Intervenciones de la aorta ascendente: Estudio transversal en dos Instituciones de Salud de la Ciudad de Cuenca, Ecuador

BACKGROUND: The treatment of ascending aorta (AA) aneurysms has evolved over the years. The surgical technique for this pathology should always be chosen in favor of preserving native tissues, as much as possible. Aortic dilation can be secondary to other pathologies. There is an association with arterial hypertension, COPD, smoking, atherosclerosis, congestive heart failure, coronary heart disease, Marfan syndrome. The aim of this study was to characterize patients who underwent ascending aorta surgery in two medical centers in Cuenca- Ecuador, between January 2014 and August 2019. METHODS: Cross-Sectional descriptive and correlation study. The study population was formed by 23 patients undergoing an ascending aortic surgical intervention, in the city of Cuenca-Ecuador, at Hospital José Carrasco Arteaga or Clínica Santa Inés, from January 2014 to August 2019. Data was obtained from the patient’s medi-cal records. RESULTS: The age range went from 27 to 74 years with an average of 55.5 7 years. The most frequently found comorbidities were hypertension (56.5%) and type 2 diabetes (17.4%), 8.7% of the patients presented with Mar-fan syndrome. The most common diagnosis was ascending aortic aneurysm without significant valve damage (39%). 91% percent of the patients underwent surgery with the Bentall-De Bono technique. The majority of patients (52.2%) did not present any post-surgical complications. The mortality rate found in this population was 1.3 per 10 patients. CONCLUSIONS:Men were more frequently affected. The mean age was 55 years. The studied pathologies were heterogeneous, from SAA to primary or secondary aortic diseases. The main symptoms were angina and dyspnea; there was no significant association between clinical onset and mortality. The most frequent comor-bidities were Arterial Hypertension and type II Diabetes. We didn’t found any significant associations between complications and the other variables. The most common complication was bleeding that needed rintervention. Mortality decreased progressively since 2014. KEYWORDS: Aortic Diseases, Aortic Aneurysm, Aortic Valve, Cardiac Surgical Procedures.