Early results of combined carotid endarterectomy and coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with severe coronary and carotid artery disease

The management of patients with carotid artery disease who require coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains controversial. Several published series from the USA (including one with prospective randomization) advocate a combined approach of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) followed immediately by coronary artery bypass surgery. However, experience of combined carotid endarterectomy and coronary bypass grafting has not been previously reported by a centre from the United Kingdom. Between 1986 and 1991 we performed this combined procedure on 18 patients who required myocardial revascularization and had co-existing severe (> 70%) carotid stenosis. Sixteen patients (89%) had angina and 11 patients (61%) had symptomatic carotid artery disease. The perioperative mortality was 5.5% and the ipsilateral perioperative stroke rate was 5.5%. These early results are encouraging and suggest that further evaluation of combined carotid endarterectomy and coronary artery bypass surgery is warranted.     

Prevalence of extracranial carotid and vertebral artery disease in Chinese patients with coronary artery disease

Electrotonic responses recorded extra- or intracellularly from peripheral nerve preparations show a "sag" to hyperpolarizing current pulses. The biophysical nature of this "inward rectification" is still under discussion since the phenomenon has not been noted at voltage-clamped single nerve fibres, and since Cs+, which reduces inward rectification, is not a specific ion channel blocker. In this study, we found that low micromolar concentrations of ZD 7288, a specific blocker of the hyperpolarization-activated cationic current (Ih) in the soma of central mammalian neurons, result in a complete block of inward rectification in the electrotonic responses of isolated rat spinal dorsal roots. In addition, ZD 7288 enhanced the activity-dependent slowing of conduction seen in compound C fibre action potentials of isolated rat vagus nerves and augmented the post-tetanic hyperpolarization following trains of action potentials in unmyelinated and myelinated axons. The data suggest that ZD 7288 is a potent blocker and a useful research tool for the study of hyperpolarization-activated inward rectification (Ih) of peripheral nerve preparations.     

Elective stenting of carotid artery stenosis in patients with severe coronary artery disease

AIMS: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of elective carotid stent implantation in patients with carotid stenoses and concomitant coronary artery disease, as an alternative to combined carotid and coronary surgery. METHODS: We treated 50 patients with >70%, stenoses in 53 carotid arteries with balloon angioplasty followed by elective stent implantation. All patients had severe coronary artery disease, and/or mitral insufficiency, aortic stenosis, rhythm disorders or generalized arteriosclerosis. In three patients the opposite carotid artery was occluded; nine patients had bilateral stenoses of which two received stents bilaterally. RESULTS: Fifty-six successful stent implantations (42 Wallstents, eight BeStents, two AVE-Microstents, one Palmaz Schatz stent, three Sito stents) were performed, reducing the baseline percent stenosis from 78 +/- 18%, to 13 +/- 11%. Complications included three transient ischaemic attacks, one minor and one major stroke. Follow-up was available for 46 patients over a mean of 10 months. Three asymptomatic restenoses and one deformation of a BeStent occurred. CONCLUSION: Our preliminary results indicate that carotid artery stenting in patients with concomitant severe coronary artery disease is feasible, safe, and may be an alternative to combined carotid and coronary surgery.     

Combined carotid endarterectomy and coronary artery bypass grafting in asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis

The role of combined carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with severe asymptomatic carotid artery disease and concurrent symptomatic coronary artery disease is controversial. The objective of this report is to investigate the safety of combined CEA/CABG. The medical records of 30 patients who underwent combined CEA/CABG for coexistent asymptomatic carotid and symptomatic coronary artery occlusive disease were reviewed. All patients were scheduled for either elective or urgent myocardial revascularization due to their symptomatic coronary artery disease. Color-flow duplex scanning identified internal carotid artery stenosis of 80 to 99 per cent in 28 patients (93%) and 50 to 79 per cent in 2 patients (7%). Seventeen patients (57%) were male. The mean age was 64 +/- 10 years (range, 42-84 years). Contralateral internal carotid artery occlusion was present in four patients. Severe left main coronary artery disease was present in 12 patients (40%) and 7 patients (23%) had an ejection fraction of less than 50 per cent. There were no perioperative deaths or strokes. One patient suffered a myocardial infarction on postoperative day 1. This study demonstrates the safety of combined CEA/CABG for coexistent coronary and asymptomatic carotid disease. Using this surgical approach for critical coexistent disease may minimize the incidence of perioperative cerebrovascular complications in patients undergoing CABG.     

