• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.40 no.3 s.272
• /
• pp.168-179
• /
• 2007

Background: The recent trend of an increasing number of patients with acute cardiogenic shock or chronic congestive heart failure following myocardial infarction, as well as the considerable number who can not be weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass after open heart surgery, call for immediate efforts to develop affordable ventricular assist devices that are suitable for the Korean physique. Recently, a pneumatic pulsatile ventricular assist device (VAD), named DKUH-75, has been developed by the Department of Biomedical Engineering, in collaboration with the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Dankook University College of Medicine. The feasibility of the DKUH-75 VAD was evaluated on the bases of common hemodynamic variables and echocardiographic measurements in pigs, which are subjected to an acute cardiogenic shock state following myocardial infarction, using a novel coronary artery ligation method employing the ischemic preconditioning concept. Material and Method: Acute cardiogenic shock was induced in 10 Yorkshire Landrace Duroc strain pigs by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery via an ischemic preconditioning process. The hemodynamic variables were monitored, with epicardial echocardiographic measurements performed before and one hour after the ligation. The DKUH-75 VAD was implanted into 5 pigs one hour after the onset of the shock. The hemodynamic variables and echocardiographic measurements were taken one hour after installation of the VAD. Result: The systolic, diastolic and mean systemic arterial pressures were significantly decreased in all the experimental animals one hour after the ligation. The systolic, diastolic and mean pulmonary arterial pressures were increased (Eds note: this completely contradicts the preceding statement? However, if you mean the non-experimental animals this should be stated?). The left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP) was increased, but the cardiac index decreased, An increase in the left ventricular end systolic dimension and decreases in the fractional shortening and ejection fraction were observed all animals one hour after the coronary artery ligation. In all 5 of the VAD implanted pigs, the systolic and mean systemic arterial pressures were increased, and the pulmonary arterial pressures decreased one hour after the implantation; the LVEDP decreased, but the cardiac index was significantly increased, In the echocardiographic measurements, the left ventricular end systolic dimension decreased after the implantation of the VAD, but the fractional shortening and ejection fraction significantly increased. Conclusion: Significant improvements in the hemodynamic variables and echocardiographic measurements were observed in the 5 VAD implanted animals one hour after installation, which had been subjected to an acute cardiogenic shock state by ligation of the coronary artery, indicating that the DKUH-75 VAD could help in the recovery of the myocardial function. This suggests that the DKUH-75 VAD is feasible in the short term in relation to an acute cardiogenic shock state due to myocardial infarction.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.37 no.12
• /
• pp.1003-1009
• /
• 2004

Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) has been used for myocardium failure, but moreover, it may be essential for the life support in cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock. Many commercial devices can be used effectively for the long-term support. However, there are some limitations in the aspects of the cost and technical support by production company. Short-term support with centrifugal type has been reported numerously with the purpose of bridging to heart transplantation or recovery. We successfully treated 5 patitents who were in the status of cardiogenic shock (n=3) or arrest (n=2) with the technique of extracorporeal life support system (ECLS) or left ventricular assist device (LVAD) using the centrifugal type pump. The MCS were performed emergently (n=2) under cardiac arrest caused by ischemic heart disease, and urgently (n=3) under cardiogenic shock with ischemic heart disease (n=1) or acute fulminant viral myocarditis (n=2). All patients were weaned from MCS. Complications related to the use of MCS were bleeding and acute renal failure, but there were no major complications related to femoral cannulations. Mechanical circulatory support may be essential for the life support and rescue in cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.39 no.3 s.260
• /
• pp.201-207
• /
• 2006

Background: Percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) provides passive support of gas exchange and perfusion, allowing the use of other methods of care for organ recovery, and saves lives of patients with severe cardiopulmonary failure in a wide variety of clinical settings with a minimal risk of bleeding and need for chest re~ exploration. We summarized a single center's experiences with PCPS in patients with cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest due to the ischemic heart disease. Material and Method: Among the 20 consecutive patients with cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest from May 1999 to June 2005, Biopump (Medtronic, Inc, Minneapolis, MN) was used in 7 patients and the self-priming, heparin-coated circuit of EBS (Terumo, Japan) was applied to remaining 13 patients. Most of cannulations were performed percutaneously via femoral arteries and veins. The long venous cannulas of DLP (Medtronic inc. Minneapolis, MN) or the RMI (Edwards's lifescience LLC, Irvine, CA) were used with the arterial cannulae from 17 Fr to 21 Fr and the venous cannula from 21 Fr to 28 Fr. Result: The 20 consecutive patients who were severely compromised and received PCPS for the purpose of resuscitation were comprised of 13 cardiac arrests and 7 cardiogenic shocks in which by-pass surgery was performed in 11 patients and 9 ongoing PCls under the cardiopulmonary support. The mean support time on the PCPS was 38$\pm$42 hours. Of the 20 patients implanted with PCPS, 11 patients ($55\%$) have had the PCPS removed successfully; overall, 8 of these patients ($40\%$) were discharged from the hospital in an average surviving time for 27$\pm$17 days after removing the PCPS and survived well with 31$\pm$30 months of follow-up after the procedure. Conclusion: The use of PCPS appears to provide the hemodynamic restoration, allowing the survival of patients in cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock who would otherwise not survive, and patients receiving PCPS had a relatively long-term survival.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.30 no.10
• /
• pp.966-972
• /
• 1997

