The WATCHMAN™ atrial appendage closure device is designed to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation who are not suitable candidates for long-term oral anticoagulation therapy. However, the device also carries small risks, including procedural complications such as device migration, embolization, or pericardial effusion. We describe a case of WATCHMAN device migration requiring surgical retrieval.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative time to extubation plays a role in prognosis after heart valve surgery; however, its exact impact has not been clarified. This study compared the postoperative outcomes of minimally invasive surgery and conventional sternotomy, focusing on early extubation and factors influencing prolonged mechanical ventilation.
METHODS: Data from 744 patients who underwent heart valve surgery at the Zhejiang Provincial People\'s Hospital between August 2019 and June 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The outcomes in patients who underwent conventional median sternotomy (MS) and minimally invasive (MI) video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery were compared using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) and Kaplan-Meier curves. Clinical data, including surgical data, postoperative cardiac function, postoperative complications, and intensive care monitoring data, were analyzed.
RESULTS: After propensity score matching and IPTW, 196 cases of conventional MS were compared with 196 cases of MI video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. Compared to patients in the conventional MS group, those in the MI video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery group in the matched cohort had a higher early postoperative extubation rate (P < 0.01), reduced incidence of postoperative pleural effusion (P < 0.05), significantly shorter length of stay in the intensive care unit (P < 0.01), shorter overall length of hospital stay (P < 0.01), and lower total cost of hospitalization (P < 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: Successful early tracheal extubation is important for the intensive care management of patients after heart valve surgery. The advantages of MI video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery over conventional MS include significant reductions in the duration of use of mechanical ventilation support, reduced length of intensive care unit stay, reduced total length of hospitalization, and a favorable patient recovery rate.

BACKGROUND: With the introduction of minimally invasive cardiac surgery, more commonly cases of lung herniation are starting to appear. Acquired lung hernias are classified as postoperative, traumatic, pathologic, and spontaneous. Up to 83% of lung hernias are intercostal. Herein, we describe patients presenting with intercostal lung hernias following minimally invasive cardiac surgery at a single center in Medellín, Colombia.
METHODS: We conducted a retrospective search of all patients presenting with intercostal lung hernias secondary to minimally invasive cardiac surgery at our clinic in Medellín since the beginning of our program, from 2010 to 2022. Mini-sternotomies were excluded from our study. We reviewed the incision type and other possible factors leading to intercostal lung hernia development. We also describe the approach taken for these patients.
RESULTS: From 2010 up until 2022, 803 adult patients underwent minimally invasive cardiac surgeries through a mini-thoracotomy. At the time of data retrieval, nine patients presented with intercostal lung hernias at the previous incision site. Five hernias (55%) were from right 2nd intercostal parasternal mini-thoracotomies for aortic valve surgeries. Four hernias (45%) were from right 4th intercostal lateral mini-thoracotomies for mitral valve surgeries. Our preferred repair technique is a video-assisted thoracoscopic mesh approach.
CONCLUSIONS: Minimally invasive cardiac surgical approaches are becoming more routine. Proper wound closure is critical in preventing lung hernias. Additionally, timely diagnosis and opportune hernia surgery using video-assisted thoracoscopic mesh repair can prevent further complications.

Lung bullae can severely compromise lung function. Smoking is an important cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as coronary artery disease and peripheral arterial disease. Significant diseases in the cardiovascular and thoracic systems may require multiple interventions apart from medical management. We discuss a patient in which simultaneous bilateral bullectomy and coronary artery bypass grafting were performed through the median sternotomy approach.

UNASSIGNED: The evidence underlying the efficacy and safety of minimally invasive mitral valve surgery (MIMVS) is inconclusive. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate whether MIMVS improves clinical outcomes compared with conventional sternotomy.
UNASSIGNED: We searched MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception to January 2024 for all randomised controlled trials (RCTs), comparing MIMVS with conventional mitral valve surgery. RevMan 5.4 was used to analyse the data with risk ratio (RR) and mean difference (MD) as the effect measures.
UNASSIGNED: Eight studies reporting data on 7 RCTs were included in our review. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality, the number of patients requiring blood product transfusion, and the change from baseline in the SF-36 physical function scores between the MIMVS and conventional sternotomy groups. MIMVS reduced the length of hospital stay (MD -2.02 days, 95% CI: -3.66, -0.39) but did not affect the length of ICU stay, re-operation for bleeding, and the incidence of renal injury, wound infection, neurological events, and postoperative moderate or severe mitral regurgitation. MIMVS was associated with a trend toward lower postoperative pain scores (MD -1.06; 95% CI: -3.96 to 0.75).
UNASSIGNED: MIMVS reduced the number of days spent in the hospital and showed a trend toward lower postoperative pain scores, but it did not decrease the risk of all-cause mortality or the number of patients needing blood product transfusions. Further large-scale RCTs are required to inform definitive conclusions, particularly with regard to quality-of-life outcomes investigating functional recovery.
UNASSIGNED: PROSPERO (CRD42023482122).