Nonatheromatous carotid artery disease

Common and uncommon nonatheromatous diseases affecting the cervical carotid artery are discussed. Specifically, the radiographic and pertinent clinical features of cervical carotid artery congenital variants, dissection, fibromuscular dysplasia, Takayasu's arteritis, and infection are described. Catheter angiography continues to have an important role in the diagnosis of many of these conditions. Magnetic resonance imaging techniques are emerging as a useful adjunct to catheter angiography and occasionally may be the primary imaging modality for diagnosis.     

Results of surgical management of internal carotid artery aneurysm by the cervical approach

From 1981 to 1995 a total of 14 patients with a mean age of 52 years (range: 23-71) underwent surgery for 15 aneurysms of the extracranial internal carotid artery. Fusiform aneurysms of the carotid bifurcation were not included in this study. Aneurysm led to brain ischemia in 10 cases and rupture in one case. In the remaining four cases, aneurysm was asymptomatic including three that were detected following hemispheric stroke related to a contralateral aneurysm. The etiology was spontaneous dissection in four cases, blunt trauma in three cases, fibromuscular disease in five cases, and atheroma in three cases. The upper limit of the aneurysm was located at C1-C2 in six cases, at C1 in three cases, and above C1 (at the base of the skull) in six cases. The cervical approach was used to successfully perform 12 revascularizations and three ligations (including one after extra-intracranial bypass). There were no postoperative deaths. One transient ischemic attack (TIA) occurred after ligation. Peripheral facial paralysis (PFP) occurred in four of the nine cases in which an extended cervical approach was used. No patients were lost to follow-up. Mean duration of follow-up was 4 years (range: 2 months-10 years). Two patients died at 2 and 4 years of causes unrelated to the procedure. All carotid reconstructions are currently patent and no neurologic manifestations have occurred. PFP persisted in one case. The results of this series confirm that surgical therapy of aneurysms of the extracranial internal carotid artery achieves satisfactory short- and medium-term results and that the extended cervical approach allows treatment of lesions near the base of the skull.     

Psychologic adjustment to coronary artery disease

As improvements in therapy have extended the survival rate of patients with ischemic heart disease, increasing attention to the quality of survival has resulted in an appreciation of the profound effect of psychologic factors on the patient's life. A multidisciplinary approach, including evaluation and management of pertient psychologic factors, should be part of the treatment of all patients with coronary heart disease. Ischemic heart disease often requires both patient and family to make difficult changes in personality and life-style. As soon as the physiologic stress begins to subside, the physician should begin to provide sympathetic, specific guidelines toward acceptance of the disease and accommodation to its limits. Potential problems and their management are discussed within the framework of the three stages of chronic illness.     

Personality and adaptation to coronary artery disease.

Investigated the psychological and personality correlates of mode of adaptation to coronary artery disease (CAD) in an experiment in which 3 groups of 31 patients were distinguished on the basis of the amount and direction of change in their general activities subsequent to the development of CAD. In addition to various personality assessment procedures, a battery of experimental and paper and pencil devices intended to measure the several forms of psychological flexibility-rigidity were administered to all Ss. Results revealed numerous personality differences among the groups, but only 1 measure from the several tests of flexibility-rigidity, the Jar test, related to the S groupings. It was concluded that Ss exhibited a form of adaptation to CAD consistent with their general personality makeup, but that psychological flexibility-rigidity was not a dimension which was particularly related to reaction to the illness. (22 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of modalities to diagnose coronary artery disease

The purpose of this review is to compare several modalities available for detection of coronary artery disease (CAD). We compare the clinical history, rest/exercise electrocardiogram (ECG), rest/stress left ventricular (LV) function by radionuclide or echocardiographic methods, myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET), contrast coronary angiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), spectroscopy (MRS) and angiography (MRA), and ultrafast cine computed tomography (UFCT) to assess LV function, myocardial perfusion, and coronary calcification. We compare the modalities by answering six questions: (1) Does the modality provide unique clinical information? (2) What is the observer error? (3) What are sensitivities and specificities to detect CAD? (4) What patient selection criteria should be applied for each modality? (5) What incremental benefit is obtained from one modality versus another modality? and (6) Where do the modalities fit in the overall scheme of diagnostic testing for CAD? PET MPI appears to be the best noninvasive test for CAD, followed by SPECT thallium-201 and then dobutamine echocardiography. MRA and UFCT may soon play a larger role because they visualize the arteries. Contrast coronary angiography remains the gold standard despite its limitations. Exercise ECG is the least accurate test. The choice of tests critically depends on patient selection--based on clinical history, age, gender, and risk factors to estimate the pretest, clinical probability of CAD.     

