Background The purpose of this study is to identify the risk factors for postoperative severe hypoxemia after surgery for acute type A aortic dissection. Methods This was a single-center retrospective study including 112 consecutive patients undergoing urgent aortic arch surgery for acute type A aortic dissection between December 2016 and April 2017 at Beijing Anzhen Hospital. Results Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified female (OR, 12.978; 95% CI, 3.332 to 50.546; p < 0.001) and increased body mass index (OR, 1.473; 95% CI, 1.213 to 1.789; p < 0.001) as independent predictors of postoperative severe hypoxemia in patients with acute type A aortic dissection. Conclusions Obesity and female were independent risk factors for postoperative severe hypoxemia in patients with acute type A aortic dissection. More attention should be paid to preventing postoperative severe hypoxemia in obese women with acute type A aortic dissection.

We herein describe our *These authors contributed equally to this work.experience with a congenital innominate artery aneurysm (IAA) that was managed with a simple surgical procedure. A 44-year-old woman was admitted for chest distress. Computed tomography angiography showed a 3.6-cm IAA arising from the aortic arch and compressing the trachea. A median sternotomy was performed with the patient under general anesthesia, and the IAA was found to involve the origin of the innominate artery and the bifurcation of the right subclavian artery and common carotid artery; however, the aorta was intact. An 8-mm Dacron graft was anastomosed to the ascending aorta and distal end of the IAA without cardiopulmonary bypass. The postoperative course was uneventful, and repeat computed tomography angiography revealed no evidence of recurrence 6 months postoperatively. We also herein present a literature review of this rare clinical condition.

Matrix metalloproteinases-2 (MMP-2) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of type A aortic dissection (AD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the MMP-2 gene with type A AD risk and aortic diameters in patients. We performed a case–control study with 172 unrelated type A AD patients and 439 controls. Three SNPs rs11644561, rs11643630, and rs243865 were genotyped through the MassARRAY platform. Allelic associations of SNPs and SNP haplotypes with type A AD and aortic diameters in patients were evaluated. The frequency of the G allele of the rs11643630 polymorphism was significantly lower in type A AD patients than in control subjects (odds ratio 0.705, 95% confidence interval 0.545–0.912, P = 0.008). The association remained significant after adjusting for clinical covariates (P = 0.008). Carriers of the GG genotype of the rs11643630 polymorphism had significantly smaller aortic diameters than those with GT genotype or TT genotype (P = 0.02). Further haplotype analysis identified 1 protective haplotype (GC; P = 0.008) for development of type A AD. Again, a significant correlation was observed between haplotype GC and AD size (P = 0.020). Our results suggest that MMP-2 gene polymorphisms contribute to type A AD susceptibility. In addition, MMP-2 gene SNPs are associated with AD size, which could be used as a target for the development of new drug therapy.

HighlightsIncluded variables include more comprehensive preoperative findings.The protocol is designed based on largest single center AD database in China.This risk scoring system will be verified using internal and external data.

Rationale:Iatrogenic acute aortic dissection (IAAD) induced by cardiac surgery is a fatal complication, with 0.04% of therapeutic procedures and worse outcomes than spontaneous aortic dissection.Patients concerns:A 64-year-old male complaining of intermittent chest tightness for 4 years received an off-pump coronary artery bypass grifting (OPCABG) and IAAD was found during surgery.Diagnosis:Unstable angina, coronary artery triple vessel lesion, IAAD.Interventions:An ascending aorta replacement surgery was implemented immediately and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) was applied during surgery. The patient suffered from oliguria symptoms and began to receive continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) after surgery. What was worse, osteofascial compartment syndrome (OCS) was also confirmed the day after surgery.Outcomes:The CRRT and ECMO were both removed and the condition of the right leg was also stable. But the patient passed away because of uncontrollable sepsis 18 days after the surgery.Lessons:OPCABG is clearly the riskiest type of surgery associated with IAADs in cardiac surgical procedures, which should be considered with great concern. Whether ECMO should be used postoperatively in IAAD patients is still a controversial subject, due to some fatal complications linked with it.

