 to 3.67), p=0.04). Procedural complications were more common in the Fontan group (18%) than in the CHD-BiV (5%) and NHD groups (1.4%) (p=0.001). Conclusions Complications after NCPs were more common in Fontan patients, and baseline cyanosis was a risk factor for complications. All-cause mortality was low and may be related to the multidisciplinary care approach used for Fontan patients at our centre.