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Aim: Acute aortic dissection type A (AADA) is a life-threatening emergency with high mortality rates. Surgical intervention is the preferred and potentially life-saving treatment, but perioperative mortality remains a significant concern. Identifying the risk factors associated with surgical mortality, morbidity, and survival rates is essential. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the preoperative and intraoperative risk factors for death during surgical repair of AADA. Material and Methods: We included 64 consecutive patients who underwent surgical repair between April 2013 and March 2021 in a tertiary heart center. Perioperative characteristics and variables were collected and analyzed to find any correlation between them and in-hospital Outcomes. Results: Aortic dissection surgery was performed on an average of 8 patients annually, accounting for approximately 1.7% (64/3757) of all openheart surgery cases. The in-hospital mortality rate was 28% (18/64). The main predisposing factors for in-hospital death were cardiac failure (11.1%), stroke (16.7%), uncontrollable hemorrhage (27.8%), renal failure (11.1%), respiratory failure (11.1%), and postoperative multi-organ failure (22.2%). We found no associations between cardiopulmonary bypass duration and mortality. During the routine use of cerebral protective perfusion, we did not encounter any cases of coma. Left ventricular hypertrophy, a short distance of intimal tear to the aortic valve, and renal failure were associated with postoperative bleeding tendency. Conclusion: Our study showed that multiple factors such as heart failure, uncontrolled bleeding, and respiratory failure increase in-hospital mortality of patients with dissection of aorta type A, but duration of surgery does not have any association with in-hospital death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bendopnea, defined as dyspnea while bending, can be observed in patients with heart failure (HF). In this study, we investigated the frequency of this symptom in patients with systolic HF and its association with echocardiographic parameters. Methods: In this study, patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤45% and decompensated HF referred to our clinics were prospectively recruited. All the patients were examined by cardiologists for collecting data on the presence of bendopnea and baseline characteristics. They also underwent electrocardiographic and echocardiographic examinations. All findings were compared between the patients with or without bendopnea. Results: A total of 120 patients at a mean age of 65.19±12.62 years were evaluated, and 74.8% were men. Bendopnea was observed in 44.2% of the patients. The etiology of HF was ischemic in most patients (81.9%), and the functional class of most patients (85.9%) was III or IV. The mortality rate at the 6-month follow-up was comparable between the patients with or without bendopnea (6.1% vs 9.5%; P=0.507). The waist circumference (odds ratio [OR], 1.037, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.005 to 1.070; P=0.023), paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (OR, 0.338, 95% CI, 0.132 to 0.866; P=0.024), and right atrial size (OR, 1.084, 95% CI, 1.002 to 1.172; P=0.044) were associated with bendopnea. Conclusion: Bendopnea can be frequently found among patients with systolic HF. This phenomenon is associated with obesity and baseline symptoms of patients and right atrial size upon echocardiographic examinations. It can help clinicians with the risk stratification of HF patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The requirement of varying doses of warfarin for different individuals can be explained by environmental and genetic factors. We evaluated the frequency of vitamin K epoxide reductase complex subunit 1 (VKORC1) and cytochrome P450 2C9 (CYP2C9) variants together with patientdemographic characteristics and investigated their association with warfarin dose requirement with the objective to suggest a warfarin dosing algorithm. In this study, 185 patients with heart valve replacement from West Azerbaijan, Iran were genotyped for VKORC1 (-1639 G>A) and CYP2C9 (*2 and *3 alleles) by PCR-RFLP. Multiple linear regression was performed to create a new warfarin dosing algorithm. The frequency of variants in studied subjects was 12% for CYP2C9 *2, 25.8% for CYP2C9 *3, and 60% for -1639A. The patients who carried the A allele at position -1639 VKORC1 and the variants CYP2C9 *2 and *3 required a significantly lower daily mean warfarin dosage (P = 0.001). Statistical analysis also indicated a significant relationship between the daily maintenance dose of warfarin with age and blood pressure among the studied patients’ cohort (P < 0.001). This study showed that in the heart valve replacement patients considering VKORC1 and CYP2C9 polymorphisms beside demographic characteristics such as age will be helpful in pre-treatment dosing of warfarin which in turn reduces the complications associated with inappropriate warfarin dosing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiac hydatid cysts are uncommon and pericardial involvement is extremely uncommon. We report a rare case of a cardiac hydatid cyst that was surprisingly found during an emergent tamponade surgery in a woman. She was pale, febrile, ill and toxic and 300cc turbid and purulent fluid was drained. In taking history, it was found that the patient had six sheep dogs in her house. Laboratory analysis revealed elevated C-reactive protein, elevated white blood cell count (neutrophil 80% and eosinophils less than 5%), anemia and negative immunoglobulin ELISA. Complete reevaluation revealed two relatively large hydatid cysts; the biggest one (5cm diameter) was in the lateral side of the left atrium and the other one (2.5cm diameter) was in the inferior of ascending aorta. Surgical removal of the cyst was performed via median sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass. The patient had pericarditis, fibrinous adhesions and heart inflammation. Postoperative period was uneventful and the patient received Albendazole for six months. There was no recurrence during the one- year follow-up period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bendopnea, defined as dyspnea while bending, can be observed in patients with heart failure (HF). In this study, we investigated the frequency of this symptom in patients with systolic HF and its association with echocardiographic parameters., Methods: In this study, patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤45% and decompensated HF referred to our clinics were prospectively recruited. All the patients were examined by cardiologists for collecting data on the presence of bendopnea and baseline characteristics. They also underwent electrocardiographic and echocardiographic examinations. All findings were compared between the patients with or without bendopnea., Results: A total of 120 patients at a mean age of 65.19±12.62 years were evaluated, and 74.8% were men. Bendopnea was observed in 44.2% of the patients. The etiology of HF was ischemic in most patients (81.9%), and the functional class of most patients (85.9%) was III or IV. The mortality rate at the 6-month follow-up was comparable between the patients with or without bendopnea (6.1% vs 9.5%; P=0.507). The waist circumference (odds ratio [OR], 1.037, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.005 to 1.070; P=0.023), paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (OR, 0.338, 95% CI, 0.132 to 0.866; P=0.024), and right atrial size (OR, 1.084, 95% CI, 1.002 to 1.172; P=0.044) were associated with bendopnea., Conclusion: Bendopnea can be frequently found among patients with systolic HF. This phenomenon is associated with obesity and baseline symptoms of patients and right atrial size upon echocardiographic examinations. It can help clinicians with the risk stratification of HF patients., (Copyright © 2022 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)