ABSTRACT

This narrative review of the literature, consisting of papers found in PubMed and The Cochrane Library published up to 31 July 2023, analyzed those that were deemed to be closely related to the title of this paper. It was encountered that the peril of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in people with hemophilia (PWH) after orthopedic surgery is very small, such that pharmacological thromboprophylaxis is not necessary in most cases. The hemophilia literature states that the use of pharmacological thromboprophylaxis should only be performed in PWH undergoing major orthopedic surgery (total-knee arthroplasty, total-hip arthroplasty, ankle arthrodesis) who have additional venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk factors, such as old age, prior VTE, varicose veins, general anesthesia, cancer, factor V (Leiden) mutation, overweight, and treatment with the oral contraceptive pill (in females with von Willebrand's illness). If we notice various risk factors for VTE in PWH who experience orthopedic surgery, theoretically, we should perform the identical type of pharmacological thromboprophylaxis advised for non-hemophilia patients: low-molecular weight heparins (LMWHs), such as enoxaparin (40 mg subcutaneous/24 h); or direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), either thrombin inhibitors (dabigatran, 150 mg oral/12 h) or activated factor X (FXa) inhibitors (rivaroxaban, 20 mg oral/24 h; apixaban, 5 mg oral/24 h), or subcutaneous fondaparinux (2.5 mg/24 h subcutaneously). However, the review of the literature on hemophiliac patients has shown that only a few authors have used pharmacological prophylaxis with LMWH (subcutaneous enoxaparin) for a short period of time (10-14 days) in some patients who had risk factors for VTE. Only one group of authors used a low dose of DOAC in the dusk after the surgical procedure and the next day, specifically in individuals at elevated risk of VTE and elevated risk of bleeding after the surgical procedure.

PMID:37685641 | PMC:PMC10488906 | DOI:10.3390/jcm12175574

04:44

PubMed articles on: Cardio-Oncology

Assessment of short-term effects of thoracic radiotherapy on the cardiovascular parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems

Front Neurosci. 2023 Sep 4;17:1256067. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1256067. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Prior research suggests that cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction might be an early marker of cardiotoxicity induced by antitumor treatment and act as an early predictor of cardiovascular disease-related morbidity and mortality. The impact of thoracic radiotherapy on the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems, however, remains unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the short-term effects of thoracic radiotherapy on the autonomic nervous system, using deceleration capacity (DC), acceleration capacity (AC) of heart rate, and heart rate variability (HRV) as assessment tools.

METHODS: A 5 min electrocardiogram was collected from 58 thoracic cancer patients before and after thoracic radiotherapy for DC, AC, and HRV analysis. HRV parameters employed included the standard deviation of the normal-normal interval (SDNN), root mean square of successive interval differences (RMSSD), low frequency power (LF), high frequency power (HF), total power (TP), and the LF to HF ratio. Some patients also received systemic therapies alongside radiotherapy; thus, patients were subdivided into a radiotherapy-only group (28 cases) and a combined radiotherapy and systemic therapies group (30 cases) for additional subgroup analysis.

RESULTS: Thoracic radiotherapy resulted in a significant reduction in DC (8.5 [5.0, 14.2] vs. 5.3 [3.5, 9.4], p = 0.002) and HRV parameters SDNN (9.9 [7.03, 16.0] vs. 8.2 [6.0, 12.4], p = 0.003), RMSSD (9.9 [6.9, 17.5] vs. 7.7 [4.8, 14.3], p = 0.009), LF (29 [10, 135] vs. 24 [15, 50], p = 0.005), HF (35 [12, 101] vs. 16 [9, 46], p = 0.002), TP (74 [41, 273] vs. 50 [33, 118], p < 0.001), and a significant increase in AC (-8.2 [-14.8, -4.9] vs. -5.8 [-10.1, -3.3], p = 0.003) and mean heart rate (79.8 ± 12.6 vs. 83.9 ± 13.6, p = 0.010). Subgroup analysis indicated similar trends in mean heart rate, DC, AC, and HRV parameters (SDNN, RMSSD, LF, HF, TP) in both the radiotherapy group and the combined treatment group post-radiotherapy. No statistically significant difference was noted in the changes observed in DC, AC, and HRV between the two groups pre- and post-radiotherapy.

CONCLUSION: Thoracic radiotherapy may induce cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction by reducing parasympathetic activity and enhancing sympathetic activity. Importantly, the study found that the concurrent use of systemic therapies did not significantly amplify or contribute to the alterations in autonomic function in the short-term following thoracic radiotherapy. DC, AC and HRV are promising and feasible biomarkers for evaluating autonomic dysfunction caused by thoracic radiotherapy.

PMID:37732299 | PMC:PMC10507252 | DOI:10.3389/fnins.2023.1256067

04:44

PubMed articles on: Cardio-Oncology

Complete heart block is a significant predictor of mortality in immune checkpoint inhibitor myocarditis

Cardiooncology. 2023 Sep 20;9(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s40959-023-00185-y.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) myocarditis is associated with significant mortality risk. Electrocardiogram (ECG) changes in ICI myocarditis have strong prognostic value. However the impact of complete heart block (CHB) is not well defined. This study sought to evaluate the impact of CHB on mortality in ICI myocarditis, and to identify clinical predictors of mortality and CHB incidence.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with ICI myocarditis at three Mayo Clinic sites from 1st January 2010 to 31st September 2022 to evaluate mortality rates at 180 days. Clinical, laboratory, ECG, echocardiographic, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) characteristics were assessed. Cox and logistic regression were performed for associations with mortality and CHB respectively.

RESULTS: Of 34 identified cases of ICI myocarditis, 7 (20.6%) had CHB. CHB was associated with higher mortality (HR 7.41, p = 0.03, attributable fraction 86.5%). Among those with CHB, troponin T (TnT) < 1000 ng/dL, low white blood cell count and high ventricular rate at admission were protective. There was trend towards increased survival among patients who underwent permanent pacemaker insertion (p = 0.051), although most experienced device lead complications. Factors associated with development of CHB included prolonged PR and QRS intervals and low Sokolow Lyon Index. Where these were normal and TnT was < 1000 ng/dL, no deaths occurred. Impaired myocardial longitudinal strain was sensitive for ICI myocarditis but was not prognostically significant.

CONCLUSION: There is a strong temporal association between CHB and early mortality in people with ICI myocarditis. Focusing on arrhythmogenic complications can be helpful in predicting outcomes for this group of critically ill individuals.

PMID:37730763 | PMC:PMC10510176 | DOI:10.1186/s40959-023-00185-y

04:44

PubMed articles on: Cardio-Oncology

One-Lung Ventilation and Postoperative Pulmonary Complications After Major Lung Resection Surgery. A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial

J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2023 Apr 27:S1053-0770(23)00262-8. doi: 10.1053/j.jvca.2023.04.029. Online ahead of print.