Purpose: The lactate dehydrogenase-to-albumin ratio (LAR) has been reported as a potential prognostic biomarker in various cancers; however, only a few pieces of information have been reported on esophageal cancer. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of preoperative LAR in patients with esophageal cancer.

Methods: This study included 236 patients (193 men and 43 women; mean age of 66 years [range, 41–83 years]) with esophageal cancer who underwent curative surgery between September 2008 and March 2020. A total of 107 patients underwent upfront surgery, and 129 patients received neoadjuvant treatment. Patients were assigned into two groups, high and low LAR, based on preoperative LAR using a cutoff value of 6.2. The clinicopathological and prognostic significance of preoperative LAR was evaluated in univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results: Patients with deep tumors and neoadjuvant treatment were significantly associated with high LAR (p <0.05). The high LAR group showed a significantly poorer prognosis than the low LAR group (p <0.01). The multivariate analysis for the overall survival showed that deep tumors, lymph node metastasis, and high LAR were independent poor prognostic factors (p <0.05).

Conclusion: High LAR was a useful poor prognostic biomarker in patients with esophageal cancer.

Purpose: This study aimed to illustrate how percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV) and mitral valve (MV) surgeries influence women of childbearing age with rheumatic mitral valve diseases (RMVDs) from two aspects, including clinical outcomes and their postoperative childbearing performances.

Methods: Female patients with RMVD who were of childbearing age and underwent MV interventions between 2007 and 2019 at Beijing Anzhen Hospital were identified. Outcomes included all-cause deaths, repeated MV interventions, and atrial fibrillation. A survey about childbearing attempts and complications during pregnancy was also performed during follow-up.

Results: A total of 379 patients were involved in this study, consisting of 226 cases of mitral valve replacements, 107 cases of mitral valve repairs (MVrs), and 46 cases of PBMVs. PBMV was associated with higher possibilities of repeated MV interventions (P <0.05). Postoperative childbearing attempts were more frequently observed among bioprosthesis, MVr, and PBMV (P <0.05). However, PBMV and MVr showed a higher incidence of cardiac complications during pregnancy as compared to prosthesis replacement (P <0.05).

Conclusions: MVr and PBMV are not recommended to young female patients for higher incidences of postoperative complications. Safe pregnancy is more likely to be present among patients with biological prosthesis.

Purpose: Structural valve deterioration (SVD) remains a limitation on the use of bioprosthetic valves, with patient and valve-related factors contributing to early SVD. The Trifecta valve has been reported to have excellent hemodynamics but studies have highlighted early failure. We present a review and case series at a New Zealand tertiary hospital defining early SVD as failure within 3 years of implant.

Methods: A retrospective review from January 2015 to July 2019 included 525 patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement with 263 patients receiving an Abbott Trifecta or Trifecta Glide Technology (GT) valve. Our review found an acceptable safety profile for the valve with excellent hemodynamics, with a low mortality, stroke, and permanent pacemaker rate.

Results: Three patients out of 263 were identified from the study period as having early SVD requiring reintervention within 3 years of valve implantation leading to a 1.14% failure rate. One of the valves that had early SVD was a new generation Trifecta GT. An additional four patients were identified to have valves implanted prior to the study period and had valve failure at greater than 3 years post implantation. Five cases had cusp tears as their mechanism of failure, raising concerns about durability.

Conclusion: The Trifecta valve has an acceptable safety profile and offers good hemodynamics due to the externally mounted leaflets. However, our experience of early SVD and failure is concerning for valve durability. Further comparison to other bioprosthetic valves and longer term follow-up are required to characterize the mechanism of failures.

Purpose: To analyse the outcome of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in octogenarians with coronary multivessel disease and the impact of different graft strategies and other factors.

Methods: Out of 1654 patients with multivessel disease who underwent CABG at our institution between January 2014 and March 2020, we investigated 225 consecutive patients with a median age of 82.1 years for survival prediction and need for coronary reintervention; a detailed outcome analysis was performed.

