Partial Inferior Vena Cava Reconstruction with Cryopreserved Aortic Homograft Following Resection for Malignancy

Vasc Endovascular Surg. 2022 Aug 27:15385744221124297. doi: 10.1177/15385744221124297. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Malignant invasion of the inferior vena cava (IVC) often necessitates complete tumor thrombectomy and IVC reconstruction. Bovine pericardial xenografts and prosthetic grafts are frequently used for partial or entire IVC reconstruction with adequate subsequent patency and freedom from thrombosis. Cryopreserved aortic homografts represent an alternative conduit for vena cava replacement with resistance to infection in contaminated fields or following extensive retroperitoneal dissection. Specific reports of aortic homograft use for IVC reconstruction are scarce. Described are 2 cases of cryopreserved aortoiliac artery allograft use for long segment cava patch repair while avoiding extensive caval reconstruction, mobilization and the need for renal vein and hepatic vein re-implantation.

PMID:36031948 | DOI:10.1177/15385744221124297

Late presenting partially displaced atrial septal closure device: Surgical vs percutaneous correction? A case report

Int J Surg Case Rep. 2022 Sep 9;99:107626. doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2022.107626. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) is one of the most common congenital cardiac defect. Even though surgical repair of ASD is the current method of choice but percutaneous device closure is rapidly gaining popularity as it is less invasive. Dislodgment and embolization of the device may occur requiring urgent surgical retrieval.

CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of 54-years-old female patient with a history of ASD device closure 4 years ago, presenting with progressive shortness of breath for past 2 months. She had a partial dehiscence of an ASD device causing a residual ASD of 17 mm. She underwent urgent surgical repair of an ASD with a bovine pericardial patch without ASD device being explanted.

CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Management of a dislodged ASD device may be percutaneous or surgical. Dislodged ASD devices that present months after deployment may become fibro-adhered to the site of embolization. Hence its retrieval can be challenging even via open surgical method. Our case describes a novel method to repair a residual ASD and prevent complications associated with dislodgement of device without completely explanting the device.

CONCLUSION: In this case, the late presentation of the patient with a partially dehisced device makes it a distinctive case with a novel way on how to treat such a presentation surgically, ensuring that the device doesn’t embolize further causing fatal complications.

PMID:36115117 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijscr.2022.107626

Insertion of durable left ventricular assist device with repair of ischemic ventricular septal rupture

J Card Surg. 2022 Nov;37(11):3896-3898. doi: 10.1111/jocs.16952. Epub 2022 Sep 18.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: A 63-year-old male who presented with acute anterior wall myocardial infarction with ischemic ventricular septal defect (VSD) required veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support due to a profoundly reduced left ventricular function.

METHOD AND RESULS: The VSD was closed with a large bovine pericardial patches. Another Dacron patch was used to close the defect on the anterior wall. The inflow cannula of the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) was sewn to the Dacron patch to secure hemostasis and to maintain the cavity in the left ventricle. The Dacron patch beneath the inflow cuff was then incised, then the LVAD was connected.

CONCLUSIONS: we described a case of concomitant insertion of durable LVAD and repair of ischemic VSD utilizing multiple patches.

PMID:36116061 | DOI:10.1111/jocs.16952

A review of venous reconstruction options for the mediastinum

Mediastinum. 2022 Sep 25;6:21. doi: 10.21037/med-20-70. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

Major vessels of the mediastinum such as the superior vena cava (SVC) and bilateral innominate veins can occasionally become involved with aggressive tumors or the mediastinum, including non-small cell lung cancer and thymoma. This may result in partial or complete obstruction. With presentation of these tumors symptoms can often be debilitating and would otherwise be treated with palliative therapy. A select population of patients are candidates for tumor resection. The ability to perform an adequate resection will depend on the ability to create a durable reconstruction of the SVC and bilateral innominate veins. Pre-operative and intra-operative considerations will allow for a safe surgery with few complications to the patient. Furthermore, depending on the extent of resection, there are a variety of techniques for reconstruction. These can range from a primary repair of a partial venous wall resection to a complex replacement of both the SVC and one or both innominate veins. Multiple options exist for the use of these conduits, such as polytetrafluoroethylene, homograft, autologous vein, and bovine or porcine pericardium. Depending on the type of conduit used, the post-operative outcomes will differ. In order to perform this operation safely, proper knowledge and experience is required. We review a variety of strategies used to manage these rare but complex scenarios.

PMID:36164357 | PMC:PMC9385873 | DOI:10.21037/med-20-70

Development of Enzymatic-Resistant and Compliant Decellularized Extracellular Matrixes via Aliphatic Chain Modification for Bladder Tissue Engineering

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 Aug 24;14(33):37301-37315. doi: 10.1021/acsami.2c06865. Epub 2022 Aug 10.

