IMPORTANCE Ventricular septal rupture (VSR) is a rare but life-threatening mechanical complication of acute myocardial infarction associated with high mortality despite prompt treatment. Surgery represents the standard of care; however, only small single-center series or national registries are usually available in literature, whereas international multicenter investigations have been poorly carried out, therefore limiting the evidence on this topic. OBJECTIVESTo assess the clinical characteristics and early outcomes for patients who received surgery for postinfarction VSR and to identify factors independently associated with mortality. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS The Mechanical Complications of Acute Myocardial Infarction: an International Multicenter Cohort (CAUTION) Study is a retrospective multicenter international cohort study that includes patients who were treated surgically for mechanical complications of acute myocardial infarction. The study was conducted from January 2001 to December 2019 at 26 different centers worldwide among 475 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for postinfarction VSR. EXPOSURES Surgical treatment of postinfarction VSR, independent of the technique, alone or combined with other procedures (eg, coronary artery bypass grafting). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESThe primary outcome was early mortality; secondary outcomes were postoperative complications. RESULTSOf the 475 patients included in the study, 290 (61.1%) were men, with a mean (SD) age of 68.5 (10.1) years. Cardiogenic shock was present in 213 patients (44.8%). Emergent or salvage surgery was performed in 212 cases (44.6%). The early mortality rate was 40.4% (192 patients), and it did not improve during the nearly 20 years considered for the study (median [IQR] yearly mortality, 41.7% [32.6%-50.0%]). Low cardiac output syndrome and multiorgan failure were the most common causes of death (low cardiac output syndrome, 70 [36.5%]; multiorgan failure, 53 [27.6%]). Recurrent VSR occurred in 59 participants (12.4%) but was not associated with mortality. Cardiogenic shock (survived: 95 [33.6%]; died, 118 [61.5%]; P < .001) and early surgery (time to surgery Ն7 days, survived: 105 [57.4%]; died, 47 [35.1%]; P < .001) were associated with lower survival. At multivariate analysis, older age (odds ratio [

OBJECTIVES Papillary muscle rupture (PMR) is a rare but potentially fatal complication of acute myocardial infarction. The aim of this study was to analyse the patient characteristics and early outcomes of the surgical management of post-infarction PMR from an international multicentre registry. METHODS Patients underwent surgery for post-infarction PMR between 2001 through 2019 were retrieved from database of the CAUTION study. The primary end point was in-hospital mortality. RESULTS A total of 214 patients were included with a mean age of 66.9 (standard deviation: 10.5) years. The posteromedial papillary muscle was the most frequent rupture location (71.9%); the rupture was complete in 67.3% of patients. Mitral valve replacement was performed in 82.7% of cases. One hundred twenty-two patients (57%) had concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting. In-hospital mortality was 24.8%. Temporal trends revealed no apparent improvement in in-hospital mortality during the study period. Multivariable analysis showed that preoperative chronic kidney disfunction [odds ratio (OR): 2.62, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.07–6.45, P = 0.036], cardiac arrest (OR: 3.99, 95% CI: 1.02–15.61, P = 0.046) and cardiopulmonary bypass duration (OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00–1.02, P = 0.04) were independently associated with an increased risk of in-hospital death, whereas concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting was identified as an independent predictor of early survival (OR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.16–0.92, P = 0.031). CONCLUSIONS Surgical treatment for post-infarction PMR carries a high in-hospital mortality rate, which did not improve during the study period. Because concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting confers a survival benefit, this additional procedure should be performed, whenever possible, in an attempt to improve the outcome. Clinical trial registration clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03848429.

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Objectives: Pregnancy has been recognized as a predisposing factor for acute aortic dissection (AAD) although its occurrence is quite rare. Currently, no trial and few prospective studies exist about this catastrophic event. The present review and metaanalysis aims to update information on clinical presentation, potential risk factors, treatment, and outcome of acute dissection during pregnancy and puerperium.Methods: A comprehensive search of three databases was performed to identify all patients reported in articles published from January 1987. A proportional single-arm meta-analysis with random-effects model was used to pool these variables: risk factors, pregnancy/postpartum occurrence, surgical characteristics, and outcomes.Results: A total of 11 reports and 85 patients with pregnancy-related AAD were available for this study. The prevalence of connective tissue disorders was 62%, Marfan syndrome being the most common. Out of 76 patients, 46 (61%) had dissection during pregnancy and 30 (39%) during puerperium; 40% of events occurred in primigravidae and 60% in multigravidae. Type A and type B dissection occurred in 67% vs 33% of patients. Surgery was performed in 73% of cases with a maternal and fetal mortality of 23% and 27%, respectively.Conclusions: Throughout pregnancy, AAD is quite rare but fatal, especially in Marfan and Loeys-Dietz syndromes, while isolated bicuspid aortic valve is not a risk factor. Even in Marfan syndrome, pathogenesis and evolution of the disease are still unclear.Occurrence of dissection also during puerperium indicates the need for continuous counselling and aortic size monitoring in women at-risk. K E Y W O R D S aortic dissection, aortic surgery, postpartum complications, pregnancy 1 | INTRODUCTION Acute aortic dissection (AAD) is a catastrophic event, which is associated with a high risk of early mortality if left untreated,particularly when involving the ascending aorta. 1 Pregnancy has been clearly documented as a predisposing factor for AAD although its occurrence during gestation, delivery, or postpartum is quite rare. 2,3 However, throughout pregnancy, it has been shown that onset or worsening of pre-existent hypertension can occur, which is a recognized trigger of AAD. 4 Pregnancy is characterized by a hypervolemic and SUPPORTING INFORMATIONAdditional supporting information may be found online in the Supporting Information section.How to cite this article: De Martino A, Morganti R, Falcetta G, et al. Acute aortic dissection and pregnancy: Review and meta-analysis of incidence, presentation, and pathologic substrates.

Introduction: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has significantly improved outcomes in individuals with superficial and deep sternal wound dehiscence (SWD). We report our experience with NPWT to evaluate factors influencing effectiveness, duration of treatment and postoperative hospital stay. Methods: We reviewed 92 patients with postoperative SWD following a median sternotomy. Patients were divided into 2 groups: those with a superficial SWD (Group 1; 72, 78%) and those with a deep SWD (Group 2; 20, 28%). Group 1 was further divided into 3 subgroups based on NPWT duration. Results: In both groups, none of the preoperative characteristics examined showed a significant association with longer NPWT duration. In Group 2, there was a trend for postoperative bleeding and neurological complications to be associated with longer treatment duration. In the entire series, staph infection resulted a weak predictor of NPWT duration. In each Group 1 subgroup and in Group 2, treatment days were compared with duration of hospitalization until discharge. Mean post-NPWT hospital stay was 6 days in subgroup 1, 12 days in subgroup 2 and 20 days in subgroup 3 (P<0.0001). At a median 3-year follow-up, there were 4 late deaths, none related to wound complications. No cases of SWD recurrence were observed. Conclusion: Our results confirm the effectiveness of NPWT in SWD management, while excessive treatment duration might have a negative impact on the length of hospital stay. Further studies are needed to define an optimal use of NPWT protocol.