Between June 1994 to August 1996, 13 patients underwent emergency coronary artery bypass operations. There were 3 males and 10 females and ages ranged from 56 to 80 years with the mean of 65.5 years. The indications for emergency operations were cardiogenic shock in 12 cases and intractable polymorphic VT(ve'ntricular tachycardia) in 1 case. The causes of cardiogenic shock were acute evolving infarction in 6 cases, PTCA failure in 4 cases, acute myocardial infarction in 1 case, and post-AMI VSR(ventricular septal rupture) in 1 case. Pive out of 13 patients could go to operating room within 2 hours. However, the operations were delayed from 3 to 10 hours in 8 patients due to non-medical causes. In 12 patients, 37 distal anastomoses were constructed with only 3 LITA's(left internal thoracic arteries) and 34 saphenous veins. In a patient with post-AMI VSR, VSR repair was added. In a patient with intractable VT and critical sten sis limited to left main coronary artery, left main coronary angioplasty was performed. Pive patients died after operation with the operative mortality of 38.5%. Three patients died in the operating room due to LV pump failure, one patient died due to intractable ventricular tachycardia on postoperative second day, and one patient died on postoperative 7th day due to multi-organ failure with complications of mediastinal bleeding, low cardiac output syndrome, ARF, and lower extremity ischemia due to IABP. In 8 survived patients, 3 major complications (mediastinitis, PMI, UGI bleeding) developed but eventually recovered. We think that the aggressive approach to critically ill patients will salvage some of such patients and the most important factor for patient salvage is early surgical intervention before irreversible damage occurs.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.41 no.3
• /
• pp.329-334
• /
• 2008

Background: Percutaneous cardiopulmonary support. (PCPS) has the potential to rescue patients in cardiogenic shock who might otherwise die. PCPS has been a therapeutic option in a variety of the clinical settings such as for patients with myocardial Infarction, high-risk coronary intervention and postcardiotomy cardiogenic shock, and the PCPS device is easy to install. We report our early experience with PCPS as a life saving procedure in cardiogenic shock patients due to acute myocardial infarction. Material and Method: From January 2005 to December 2006, eight patients in cardiogenic shock with acute myocardial infarction underwent PCPS using the CAPIOX emergency bypass system($EBS^{(R)}$, Terumo, Tokyo, Japan). Uptake cannulae were inserted deep into the femoral vein up to the right atrium and return cannulae were inserted into the femoral artery with Seldinger techniques using 20 and 16-French cannulae, respectively. Simultaneously, autopriming was performed at the $EBS^{(R)}$ circuit. The $EBS^{(R)}$ flow rate was maintained between $2.5{\sim}3.0L/min/m^2$ and anticoagulation was performed using intravenous heparin with an ACT level above 200 seconds. Result: The mean age of patients was $61.1{\pm}14.2$ years (range, 39 to 77 years). Three patients were under control of the $EBS^{(R)}$ before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), three patients were under control of the $EBS^{(R)}$ during PCI, one patient was under control of the $EBS^{(R)}$ after PCI, and one patient was under control of the $EBS^{(R)}$ after coronary bypass surgery. The mean support time was $47.5{\pm}27.9$ hours (range, 8 to 76 hours). Five patients (62.5%) could be weaned from the $EBS^{(R)}$ after $53.6{\pm}27.2$ hours. (range, 12 to 68 hours) of support. All of the patients who could successfully be weaned from support were discharged from the hospital. There were three complications: one case of gastrointestinal bleeding and two cases of acute renal failure. Two of the three mortality cases were under cardiac arrest before $EBS^{(R)}$ support, and one patient had an intractable ventricular arrhythmia during the support. All of the discharged patients are still surviving at $16.8{\pm}3.1$ months (range, 12 to 20 months) of follow-up. Conclusion: The use of $EBS^{(R)}$ for cardiogenic shock caused by an acute myocardial infarction could rescue patients who might otherwise have died. Successfully recovered patients after $EBS^{(R)}$ treatment have survived without severe complications. More experience and additional clinical investigations are necessary to elucidate the proper installation timing and management protocol of the $EBS^{(R)}$ in the future.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.39 no.5 s.262
• /
• pp.399-402
• /
• 2006

