Effect of Skeletonization of Bilateral Internal Thoracic Arteries on Deep Sternal Wound Infections

Comparative Analysis of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Outcomes in Women Using Different Conduits in the National UK Data Set

BACKGROUND

There is limited report of outcomes in women undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with left internal thoracic artery and different second conduits (saphenous vein graft [SVG], radial artery [RA], and right internal thoracic artery [RITA]).

METHODS

The National Adult Cardiac Surgery Audit database was queried for women undergoing isolated CABG with left internal thoracic artery graft in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2019. Propensity score-based pairwise comparisons were performed between graft types. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality.

RESULTS

The study included 58,063 women (SVG, n = 48,881 [84.2%]; RA, n = 6136 [10.6%]; RITA, n = 2445 [4.2%]). SVG use was stable over the years; RA and RITA use decreased. In-hospital mortality was similar between the RA and RITA grafts (2.3% vs 2.8%; odds ratio [OR], 0.80; 95% CI, 0.53-1.22; P = .39) and between the RA and SVG (2.3% vs 2.0%; OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.93-1.55; P = .17) but higher in the RITA group compared with the SVG (2.7% vs 1.4%; OR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.27-3.36; P = .004). Women receiving the RITA graft were more likely to have sternal wound infection (SWI) compared with the RA (0.6% vs 0.06%; P = .004) and the SVG (0.6% vs 0.2%; P = .032). SWI was consistently associated with higher risk of in-hospital mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Conduit selection may affect operative outcomes in women undergoing CABG. The RA shows similar mortality and risk of deep SWI as the SVG.

Consensus statement-graft treatment in cardiovascular bypass graft surgery

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is and continues to be the preferred revascularization strategy in patients with multivessel disease. Graft selection has been shown to influence the outcomes following CABG. During the last almost 60 years saphenous vein grafts (SVG) together with the internal mammary artery have become the standard of care for patients undergoing CABG surgery. While there is little doubt about the benefits, the patency rates are constantly under debate. Despite its acknowledged limitations in terms of long-term patency due to intimal hyperplasia, the saphenous vein is still the most often used graft. Although reendothelialization occurs early postoperatively, the process of intimal hyperplasia remains irreversible. This is due in part to the persistence of high shear forces, the chronic localized inflammatory response, and the partial dysfunctionality of the regenerated endothelium. "No-Touch" harvesting techniques, specific storage solutions, pressure controlled graft flushing and external stenting are important and established methods aiming to overcome the process of intimal hyperplasia at different time levels. Still despite the known evidence these methods are not standard everywhere. The use of arterial grafts is another strategy to address the inferior SVG patency rates and to perform CABG with total arterial revascularization. Composite grafting, pharmacological agents as well as latest minimal invasive techniques aim in the same direction. To give guide and set standards all graft related topics for CABG are presented in this expert opinion document on graft treatment.

Temporal Cluster Analysis of Deep Sternal Wound Infection in a Regional Quality Collaborative

INTRODUCTION

Deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) is a rare complication associated with high mortality. Seasonal variability in surgical site infections has been demonstrated, however, these patterns have not been applied to DSWI. The purpose of this study was to assess temporal clustering of DSWIs.

METHODS

All cardiac surgery patients who underwent sternotomy were queried from a regional Society of Thoracic Surgeons database from 17 centers from 2001 to 2019. All patients with the diagnosis of DSWI were then identified. Cluster analysis was performed at varying time intervals (monthly, quarterly, and yearly) at the hospital and regional level. DSWI rates were calculated by year and month, and compared using mixed-effects negative binomial regression.

RESULTS

A total of 134,959 patients underwent a sternotomy for cardiac surgery, of whom 469 (0.35%) developed a DSWI. Rates of DSWI per hospital across all years ranged from 0.12% to 0.69%. Collaborative-level rates of DSWIs were the greatest in September (0.44%) and the lowest in January (0.30%). Temporal clustering was not seen across seasonal quarters (high rate in preceeding quarter was not associated with a high rate in the next quarter) (P = 0.39). There were yearly differences across all institutions in the DSWI rates. A downward trend in DSWI rates was seen from 2001 to 2019 (P < 0.001). A difference among hospitals in the cohort was observed (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

DSWI are a rare event within our region. Unlike other surgical site infection, there does not appear to be a seasonal pattern associated with DSWI.

Expert systematic review on the choice of conduits for coronary artery bypass grafting: endorsed by the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS) and The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS)

PREAMBLE

The finalized document was endorsed by the EACTS Council and STS Executive Committee before being simultaneously published in the European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery (EJCTS) and The Annals of Thoracic Surgery (The Annals) and the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (JTCVS).

Deep Sternal Wound Infection and Mortality in Cardiac Surgery: A Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) is a rare but severe complication after cardiac surgical procedures and has been associated with increased early morbidity and mortality. Studies reporting long-term outcomes in patients with DSWI have shown contradictory results. We performed a study-level meta-analysis evaluating the impact of DSWI on short- and long-term clinical outcomes.

