No abstract

BackgroundTo review the experience of surgical repair of post-infarction ventricular septal rupture (VSR) and analyze the associated outcomes and prognostic factors.MethodsFollowing approval from the Singhealth Centralised Institutional Review Board (reference: 2011/881/C), a retrospective review was performed on 38 consecutive patients who had undergone surgical repair of post-infarction VSR between 1999 and 2011. Continuous variables were expressed as either mean ± standard deviation or median with 25th and 75th percentiles. These were compared using two-tailed t-test or Mann–Whitney U test respectively. Categorical variables were compared using chi-square or Fisher’s exact test. To identify predictors of operative mortality, univariate analysis of perioperative variables followed by multivariate analysis of significant univariate risk factors was performed. A two-tailed p-value < 0.05 was used to indicate statistical significance.ResultsMean age was 65.7 ± 9.4 years with 52.6% males. The VSR was anterior in 28 (73.7%) and posterior in 10 patients. Median interval from myocardial infarction to VSR was 1 day (1, 4). Pre-operative intra-aortic balloon pump was inserted in 37 patients (97.8%). Thirty-six patients (94.7%) underwent coronary angiography.Thirty-five patients (92.1%) underwent patch repair. Mean aortic cross clamp time was 82 ± 40 minutes and mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was 152 ± 52 minutes. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) was performed in 19 patients (50%), with a mean of 1.5 ± 0.7 distal anastomoses. Operative mortality within 30 days was 39.5%.Univariate analysis identified emergency surgery, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, inotropic support, right ventricular dysfunction, EuroSCORE II, intra-operative red cell transfusion, post-operative renal failure and renal replacement therapy (RRT) as predictors of operative mortality. Multivariate analysis identified NYHA class and post-operative RRT as predictors of operative mortality.Ten year overall survival was 44.4 ± 8.4%. Right ventricular dysfunction, LVEF and NYHA class at presentation were independent factors affecting long-term survival. Concomitant CABG did not influence early or late survival.ConclusionsSurgical repair of post-infarction VSR carries a high operative mortality. NYHA class at presentation and post-operative RRT are predictors of early mortality. Right ventricular dysfunction, LVEF and NYHA class at presentation affect long-term survival. Concomitant CABG does not improve survival.

Surgical management of endocarditis continues to be challenging and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. This report of 191 patients who underwent valve surgery for IE shows that in-hospital mortality is influenced by preoperative renal function and stroke at the time of presentation. The optimal timing for surgery in patients with stroke remains controversial. Long-term survival was negatively influenced by increasing age, moderate to severely impaired LVEF, prosthetic valve IE and S. aureus infection.

No abstract

Melioidosis caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei infection is endemic in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. Cardiovascular complications resulting in mycotic aneurysms are very rare. To our knowledge, there have only been 6 isolated case reports published in the literature to date. We report 6 cases of melioidosis in Singapore that presented as aortic aneurysms.