Stent thrombosis is a rare complication after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), but it might be related to fatal outcomes. We report a case of patient who suffered from acute myocardial infarction complicated with cardiogenic shock and ventricular tachycardia caused by stent thrombosis and successfully resuscitated by percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass support.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.36 no.10
• /
• pp.741-747
• /
• 2003

Background: Coronary artery bypass graf t (CABG) has been settled as most safe surgery among the open heart surgeries. However, in patients with cardiogenic shock, the emergency CABG has higher mortality than elective CABG. We analyzed thirty four patients who underwent emergency CABG and report the middle and long-term results. Material and Method: From June 1994 to December 2001, 34 patients who underwent emergency CABG at Kang-dong Sacred Heart Hospital were include in this study. On the basis of hospital databases and Out Patient Department (OPD) follow up data, preoperative diagnosis, risk factor, coronary artery anatomy, operation technique, postoperative mortality, complication, recurrence of symptom, and mid and long term mortality were analyzed retrospectively. Result: Indications for emergency CABG were 29 cardiogenic shocks (85.3%), 4 intractable chest pains (11.8%), and 1 polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (2.9%). Preoperative angiographic diagnoses were triple vessel disease in 16 (47.1%) and left main disease in 8 (23.5%) patients. We used saphenous vein grafts in 81 and left internal thoracic artery grafts in 14 anastomosis. The mean number of grafts per patients was 2.8$\pm$0.8. The mean aortic cross clamp time was 91.9$\pm$34.6 minutes and the mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was 262.7$\pm$198.3 minutes. Early mortality was 50% and the most common cause of early mortality was low cardiac output in 7 (20.6%) patients. The mean follow-up period was 30.9$\pm$35.7 months. There were no recurrences of symptom and late mortality. Conclusion: In the case of emergency operation, aggressive and proper management with drugs and IABP should be done for preoperative hemodynamic stability and early surgical intervention is the most important factor for patient salvage.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.480-483
• /
• 1999

The widely accepted method for coronary artery bypass grafting(CABG) is performing the distal coronary artery anastomoses on the flaccid and nonbeating heart with the aid of cardiopulmonary bypass(CPB) and cardioplegic arrest. However, current cardioplegic techniques are not consistent in avoiding myocardial ischemic damages especially in high risk patients undergoing CABG. In this regard, "Off-Pump" seems to be an ideal method for preventing myocardial ischemic damage and adverse effects during CPB. However, "Off-pump" CABG is not always technically feasible. We report 2 cases of "On-pump" CABG performed on the beating heart in high risk patients; The first patient had left ventricular dysfunction(Ejection Fraction=25%), and the second patient had cardiogenic shock after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.543-545
• /
• 2004

Postinfarction ventricular septal defect often induces cardiogenic shock and requires operative treatment early after myocardial infarction. Although the operative mortality of this disease has decreased during the past 3 decades, it is still relatively high. In this case, to prevent global myocardial ischemia, we used the technique of repair of postinfarction ventricular septal defect on a beating heart. This approach does not requir aortic cross-clamping and provides superior myocardial protection.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.492-496
• /
• 2009

Background: The treatment of acute pulmonary embolism is difficult, and it can be lethal when cardiogenic shock is involved with major pulmonary embolism. In the past, pulmonary embolectomy was considered as the last choice for patients with pulmonary embolism. Accordingly, we analyzed our experience with seven cases of pulmonary embolectomy as an alternative option for the early treatment of pulmonary embolism. Material and Method: A retrospective analysis of medical charts of all patients who underwent pulmonary embolectomy at our hospital over the past eight years was performed. The patients were observed during their hospital stay and followed until their last visit to the outpatient department. Result: Among 7 patients (4 men and 3 women), 4 had massive pulmonary embolism, and 3 had sub massive pulmonary embolism. An extracorporeal membrane oxygenator was inserted in 3 patients before surgery. There was no mortality, and postoperative echocardiography showed no pulmonary hypertension in 6 patients. Conclusion: Pulmonary embolectomy can be performed with minimal mortality. We think that the use of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenator in patients with cardiogenic shock before surgery improves survival.