ABSTRACT

Here, we report the design and development of highly stretchable, compliant, and enzymatic-resistant transiently cross-linked decellularized extracellular matrixes (dECMs) (e.g., porcine small intestine submucosa/dSIS, urinary bladder matrix/dUBM, bovine pericardium/dBP, bovine dermis/dBD, and human dermis/dHD). Specifically, these dECMs were modified with long aliphatic chains (C9, C14, and C18). Upon modification, dECMs became significantly resistant to enzymatic degradation for extended periods, showed increased water contact angle (>20%-90%), and stretched >200% than their control counterparts. Modified dECMs are compliant, undergoing 100% elongation at only 0.3-0.5 MPa of applied tensile stress (∼10%-25% of their control counterparts), similar to the control bladder tissue. Furthermore, modified dECMs remain structurally stable at the physiological temperature with increased storage and loss modulus values but decreased tan δ values compared to their control counterparts. Although modification reduces cell adhesion, the gene expressions in polarized macrophages remain unchanged (e.g., TGFβ, CD163, and CD86), except for the modified bovine pericardium (dBP) where a significant decrease in TNFα gene expression is observed. When implanted in the rat subcutaneous model, modified dECMs degraded relatively slowly and did not cause significant fibrotic tissue formation. The numbers of pro-regenerative macrophages increased to several folds in a later time point of evaluation. Modified dECM also supported the bladder wall regeneration with formations of the urothelium, lamina propria, blood vessels, and muscle bundles and reduced the occurrence of calculi formation by 50% in a rat bladder augmentation model. We anticipate that the enhanced stretchability, compliance, and physiological stability of dECMs indicate their suitability for urologic tissue regeneration.

PMID:35948054 | DOI:10.1021/acsami.2c06865

A Novel Crosslinking Method for Improving the Anti-Calcification Ability and Extracellular Matrix Stability in Transcatheter Heart Valves

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022 Jul 12;10:909771. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.909771. eCollection 2022.

ABSTRACT

More than 200,000 patients with aortic diseases worldwide undergo surgical valve replacement each year, and transcatheter heart valves (THV) have been more widely used than ever before. However, THV made by the glutaraldehyde (Glut) crosslinking method has the disadvantage of being prone to calcification, which significantly reduces the durability of biomaterials. In this study, we applied a novel crosslinking method using ribose in THV for the first time, which can decrease calcification and increase the stability of the extracellular matrix (ECM). We incubated the bovine pericardium (BP) in ribose solution at 37°C by shaking for 12 days and confirmed that the structure of the BP was more compact than that of the Glut group. Moreover, the ribose method remarkably enhanced the biomechanical properties and provided reliable resistance to enzymatic degradation and satisfactory cellular compatibility in THV. When the BP was implanted subcutaneously in vivo, we demonstrated that ECM components were preserved more completely, especially in elastin, and the immune-inflammatory response was more moderate than that in the Glut treatment group. Finally, the ribose-cross-linked materials showed better anti-calcification potential and improved durability of THV than Glut-cross-linked materials.

PMID:35903798 | PMC:PMC9315440 | DOI:10.3389/fbioe.2022.909771

Modified subcostal arch xiphoid thoracoscopic expanded thymectomy for thymic carcinoma: a case report and review of literature

Thymic neoplasms are a relatively uncommon tumor, with the anterior mediastinum being the most common. Median sternotomy is the procedure of choice for the treatment of thymomas. With the advent of thoracoscop…  Read More

Minimally-invasive cardiac surgery: a bibliometric analysis of impact and force to identify key and facilitating advanced training

The number of citations an article receives is a marker of its scientific influence within a particular specialty. This bibliometric analysis intended to recognise the top 100 cited articles in minimally-invas…  Read More

Comparative study on Sichuan yak pericardium and Australian cattle pericardium

Sheng Wu Yi Xue Gong Cheng Xue Za Zhi. 2022 Jun 25;39(3):537-543. doi: 10.7507/1001-5515.202202044.

ABSTRACT

Currently, as the key raw material of artificial biological heart valve, bovine pericardium is mainly depend on import and has become a “bottleneck” challenge, greatly limiting the development of domestic biological heart valve. Therefore, the localization of bovine pericardium is extremely urgent. In this study, the pericardium of Sichuan yak was compared with that of Australian cattle in terms of fundamental properties and anti-calcification performance. The results demonstrated that the appearance and thickness of yak pericardium were more advantageous than the Australian one. Sichuan yak pericardium and Australian cattle pericardium had comparable performance in shrinkage temperature, mechanical test and anti-calcification test. This study preliminarily verifies the feasibility of substitution of Australian cattle pericardium by Sichuan yak pericardium and promotes the progression of bovine pericardium localization with data support.

PMID:35788523 | DOI:10.7507/1001-5515.202202044