Objective: To determine the effect of renal artery stenosis (RAS) resulting from acute type B aortic dissection (ATBAD) with thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) on early prognosis in patients with ATBAD.Methods: A total of 129 ATBAD patients in the National Acute Aortic Syndrome Database (AASCN) who underwent TEVAR between 2019 and 2020 were enrolled in our study. Patients were divided into two groups: the RAS group and the non-RAS group.Results: There were 21 RAS patients (16.3%) and 108 non-RAS patients (83.7%) in our cohort. No patient in our cohort died during the 1-month follow-up. There was no significant difference in preoperative creatinine clearance rate (CCr) between the two groups (90.6 ± 46.1 μmol/L in the RAS group vs. 78.7 ± 39.2 μmol/L in the non-RAS group, P = 0.303) but the RAS group had a significantly lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) than the non-RAS group (83.3 ± 25.0 vs. 101.9 ± 26.9 ml/min, respectively; P = 0.028).One month after TEVAR, CCr was significantly higher (99.0 ± 68.1 vs. 78.5 ± 25.8 ml/min, P = 0.043) and eGFR (81.7 ± 23.8 vs. 96.0 ± 20.0 ml/min, P = 0.017) was significantly lower in the RAS group than in the non-RAS group.Conclusions: In ATBAD, RAS could result in acute kidney injury (AKI) in the early stage after TEVAR. The RAS group had a high incidence of hypertension. These results suggest that patients with RAS may need further treatment.

New Findings What is the central question of this study?Hypoxaemia can lead to increased postoperative mortality in patients: what are the independent risk factors for severe hypoxaemia after acute Stanford type A aortic dissection? What is the main finding and its importance?Severe postoperative hypoxaemia was found in 36.4% of patients, and it was determined that high preoperative bradykinin levels and increased BMI were independent predictors of severe postoperative hypoxaemia in patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection. For obese patients with high preoperative bradykinin levels, more attention should be paid to preventing severe postoperative hypoxaemia. Abstract Severe hypoxaemia after cardiac surgery is associated with serious complications and a high risk of mortality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the independent risk factors of severe postoperative hypoxaemia in patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection. We collected 77 patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection who underwent surgical treatment. The primary outcome was severe postoperative hypoxaemia (PaO2/FiO2 ≤ 100 mmHg), and a multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the independent predictors of risk for this. A mixed‐effects analysis of variance model and a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were generated to evaluate the predictive probabilities of risk factors for severe postoperative hypoxaemia. A total of 36.4% of patients developed severe postoperative hypoxaemia. The multivariate logistic regression analysis identified high preoperative bradykinin level (odds ratio (OR) = 55.918, P < 0.001) and increased body mass index (BMI; OR = 1.292, P = 0.032) as independent predictors of severe postoperative hypoxaemia in patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection. The mixed‐effect analysis of variance model and ROC curve indicated that high preoperative bradykinin level and BMI were significant predictors of severe postoperative hypoxaemia (area under the ROC curve = 0.834 and 0.764, respectively). High preoperative bradykinin levels and obesity were independent risk factors for severe postoperative hypoxaemia in patients with acute Stanford type A aortic dissection. For obese patients with high levels of bradykinin before surgery, clinicians should actively take measures to block bradykinin‐mediated inflammatory reactions.

Objective: Acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery is associated with serious complication and high risk of mortality. The relationship between hemostatic system and the prognosis of patients with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) has not been evaluated. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between preoperative serum fibrinogen level and risk of postoperative AKI in patients with ATAAD. Methods: A total of 172 consecutive patients undergoing urgent aortic arch surgery for ATAAD between April 2020 and December 2021 were identified from Beijing Anzhen Hospital aortic surgery database. The primary outcome was postoperative AKI as defined by the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to assess the independent predictors of risk for postoperative AKI. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated to evaluate the predictive probabilities of risk factors for AKI.Results: In our study, 51.2% (88/172) patients developed postoperative AKI. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified low preoperative serum fibrinogen level (OR, 1.492; 95% CI, 1.023 to 2.476; p = 0.021) and increased body mass index (BMI) (OR, 1.153; 95% CI, 1.003 to 1.327; p = 0.046) as independent predictors of postoperative AKI in patients with ATAAD. A mixed effect analysis of variance modeling revealed that obese patients with low preoperative serum fibrinogen level had higher incidence of postoperative AKI (p = 0.04). The ROC curve indicated that low preoperative serum fibrinogen level was a significant predictor of AKI [area under the curve (AUC), 0.771; p < 0.001].Conclusions: Low preoperative serum fibrinogen level and obesity were associated with the risk of postoperative AKI in patients with ATAAD. These data suggested that low preoperative serum fibrinogen level was preferred marker for predicting the postoperative AKI, especially in obese patients with ATAAD.