METHODS

A systematic literature search was conducted to identify studies comparing short- and long-term outcomes of patients submitted to cardiac surgical procedures who developed DSWI and patients who did not. The primary outcome was overall mortality. Secondary outcomes were in-hospital mortality, follow-up mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events, myocardial infarction, and repeat revascularization. Postoperative outcomes were also investigated.

RESULTS

Twenty-four studies totaling 407 829 patients were included. Overall, 6437 (1.6%) patients developed DSWI. Mean follow-up was 3.5 years. DSWI was associated with higher overall mortality (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.99; 95% CI, 1.66-2.38; P < .001), in-hospital mortality (odds ratio, 3.30; 95% CI, 1.88-5.81; P < .001), follow-up mortality (IRR, 2.02; 95% CI, 1.39-2.94; P = .001), and major adverse cardiovascular events (IRR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.60-2.59; P < .001). No differences in myocardial infarction and repeat revascularization were found, but limited studies reported those outcomes. DSWI was associated with longer postoperative hospitalization, stroke, myocardial infarction, and respiratory and renal failure. Sensitivity analyses on isolated coronary artery bypass grafting studies and by adjustment method were consistent with the main analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with patients who did not develop DSWI, patients with DSWI after cardiac surgical procedures had increased risk of death as well as short- and long-term adverse clinical outcomes.

Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy for Prevention of Sternal Wound Infection after Adult Cardiac Surgery: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The results of current studies are not conclusive on the efficacy of incisional negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) for the prevention of sternal wound infection (SWI) after adult cardiac surgery. A systematic review of the literature was performed through PubMed, Scopus and Google to identify studies which investigated the efficacy of NPWT to prevent SWI after adult cardiac surgery. Available data were pooled using RevMan and Meta-analyst with random effect models. Out of 191 studies retrieved from the literature, ten fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in this analysis. The quality of these studies was judged fair for three of them and poor for seven studies. Only one study was powered to address the efficacy of NPWT for the prevention of postoperative SWI. Pooled analysis of these studies showed that NPWT was associated with lower risk of any SWI (4.5% vs. 9.0%, RR 0.54, 95% CI 0.34–0.84, I2 48%), superficial SWI (3.8% vs. 4.4%, RR 0.63, 95% CI 0.29–1.36, I2 65%), and deep SWI (1.8% vs. 4.7%, RR 0.46, 95% CI 0.26–0.74, I2 0%), but such a difference was not statistically significant for superficial SWI. When only randomized and alternating allocated studies were included, NPWT was associated with a significantly lower risk of any SWI (3.3% vs. 16.5%, RR 0.22, 95% CI 0.08–0.62, I2 0%), superficial SWI (2.6% vs. 12.4%, RR 0.21, 95% CI 0.06–0.69, I2 0%), and deep SWI (1.2% vs. 4.8%, RR 0.17, 95% CI 0.03–0.95, I2 0%). This pooled analysis showed that NPWT may prevent postoperative SWI after adult cardiac surgery. NPWT is expected to be particularly useful in patients at risk for surgical site infection and may significantly reduce the burden of resources needed to treat such a complication. However, the methodology of the available studies was judged as poor for most of them. Further studies are needed to obtain conclusive results on the potential benefits of this preventative strategy.

Association between sternal wound complications and 10-year mortality following coronary artery bypass grafting

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the association between sternal wound complications (SWC) and long-term mortality in the Arterial Revascularization Trial.

METHODS

Participants in the Arterial Revascularization Trial were stratified according to the occurrence of postoperative SWC. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality at long-term follow-up. The secondary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events.

RESULTS

Three thousand one hundred two patients were included in the analysis; the median follow-up was 10 years. 115 patients (3.7%) had postoperative SWC: 85 (73.9%) deep sternal wound infections and 30 (26.1%) sterile SWC that required sternal reconstruction. Independent predictors of SWC included diabetes (odds ratio [OR], 2.77; 95% CI, 1.79-4.30; P < .001), female sex (OR, 2.73; 95% CI, 1.71-4.38; P < .001), prior stroke (OR, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.12-5.98; P = .03), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR, 2.44; 95% CI, 1.60-3.71; P < .001), and use of bilateral internal thoracic artery (OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.12-2.59; P = .01). Postoperative SWC was significantly associated with long-term mortality. The Kaplan-Meier survival estimate was 91.3% at 5 years and 79.4% at 10 years in patients without SWC, and 86.1% and 64.3% in patients with SWC (log rank P < .001). The rate of major adverse cardiovascular events was also higher among patients who had SWC (n = 51 [44.3%] vs 758 [25.4%]; P < .001). Using multivariable analysis, the occurrence of SWC was independently associated with long-term mortality (hazard ratio, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.30-2.54; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

In the Arterial Revascularization Trial, postoperative SWC although uncommon were significantly associated with long-term mortality.