Arrhythmogenic ventricular aneurysms unrelated to coronary artery disease

Malignant ventricular tachycardia occurs most frequently in patients with coronary artery disease who have had a previous myocardial infarction and in whom a ventricular aneurysm subsequently develops in the scarred section of myocardium. Ventricular tachycardia in the presence of normal coronary arteries and a left ventricular aneurysm is unusual and can be refractory to medical therapy. We retrospectively reviewed our experience of 10 patients treated at our institution from 1983 to 1993. Age ranged from 22 to 76 years, and all patients presented with sustained ventricular tachycardia. All patients underwent complete electrophysiologic testing. Cardiac catheterization was performed in 9 patients, and each had normal coronary artery anatomy without evidence of significant fixed lesions. A left ventricular aneurysm, diagnosed by either echocardiography, thoracic cine computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, or ventricular angiography was present in all patients. Ventricular tachycardia could not be suppressed pharmacologically in 7 of 10 patients using multiple agents including procainamide, quinidine, flecanide, tocainide, propaferone, and amiodarone. Six patients were treated surgically by intraoperative electrophysiologic mapping, endocardial resection of foci, and left ventricular aneurysmectomy. An implantable cardiac defibrillation device was implanted in 2 patients. One patient died on the second postoperative day after simultaneous mapping -guided aneurysmectomy and implantable cardioverter defibrillator placement. There was one late postoperative death. All other surgically treated patients had postoperative electrophysiologic studies demonstrating no inducible ventricular tachycardia, and these patients remain without antiarrhythmic therapy in follow-up extending from 29 to 86 months (mean, 56 months).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Intraabdominal hemorrhage during combined coronary artery bypass and carotid endarterectomy

Intraabdominal complications during cardiopulmonary bypass are extremely rare, with an incidence of less than 1% in multiple retrospective studies. These complications are associated with a high mortality, and their rapid diagnosis is critical to the outcome of the patient. We present a case of spontaneous intraabdominal hemorrhage after combined carotid endarterectomy and four-vessel coronary artery bypass grafting, which was diagnosed through a diaphragmatic window.     

Transthoracic repair of innominate and common carotid artery disease: immediate and long-term outcome for 100 consecutive surgical reconstructions

PURPOSE: This is a review of 100 consecutive supraaortic trunk reconstructions (SAT) performed over 16 years. METHODS: There were eight innominate endarterectomies and 92 bypass procedures based on the thoracic aorta (n = 86) or proximal innominate artery (n = 6) in 98 patients 24 to 79 years of age. Indications included cerebrovascular ischemia in 83 and upper extremity ischemia in four. Thirteen patients were asymptomatic. An innominate lesion was bypassed in 78 cases. The left common carotid and left subclavian arteries required reconstruction in 38 and nine patients, respectively. Multiple trunks were reconstructed by direct bypass grafting in 35. Approach was via median sternotomy in 92, partial sternotomy in six, and left thoracotomy in two. Seven patients underwent concomitant cardiac surgery. RESULTS: Eight deaths and eight nonfatal strokes occurred, for a combined stroke/death rate of 16%. The operative mortality rate was 6% for SAT and 29% for SAT/cardiac operations. Perioperative complications included two asymptomatic graft occlusions, three nonfatal myocardial infarctions, seven significant pulmonary complications, three sternal wound infections, and one recurrent laryngeal nerve injury. Follow-up ranged from 1 to 184 months (mean, 51 +/- 4.8 months). Eight patients were lost to follow-up. Twenty-one late deaths occurred. Two SATs required late revision. The cumulative primary patency rates at 5 and 10 years were 94% +/- 3% and 88% +/- 6%, respectively. The stroke-free survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 87% +/- 4% and 81% +/- 7%, respectively. Patients who survived beyond 30 days had a median stroke-free life expectancy of 10 years, 7 months (SE, 6%). CONCLUSIONS: Direct reconstruction of complex symptomatic SAT lesions can be performed with acceptable death/stroke rates and with long-term patient benefit. Asymptomatic lesions in patients who have significant concomitant conditions should be managed with a less-morbid cervical or endovascular approach, even if long-term outcome of the latter is inferior.