Bilateral or unilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion during surgery for acute type A dissection.

OBJECTIVE: The study objective was to investigate outcomes associated with the application of bilateral or unilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion during surgery for acute type A dissection.

METHODS: Patients who underwent surgery for type A dissection with the application of antegrade cerebral perfusion between 2009 and 2017 at the Division of Cardiac Surgery, Medical University of Vienna were analyzed retrospectively (bilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion: n = 91, 49.5%; unilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion: n = 93, 50.5%). The primary outcome variable was overall survival. Subgroup analyses were performed in patients requiring antegrade cerebral perfusion durations of 50 minutes or more and less than 50 minutes. Secondary outcome variables were 30-day mortality, adverse outcome, permanent and temporary neurologic deficits, renal replacement therapy, prolonged ventilation, intensive care unit stay, and hospital stay.

RESULTS: Multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis demonstrated no significant association of bilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion with overall survival (hazard ratio, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.34-1.14, P = .126). Propensity score modeling using the method of inverse probability of treatment weighting confirmed this result (hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% confidence interval, 0.33-1.60, P = .428). Bilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion was associated with significantly improved overall survival in patients requiring antegrade cerebral perfusion durations of 50 minutes or more (P = .017). The bilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion and unilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion groups showed comparable rates of secondary outcome variables.

CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, bilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion and unilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion are associated with comparable outcomes after surgery for type A dissection. Subgroup analyses suggest that bilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion is associated with superior overall survival in patients requiring antegrade cerebral perfusion durations of 50 minutes or more. An adequately powered prospective randomized controlled trial is required to validate these results.