Results: At mean follow-up of 3.3 years, the overall survival was 76.4%. An indication for emergency operation (p = 0.002), age (p <0.001), chronic pulmonary disease (p = 0.024), and reduced renal or ventricular function (p <0.001) had the highest impact on limited survival. The combination outcome of survival and coronary reintervention was 1.7-fold improved (p = 0.024) after use of the bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) (66.2%). Off-pump CABG (12%) revealed no impact on survival. Smokers showed a poorer outcome (p = 0.004). The logistic European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation was highly effective for evaluating long-term outcomes (p <0.001).

Conclusions: BITA grafting normalizes survival and reveals a better outcome in octogenarians with multivessel disease. However, patients at risk of poorer survival were operated under emergency conditions and those with pulmonary disease and reduced ventricular or renal function.

Purpose: We aimed to investigate the prognosis and impact of postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) patients, and to analyze the predictors of short- and medium-term survival.

Methods: A total of 192 patients who underwent ATAAD surgery were included between May 2014 and May 2019. Perioperative data of these patients were analyzed. All of the discharged patients were followed up for 2 years.

Results: Postoperative AKI was identified in 43 of 192 patients (22.4%). The two-year survival rate of patients with AKI after discharge was 88.2% and that without AKI was 97.2%.The difference was statistically significant (χ² = 5.355, log-rank P = 0.021). Cox hazards regression showed that age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.070; P = 0.002), cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time (HR, 1.026; P = 0.026), postoperative AKI (HR, 3.681; P = 0.003), and red blood cell transfusion (HR, 1.548; P = 0.001) were independent risk factors for the short- and medium-term total mortality of ATAAD patients.

Conclusion: The incidence of postoperative AKI is high in ATAAD, and the mortality of patients with AKI increases significantly within 2 years. Age, CPB time, and red blood cell transfusion were also independent risk factors for short-and medium-term prognoses.

A 51-year-old man who noticed discomfort in the pharynx was found to have a tracheal tumor on physical examination. He was diagnosed as having adenoid cystic carcinoma by a transbronchial biopsy and underwent tracheal segmental resection via a collar incision. He was additionally treated with radiation therapy owing to a positive surgical margin, and he subsequently developed anastomotic tracheal stenosis. Silicon stent placement to open the airway was performed for the tracheal stenosis. One year after stent placement, the trachea was dilated, so the stent was removed, and he is still under follow-up without recurrence free 1.5 years after stent replacement.

A 56-year-old man with a history of left nephrectomy for Wilms’ tumor on chronic hemodialysis underwent aortic valve neocuspidization using autologous pericardium (Ozaki procedure) for aortic stenosis (AS) due to a bicuspid aortic valve 6 years ago. The AS gradually progressed and a decrease in the left ventricular ejection fraction was observed. Because of this, we decided to perform reoperative aortic valve replacement using a mechanical valve. Intraoperative findings showed severe calcification at the site where the autologous pericardium was sutured to the annulus. However, the degeneration of the valve leaflets themselves was mild. While excellent mid-term results have been reported for the Ozaki procedure, the long-term results are still unclear. In this case, the annulus was severely calcified, which reduced the mobility of the leaflet. We report the first case of AS progression requiring reoperation in the long-term period after the Ozaki procedure.

From April 2018 to February 2021, 150 patients underwent MitraClip implantation for severe functional mitral regurgitation (MR) at our hospital. Two of our patients, an 85-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman, developed a single leaflet device attachment in the acute phase after the implantation and had severe residual MR requiring surgical correction. The recurrent MR was first pointed out on day 5 and day 4, and the duration between MitraClip implantation and surgery was 13 and 55 days, respectively. Due to strong adhesions with the clips and severe valve damage after MitraClip implantation, both cases underwent mitral valve replacement with a good postoperative course. In patients with a high-risk baseline profile, surgical mitral valve replacement after failed MitraClip implantation should be considered at an optimal timing, and a detailed echocardiographic follow-up is required.