Surgical rescues for critical hemopericardium complicated by acute type A aortic dissection: Emergent subxiphoid pericardiotomy or cardiopulmonary bypass first?

Background Hemopericardium is a common and hazardous complication of acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD). This retrospective study aimed to clarify the short-term and mid-term outcomes in patients who underwent surgical rescues for hemopericardium complicated by ATAAD. Methods Between January 2007 and March 2019, 586 consecutive patients underwent ATAAD repair at our institution. According to preoperative computed tomography, hemopericardium was found in 191 patients (32.6%), 150 were stabilized with medical treatment, and 41 underwent surgical rescues for critical hemodynamics. The 41 patients were classified into groups according to their rescue procedures: emergent subxiphoid pericardiotomy (E-SXP group, n = 26, 63.4%) or emergent cardiopulmonary bypass (E-CPB group, n = 15, 36.6%). Clinical features, surgical information, postoperative complications, and 3-year survival were analyzed and compared. Results Demographics, comorbidities and aortic repair procedures were generally homogenous between the two groups, except for sex. The average systolic blood pressure was 62.4 ± 13.3 mmHg and 67.1 ± 13.1 mmHg in the E-SXP and E-CPB groups, respectively. A total of 29.3% of patients underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) before surgical rescues. The in-hospital mortality was similar (30.8% versus 33.3%, P = 0.865) in the two groups. Multivariate analysis revealed that preoperative CPR was an in-hospital predictor of mortality. For patients who survived to discharge, 3-year cumulative survival rates were 87.8% ± 8.1% and 60.0% ± 19.7% in the E-SXP and E-CPB groups, respectively ( P = 0.170). Conclusions Patients who underwent surgical rescues for ATAAD-complicated hemopericardium are at a high risk of in-hospital mortality. The two rescue procedures revealed similar short-term and mid-term outcomes.