Retrosternal goitre is not an uncommon entity owing to various reasons - ignorance, fear, lack of access to safe surgical technique, incomplete thyroid surgery. Retrosternal goitre could have varied presentations, especially in cases with prior thyroid surgery. Fifty-three-year-old female with history of thyroid surgery 20 years back presented with a large neglected anterior neck swelling. Computed tomography imaging revealed the rare entity of an isolated mediastinal goitre type 3 with no communication with the cervical thyroid gland. Careful evaluation of computed tomography and pathology indicated the need for extra - cervical approach. Patient underwent total thyroidectomy and mediastinal goitre excision via cervical and median sternotomy approach. Post operative histopathology revealed benign adenomatous goitre. CT imaging of retrosternal goitre is of primary importance along with appropriate CT grading. Mediastinal seeding of thyroid goitre could occur in cases with prior thyroid surgery. Extra cervical approaches for primary mediastinal goitre are recommended.
UNASSIGNED: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12070-024-04663-2.

Superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) is a clinical condition characterized by signs and symptoms resulting from the blockage or narrowing of the thin-walled superior vena cava (SVC). This obstruction can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. In this case, we report a 58-year-old patient who was diagnosed with SVCS due to a massive compressing anterior mediastinal mass leading to signs and symptoms of SVCS, including shortness of breath, dizziness, palpitations, and neck swelling, which was managed surgically by excision of the mass and reconstruction of the brachiocephalic vein using a synthetic graft.

An increasing number of patients have required cardiac reoperations in recent decades, and this trend is expected to continue. Hence, re-sternotomy is and will be a common practice in high-volume centres. Re-sternotomy in complex aortic reinterventions carries a high risk of injuring major vascular and heart structures. To avoid catastrophic injuries, preoperative planning and case individualization are essential to minimize complications. Designing a safe and tailored strategy for each patient is believed to have an impact on postoperative outcomes. The arterial cannulation site, the need for hypothermia, left ventricle decompression and the use of an aortic occlusion balloon catheter are some of the preoperative decisions that must be made on a case-by-case basis to ensure adequate brain and visceral perfusion and to minimize major bleeding and circulatory interruption in case of re-entry injury.

Aortic valve replacement (AVR) is a critical procedure for patients with aortic valve diseases. This study compares the effectiveness of three minimally-invasive surgical approaches for AVR: totally thoracoscopic (TT), right anterior mini-thoracotomy, and upper mini-sternotomy. We analyzed retrospective data from 130 patients who underwent one of these surgeries, focusing on various factors such as duration of hospital stay, operation time, times for cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamping, postoperative complications, levels of cardiac biomarkers, pain intensity using the Visual Analog Scale, and mid-term survival rates. Results show that while the TT method had the longest operation times, it also had the shortest hospital stays and faster pain reduction post-surgery. Although the TT group initially showed higher cardiac biomarker levels after surgery, these levels normalized by the third day, similar to the other groups. There were no significant differences in mid-term survival and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (MACCE) rates among the groups. These findings suggest that the TT method, despite longer surgical times, offers a quicker initial recovery, making it a viable option for AVR.

UNASSIGNED: While the benefits of minimally invasive aortic valve surgery compared with standard sternotomy have been widely described, the impact of preservation of pleural integrity (PPI) in minimally invasive surgery is still widely discussed. This study aims to define the role of PPI on postoperative and long-term outcomes after minimally invasive aortic valve replacement (MIAVR).
UNASSIGNED: All 2,430 consecutive patients undergoing MIAVR (ministernotomy or right anterior minithoracotomy) between 1997 and 2022 were included in the study. Patients were divided into 2 groups: patients with and without PPI. PPI was considered the maintenance of the pleura closed without the need for a chest tube insertion at the end of the surgical procedure. A propensity-matched analysis was used to compare the PPI and not-PPI groups.
UNASSIGNED: After propensity matching, 848 patients were included in each group (PPI and not-PPI). The mean age was 70.21 versus 71.42 years, and the mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons predicted risk of mortality was 0.31% versus 0.30% in not-PPI versus PPI, respectively. The mean follow-up time was 147.4 months. Postoperatively, not-PPI versus PPI patients had a longer intensive care unit stay (9.7 vs 17.3 h, P < 0.001) and hospital length of stay (5.2 vs 8.9 days, P < 0.001). The rate of respiratory complications including the incidence of pneumothorax or subcutaneous emphysema, pulmonary atelectasis, and pleural effusion events requiring thoracentesis/drainage was significantly higher in not-PPI versus PPI. The 30-day all-cause mortality was higher in not-PPI versus PPI (0.029 vs 0.010, P = 0.003). Perioperative, short-term, and long-term all-cause mortality was significantly higher in the not-PPI group.
UNASSIGNED: PPI after MIAVR is associated with reduced incidence of postoperative complications, reduced lengths of stay, and improved overall survival compared with not-PPI. Therefore, a MIAVR tailored patient-procedure approach to maintaining the pleura integrity positively impacts short-term and long-term outcomes.