Abstract： Objective To evaluate the clinical safety and neurological outcomes of right axillary artery cannulation with a side graft compared with a direct approachin aortic arch replacement for patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection. Methods Between July 2008 and July 2010， 280 consecutive patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection underwent right axillary artery cannulation for cardiopulmonary bypass （CPB） in total arch replacement and stented “elephant trunk” implantation in our hospital.These 280 patients were divided into two groups according to the method of axillary artery cannulation in operation:direct arterial cannulation was used in 215 patients（direct arterial cannulationgroup， DG group， mean age of 43.1±9.5 years）， while cannulation with a side graft was used in 65 patients（ indirect cannulation group， IG group， mean age of 44.7±8.3 years）. Clinical characteristics of both groups were similar except their axillary artery cannulation method. Patient outcomes were compared as to the prevalence of clinical complications， especially neurological deficits and postoperative morbidity. Results The overall hospital mortality was 3.6% （10/280）， 3.3% （7/215） in DG group and 4.6% （3/65） in IG group respectively.Right axillary artery cannulation was successfully performed in all cases without any occurrence of malperfusion. Postoperatively， 25 patients（8.9%）developed temporaryneurological deficits， 19 cases in DG group（8.8%）， and 6 cases in IG group （9.2%）， and all these patients were cured after treatment. The incidence of postoperative complications directly related to axillary artery cannulation was significantly lower in IG group than that in DG group（1 case vs. 19 cases， P=0.045）. There were no statistical differences in arterial perfusion peak flow， peak pressure，antegrade cerebral perfusion time， deep hypothermic circulatory arrest time， and CPB time between the two groups（P ＞ 0.05）. Conclusion Right axillary artery cannulation with a side graftcan significantly reduce the postoperative complications of axillary artery cannulation. It is a safe and effective method for patients undergoing surgery for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection.
ObjectiveTo investigate the impact of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) with antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) on cognitive function of patients undergoing surgical therapy for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (AD). MethodsBetween January 2009 and March 2012, 48 patients with acute Stanford type A AD underwent Sun's procedure (aortic arch replacement combined with stented elephant trunk implantation) under DHCA with ACP in Nanjing Hospital affiliated to Nanjing Medical University. There were 40 males and 8 females with their age of 51.3±13.6 years. Circulatory arrest time and time for postoperative consciousness recovery were recorded. Preoperative and postoperative cognitive functions of each patient were evaluated by mini-mental status examination (MMSE). ResultsMean cardiopulmonary bypass time of the 48 patients was 237.3±58.5 minutes, and mean circulatory arrest time was 37.3 ±6.9 minutes. Four patients died postoperatively with the causes of death including lung infection, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, myocardial infarction and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Forty-one patients recovered their consciousness within 24 hours postoperatively, and the mean time for postoperative consciousness recovery was 15.3±6.5 hours. Preoperative MMSE score was 28.6±1.1 points, and MMSE score at 1 week postoperatively was 23.6±4.5 points. Thirty-one patients were followed up for 6 months with the follow-up rate of 70.45%. The average MMSE score of the 31 patients at 6 months after surgery was 27.6±2.1 points which was significantly higher than postoperative average MMSE score (P < 0.05), but not statistically different from preoperative average MMSE score (P > 0.05). ConclusionsDHCA with ACP can provide satisfactory cerebral protection for patients undergoing surgical therapy for acute Stanford type A AD, but patients' cognitive function may be adversely affected in the short term. As long as cerebral infarction or hemorrhage is excluded in CT scan of the brain, such adverse impact may generally disappear automatically within 6 months after surgery.
Antegrade cerebral perfusion (ACP) and retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP) are the two major types of brain protection during aortic arch surgery. Which one is better has still been debated. By summarizing and analyzing the research progress of the comparative research of antegrade cerebral perfusion and retrograde cerebral perfusion in aortic arch surgery, we have found that there was no significant difference between ACP and RCP in terms of temporary nerve dysfunction (TND), permanent nerve dysfunction (PND), stroke, early mortality, morbidity, long-time survival, and a composite outcome of hospital death, bleeding, prolonged ventilation, need for dialysis, infection and stroke. But RCP resulted in a high incidence of prolonged mean ICU-stay and hospital-stay, longer mean extubation time as well as higher cost. And the surgeon is given more time to reconstruct the vessels of the arch since mean operative time is longer in the ACP. So we think that antegrade cerebral perfusion might be preferred as the brain protection method for complicated aortic arch procedures. If a surgeon confirms that the surgery is not very sophisticated and can be completed in a short time, it is better to choose RCP because of no catheter or cannula in the surgical field to impede the surgeon. The article aims at providing a reference to cardiac surgeries when choosing cerebral protection strategy in aortic arch surgery.