PREDICTORS OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION AFTER CABG ASSESSED BY TRANSTHORACIC ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY

Abstract Background Left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion devices represent an important alternative to anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) with high risk of bleeding and who have suffered any hemorrhagic event. At first, a transesophageal ultrasound is performed to examine cardiac cavities, take measures of LAA and discharge the presence of thrombi. We redo a new transesophageal ultrasound as a control three months later after having installed the device. The purpose of this article is to show our experience in ultrasound follow up of LAA occlusion. Methodology All measures of LAA were taken with the transoesophageal ultrasound device by the same operator. According to the size acquired from the appendage of each patient, they were divided into a first group with the implementation of the Watchman device (23 patients) and Amplatzer (6 patients). A transthoracic echocardiography control was performed on each patient to rule out the presence of complications after the intervention, before to be discharged from hospital. After three months, a new transoesophageal study was repeated to assess the correct position of the device and to rule out the presence of any disfunctions or clot formation. Results A total of 29 patients with AF (CHADSVASC 4.09 HASBLED 2.96) with a high risk of bleeding and after having suffered any complications (41% brain bleeding, 31% major gastrointestinal bleeding, 27% advanced chronic kidney disease) were presented for the implantation of a LAA closure device. Firstly, LAA size was confirm and the presence of a thrombi was rule out. No patient suffered complications during the procedure that was confirmed with transthoracic echocardiography (discharging the presence of perforation, pericardial effusion or tamponade). At three months later, we performed a new transoesophageal as a control for the assessment of the place and presence of GAPs, if any (80% correct-placed, 15% placed with a gap of 2-4 mm with passage of flow throughout). In a 10-month follow-up, it was found that practically 93% of patients were still without anticoagulation, except two patients, one of them (CHADSVASC 4 HASBLED 2) had to reintroduce oral anticoagulation due to the fact of the clot formation on the device. The second one (CHADSVASC 4 HASBLED 2) had to reintroduce temporarily fractionated heparin due to stent thrombosis in the femoral artery. None of them presented any ischemic complications or new haemorrhagic events. Conclusions LAA occlusion devices are an effective and safe alternative to anticoagulation in patients with atrial fibrillation with predisposition to bleeding where ultrasound techniques play an essential role in all stages of procedure (prior to implantation of the device, during and at the follow-up).

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Comparison of transthoracic echocardiography with computed tomography in evaluation of pulmonary veins

BMC Cardiovascular Disorders ◽

10.1186/s12872-019-01272-8 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Qing-Qing Dong ◽

Wen-Yi Yang ◽

Ya-Ping Sun ◽

Qian Zhang ◽

Guang Chu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Computed Tomography ◽

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Transthoracic Echocardiography ◽

Anatomic Variation ◽

Cardiac Computed Tomography ◽

Pulmonary Veins ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Clear Identification ◽

The Right

Abstract Background Transesophageal echocardiography may be used to assess pulmonary veins for atrial fibrillation ablation. No study focused on the role of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in evaluating the diameter and anatomy of pulmonary veins. Methods Among 142 atrial fibrillation patients (57.7% men; mean age, 60.5) hospitalised for catheter ablation, we assessed pulmonary veins and compared the measurements by TTE with cardiac computed tomography (CT) before ablation. Among 17 patients who had follow-up examinations, the second measurements were also studied. Results TTE identified and determined the diameters of 140 (98.6%) right and 140 (98.6%) left superior PVs, and 136 (95.7%) right and 135 (95.1%) left inferior PVs. A separate middle PV ostia was identified in 14 out of the 22 patients (63.6%) for the right side and in 2 out of 4 (50.0%) for the left side. The PV diameters before ablation assessed by CT vs. TTE were 17.96 vs. 18.07 mm for right superior, 15.92 vs. 15.51 mm for right inferior, 18.54 vs. 18.42 mm for left superior, and 15.56 vs. 15.45 mm for left inferior vein. The paired differences between the assessments of CT and TTE were not significant (P ≥ 0.31) except for the right inferior vein with a CT-minus-TTE difference of 0.41 mm (P = 0.018). The follow-up PV diameters by both CT (P ≥ 0.069) and TTE (P ≥ 0.093) were not different from baseline measurements in the 17 patients who had follow-up measurements. Conclusions With a better understanding of PV anatomy in TTE imaging, assessing PV diameters by non-invasive TTE is feasible. However, the clear identification of anatomic variation might still be challenging.

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