Alternative Approach for Cerebral Protection during Complex Aortic Arch and Redo Surgery

Total arch replacement remains a very demanding surgical procedure. It can be associated with reasonable long-term outcomes but carries serious perioperative complications. Aortic arch surgery has progressed in recent years to a wider adoption of reproducible and reliable techniques. Conventional open, surgical aortic arch replacement is currently offered to the majority of patients, although hybrid and wholly endovascular techniques are gaining popularity. With regards to open arch replacement, the nuances of surgical technique, the mode of cannulation and the optimal cerebral protection protocols remain a matter of debate. We propose an alternative cannulation approach facilitated by the cooperation between cardiac and vascular surgeons. A three-way arterial cannulation including both carotid arteries and the femoral artery (or ascending aorta) is the key feature of this approach. A case series of complex patients is presented to show both the feasibility and relative safety of a standardised new approach with a 100% technical success rate and a 16% 30-day mortality. The three-way cannulation approach may have a role to play for complex and extensive procedures requiring prolonged cerebral protection. We believe that a shared skill set from cardiac and vascular specialists is essential for the safe management and successful outcomes using this adaptive technique.

Early outcome and mid-term survival after open arch repair using selective antegrade cerebral perfusion

Objectives The introduction of selective antegrade cerebral perfusion technique as method of cerebral protection improved the outcome of open arch surgery. The aim of this study was to report early outcomes using this technique. Methods Between 1997 and 2017, data were collected retrospectively for all patients who underwent surgical replacement of the aortic arch using selective antegrade cerebral perfusion ( n = 938). To confirm the effectiveness of this cerebral protection method, early outcome and results were evaluated. Results The incidence of postoperative permanent neurological dysfunction was 6.4%. Overall hospital mortality was 11.9% ( n = 112). On multivariable analysis, age >75 years, female gender, euroscore at increment of 1 point, chronic renal failure, extension of thoracic aorta replacement and CPB time emerged as independent risk factors for hospital mortality. The mid-term survival at 1, 5, 10 and 15 years was 92%, 78%, 60% and 49%, respectively. The competing risk analysis for permanent neurological dysfunction and aortic reoperations was performed excluding the patients who died during the hospital stay. The cumulative incidence of permanent neurological dysfunction and aortic reoperations was 2% at 3 years, 3% at 5 years, 6% at 10 years, 12% at 3 years, 15% at 5 years and 19% at 10 years, respectively. Conclusions From the early 90s to the present day, the selective antegrade cerebral perfusion has confirmed to be a useful and “safe” method of brain protection in aortic arch surgery in terms of postoperative neurological complications.

Non-protected carotid artery stenting for symptomatic carotid stenosis in low resource settings

Background The use of a distal cerebral protection device during extracranial carotid artery stenting is still a matter of debate. The aim of this work was to evaluate the safety of performing carotid artery stenting procedure without the use of cerebral protection device in patients with symptomatic carotid stenosis. A retrospective study was performed during the period from September 2015 till March 2020 including 91 patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis. All patients were treated with a single stent type (Wall stent® - Boston scientific) without the use of cerebral protection device. Pre- and post-procedural clinical assessment with the national institute of health stroke scale (NIHSS). Post procedure brain diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) if clinically indicated within 24 h was used to determine periprocedural cerebral embolization. Results A low complication rate was found as only one case (1%) showed mild deterioration in NIHSS and new acute cerebral emboli were detected with brain DW-MRI. Conclusion Carotid artery stenting can be performed safely without the use of cerebral protection device.