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Journal and News Scan

Source: New York Post
Author(s): Brian Costello

He went to Stanford University and got the surgery. Shortly after, Coleman said he wanted to play football again.

“Right after surgery, I put two and two together,” Coleman said. “If I’m fixed, I can play football again, right?”

He talked to his surgeon and cardiologist, who both gave him their blessing. Then he talked to the coach at his high school, who welcomed him. Just a few months after surgery, Coleman was on the football field. He played the final two regular-season games and four playoff games. He returned an interception 26 yards for a touchdown in his first game.

Source: Medpagetoday
Author(s): by Kristina Fiore , Deputy Managing Editor, MedPage Today

Two European physicians attempting to attend the American Association for Thoracic Surgery meeting in Boston last weekend -- the organization's Centennial -- were turned away by U.S. Customs agents because of their recent travel to certain Middle Eastern countries.

Rock-star thoracic surgeon Pieter Kappetein, MD, PhD, of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Bernard Eisenmann, MD, former chief of cardiovascular surgery at University Hospital Strasbourg in France, were stopped at U.S. Customs in Dublin and Montreal, respectively, and had to book new flights back to Europe.

Source: Nasdaq Globalnewswire
Author(s): Intuitive

Intuitive have announced the availability of a new robotic called the Da Vinci X. This will have all the technology of the Latest Xi but at lower cost. 

Interesting development as Medtronic and Ethicon both prepare to bring their robotic platforms to the market in the coming months. 

Also very interstingly although the Da Vinci X has a CE mark,  it is not 510(k) cleared so not for sale in the USA, to it looks like this is specifically targetted to the Non-US market which is much more cost conscious. 

 

Source: Circulation Research
Author(s): Stanley Nattel and Dobromir Dobrev

A succinct update relevant to all arrhythmia and heart failure surgeons. The concept of atrial cardiomyopathy is particularly stimulating.

Source: BBC News
Author(s): Stephen Westaby

Stephen Westaby speaks out on the BBC about the state of cardiac surgery in the NHS in the UK in 2017 

Source: Journal of Visualised Surgery
Author(s): Giuseppe Aresu (guest editor)

Check out this focused issue by JOVS with partecipation of major experts from the globe. Is subxiphoid approach the future for lung resections? 

In the last few years there is a rediscovered and enthusiastic interest for subxiphoid incisions to get access to the pleural cavities. In this focused issue edited by Giuseppe Aresu we learn about the state of the art and future perspectives.

Source: Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): Sachin D. Tadphale, Xinyu Tang, Nahed O. ElHassan, Brandon Beam, Parthak Prodhan

The authors examined characteristics of patients undergoing initial palliation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) who remained hospitalized and who required superior cavopulmonary anastomosis (SCPA) during the same hospitalization.  6% of nearly 5400 infants required SCPA during the same admission.  A number of conditions/complications were identified as being associated with the need for SCPA.  Patients who underwent an initial RV to PA shunt were less likely to require hospitalization until stage 2. 

Source: Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): Feroze Mahmood, Ziyad O. Knio, Lu Yeh, Rabia Amir, Robina Matyal, Azad Mashari, Robert C. Gorman, Joseph H. Gorman III, Kamal R. Khabbaz

The type and extent of mitral valve remodeling in response to ischemic mitral regurgitation may predict success/recurrence after mitral valve repair.  The authors collected 3-dimensional data from patients with ischemic MR and from patients with normal valves and analyzed the data geometrically.  Remodeling was identified by lengthening of the middle portion of A2, an increased nonplanarity angle, and an increased tenting angle of P3. 

Source: Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): Michael Mazzeffi, James Gammie, Bradley Taylor, Sarah Cardillo, Nicholina Haldane-Lutterodt, Anthony Amoroso, Anthony Harris, Kerri Thom

Cardiac surgery patients with ICU stays of more than 7 days were evaluated for the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) over a 3-year period.  15% of over 2,500 pts had ICU stays of more than 7 days, of whom more than 48% had at least 1 HAI.  Mortality in those with HAI was more than twice as high as for those without (29% vs13%).    HAI was associated with RBC transfusion.  Mortality was associated with HAI and with central line infection.

Source: Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): Hylke J.F. Brenkman, Kevin Parry, Fergus Noble, Richard van Hillegersberg, Donna Sharland, Lucas Goense, Jamie Kelly, James P. Byrne, Timothy J. Underwood, Jelle P. Ruurda

In a retrospective review of patients undergoing esophagectomy at two high volume centers, the incidence of hiatal hernia was 5% - 10%.  The incidence did not differ between open and MIE approaches.  Two-thirds of the hernias were discovered incidentally, although half of those patients were symptomatic.  Mortality in patients undergoing urgent correction was almost 20%.

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