Comparison of Long-term Clinical Outcomes of Skeletonized vs Pedicled Internal Thoracic Artery Harvesting Techniques in the Arterial Revascularization Trial

Importance

Recent evidence has suggested that skeletonization of the internal thoracic artery (ITA) is associated with worse clinical outcomes in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).

Objective

To compare the long-term clinical outcomes of skeletonized and pedicled ITA for CABG.

Design, Setting, and Participants

The Arterial Revascularization Trial (ART) was a 2-group, multicenter trial comparing the use of a bilateral ITA vs a single ITA for CABG at 10 years. Patients in the ART trial were stratified by ITA harvesting technique: skeletonized vs pedicled. Data were collected from June 2004 to December 2017, and data were analyzed from June to July 2021.

Interventions

In this analysis, the 10-year clinical outcomes were compared between patients who received skeletonized vs pedicled ITAs.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. The secondary outcomes were a composite of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) including all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, and repeated revascularization and a composite including MACE and sternal wound complication (SWC). Cox regression and propensity score matching were used.

Results

Of 2161 included patients, 295 (13.7%) were female, and the median (interquartile range) age was 65.0 (58.0-70.0) years. At 10 years, the risk of all-cause mortality was not significantly different between the pedicled and skeletonized groups (hazard ratio [HR], 1.12; 95% CI, 0.92-1.36; P = .27). However, the long-term risks of the secondary outcomes were significantly higher in the skeletonized group compared with the pedicled group (MACE: HR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.06-1.47; P = .01; MACE and SWC: HR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.05-1.43; P = .01). The difference was not seen when considering only patients operated on by surgeons who enrolled 51 patients or more in the trial (MACE: HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 0.82-1.39; P = .62; MACE and SWC: HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.80-1.34; P = .78).

Conclusions and Relevance

While the long-term survival of patients was not different between groups, the rate of adverse cardiovascular events was consistently higher in the skeletonized group and the difference was associated with surgeon-related factors. Further evidence on the outcome of skeletonized ITA is needed.

The Anaortic Technique with Bilateral Internal Thoracic Artery Grafting - Filling the Gap in Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) has consolidated its role as the most effective procedure for treating patients with advanced atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, reducing the long-term risk of myocardial infarction and death compared to other therapies and relieving angina. Despite the recognized benefits afforded by surgical myocardial revascularization, a subset of higher-risk patients bears a more elevated risk of perioperative stroke. Stroke remains the drawback of conventional CABG and has been strongly linked to aortic manipulation (cannulation, cross-clamping, and side-biting clamping for the performance of proximal aortic anastomoses) and the use of cardiopulmonary bypass. Adoption of off-pump CABG (OPCAB) is demonstrated to lower the risk of perioperative stroke, as well as reducing the risk of short-term mortality, renal failure, atrial fibrillation, bleeding, and length of intensive care unit stay. However, increased risk persists owing to the need for the tangential ascending aorta clamping to construct the proximal anastomosis. The concept of anaortic (aorta no-touch) OPCAB (anOPCAB) stems from eliminating ascending aorta manipulation, virtually abolishing the risk of embolism caused by aortic wall debris into the brain circulation. The adoption of anOPCAB has been shown to further decrease the risk of postoperative stroke, especially in higher-risk patients, entailing a step forward and a refinement of outcomes provided by the primeval OPCAB technique. Therefore, anOPCAB has been the recommended technique in patients with cerebrovascular disease and/or calcification or atheromatous plaque in the ascending aorta and should be preferred in patients with high-risk factors for neurological damage and stroke.

Multiple arterial coronary bypass grafting is associated with greater survival in women

OBJECTIVE

Multiple arterial grafting (MAG) in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is associated with higher survival and freedom from major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) in observational studies of mostly men. It is not known whether MAG is beneficial in women. Our objectives were to compare the long-term clinical outcomes of MAG versus single arterial grafting (SAG) in women undergoing CABG for multivessel disease.

METHODS

Clinical and administrative databases for Ontario, Canada, were linked to obtain all women with angiographic evidence of left main, triple or double vessel disease undergoing isolated non-emergent primary CABG from 2008 to 2019. 1:1 propensity score matching was performed. Late mortality and MACCE (composite of stroke, myocardial infarction, repeat revascularisation and death) were compared between the matched groups with a stratified log-rank test and Cox proportional-hazards model.

RESULTS

2961 and 7954 women underwent CABG with MAG and SAG, respectively, for multivessel disease. Prior to propensity-score matching, compared with SAG, those who underwent MAG were younger (66.0 vs 68.9 years) and had less comorbidities. After propensity-score matching, in 2446 well-matched pairs, there was no significant difference in 30-day mortality (1.6% vs 1.8%, p=0.43) between MAG and SAG. Over a median and maximum follow-up of 5.0 and 11.0 years, respectively, MAG was associated with greater survival (HR 0.85, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.98) and freedom from MACCE (HR 0.85, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.95).

CONCLUSIONS

MAG was associated with greater survival and freedom from MACCE and should be considered for women with good life expectancy requiring CABG.