Surgical Myocardial Revascularization in a Sub-Saharan African Country: Indications and Results

Introduction: Despite the advances of interventional catheterization, surgery remains the treatment of choice for some coronary lesions. Objective: To report the indications and results of surgical revascularization of the myocardium at the Abidjan Heart Institute. Patient and Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients with coronary insufficiency who underwent surgical myocardial revascularization between March 2014 and May 2020 in the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of the Abidjan Heart Institute. There were 17 patients, 11 of whom were men (64.7%) and 6 women (35.3%), The mean age of the patients was 57.5 years ± 8.8. All patients were symptomatic with disabling angina in class III of the Canadian Cardiac Society (CCS). This sym- ptomatology had been evolving on average for 5 years and 6 patients had a history of acute coronary syndrome, 2 of whom had undergone prior angioplasty. Coronary angiography revealed mono-truncated (17.6%), bi-truncated (23.5%) and tri-truncated (58.8%) lesions. Results: The patients were operated under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) 15 cases (88.2%) and off pump in 2 cases (11.8%). They underwent a single bypass in 23.5% of cases, a double bypass in 47.1% of cases and a triple bypass in 29.4% of cases. We observed 3 cases of complications (17.6%), namely transient acute renal failure, mediastinitis and postoperative bleeding. The operative and hospital mortality was nil. After a mean follow-up of 3 ± 1.8 years, all patients were asymptomatic with a negative stress test at last check-up. Conclusion: Our experience has allowed us to demonstrate the safe performance of surgical myocardial revascularization in our patients with satisfactory and encouraging results.

Viable Myocardium Impact on Left Ventricular Function after Late Revascularization of Infarct-related Artery in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Objectives The long-term benefit of late reperfusion of infarct-related artery （IRA） after acute myocardial infarction （AMI） is controversial, and the benefit mechanisms remain uncertain. Low dose dobutamine stress echocardiography （LDSE） can identify viable myocardium and predict improvement of wall motion after revascularization. Methods Sixtynine patients with first AMI who did not received early reperfusion therapy were studied by LDSE at 5 to 10 days after AMI. Wall motion abnormality and left ventricular size were measured at the same time. Successful PCI were done in all patients at 10 to 21 days after AMI onset. Patients were divided in two groups based on the presence or absence of viable myocardium. Echocardiography was repeated six months later. Results There were 157 motion abnormality segments. 89 segments （57%） were viable during LDSE. 26 patients （38%） with viability and 43 （62%） without. In viable group, left ventricular ejection fraction （LVEF） was increased （P 〈 0.05）, and left ventricular end systolic volume index （LVESVI） and wall motion score （WMS） were decreased （P 〈 0.05 and P 〈 0.01） significantly at 6 months compared with baseline. But in patients without viability, LVEF was decreased （P 〈 0.01）, and LVESVI and left ventricular end diastolic volume index （LVEDVI） were increased （P 〈 0.05） significantly after 6 months, and the WMS did not changed （P 〉 0.05 ）. LVEF increased （P 〈 0.05 ） and WMS decreased （P 〈 0.05） on LDSE during acute phase in patients with viability, but they were not changed in the nonviable group. Conclusions Late revascularization of IRA in patients with presence of viable myocardium after AMI is associated with long-term preservation left ventricular function and less ventricular remodeling. Improvement of left ventricular systolic function on LDSE indicates late phase recovery of left ventricular function after late revascularization.

Trimetazidine and Cellular Response in Cardiopulmonary Bypass

Background: Organic cellular inflammatory response constitutes a pathophysiological mechanism present in all Coronary Artery Bypass Graftings (CABGs). In this aspect, the organism brings forth its defenses through answers that involve cellular components. Objectives: To evaluate, in a randomized double-blind prospective study, controlled with placebo, the effects of trimetazidine (Tmz) on cellular response, analyzed through the variation of leukocytes, neutrophils and monocytes. Patients and Method: 30 patients were randomly selected to be studied, with no more than a mild ventricular dysfunction, and divided into two groups (Tmz and placebo) stratified by echocardiography and receiving medication/placebo in a 60 mg/day dose. The samples of leukocytes, neutrophils and monocytes were obtained in the pre-operatory day without medication, at surgery day with 12 to 15 days of medication/placebo, with 5 minutes after the aortic declamping, and within 12, 24 and 48 hours after surgery. Results: The leukocytes and neutrophils levels have decreased significantly in the treated group when compared to the control group, in all analyzed moments (p = 0.012;p = 0.005). Conclusions and Clinical Implications: Trimetazidine has proved to reduce significantly the levels of total leukocytes and neutrophils in patients submitted to CABG.

Emergency off-pump coronary artery surgery

Background Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting is fast-becoming a procedure of choice for elective revascularization in high-risk patients with multi-vessel coronary artery disease. However,the role of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting for patients with acute coronary syndromes requiring emergency revascularization still requires validation. We present our experience to show the feasibility of off-pump coronary artery surgery as an emergency revascularization technique. Methods From April 2001 to September 2003,emergency (operation within 24 hours after hospitalization) coronary artery bypass grafting without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was performed in 66 patients with a mean age of (66.9±5.4) years (range 49-72 years). They presented acute coronary syndromes with 38 patients on platelet glycoprotein Ⅱb/Ⅲa receptor antagonists. All patients underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery via sternotomy with the intention of complete coronary revascularization.Results An average of 2.9 grafts per patient were performed and the posterior descending artery and marginal branches of the circumflex artery were grafted in 83.3% of the patients. There were 4 events of intraoperative cardiac instability, precipitated by occlusion of right coronary artery or positioning of a cardiomegaly heart,leading to immediate conversion to CPB. The mortality rate was 3% (2/66). Two patients suffered postoperative stroke while three needed hemofiltration for acute renal failure. Post surgery elective coronary angiography (n=46) showed no significant stenosis.Conclusion Emergency off-pump coronary artery surgery with complete revascularization is feasible in patients with acute coronary syndrome with low morbidity and mortality and excellent early results.