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Journal and News Scan
Minimally Invasive Versus Full Sternotomy for Isolated Aortic Valve Replacement in Low-Risk Patients
December 1, 2022
Submitted by: Cameron Lind
This comparison of minimally invasive versus full sternotomy surgical aortic valve replacement aimed to analyze outcomes of the two procedures for isolated surgery in patients enrolled in a low-risk trial. For this group of patients, it was found that the two approaches were associated with similar in-hospital and one-year outcomes.
November 22, 2022
Submitted by: Cameron Lind
Because of increased social media overall during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study examined social media activity among cardiothoracic surgery programs. It was found that cardiothoracic program social media presence has increased during the pandemic, with the most activity occurring on Twitter. Accounts are largely run by trainees in these programs, which the authors suggested could benefit from added training resources on social media.
November 22, 2022
Submitted by: Cameron Lind
According to a recent phase II NOVA study, using botulinum toxin type A in cardiac surgery patients does not reduce the risk of atrial fibrillation overall, but may have some benefit in certain subgroups. Although postoperative AF affects one to two-thirds of patients after cardiac surgery, there is not a standard treatment for it. This study, while small, is a promising start in the effort to find effective treatment.
November 17, 2022
Submitted by: Cameron Lind
Researchers continue to report findings from the first genetically modified pig heart transplant into a human ten months after the surgery. Their latest study found unexpected electrocardiogram results in the patient, which the authors say did not contribute to heart failure. These results provide a first look into the novel field of xenotransplantation. Read the original study at this link.
Congenitally Corrected Transposition Cardiac Surgery: Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database Analysis
November 17, 2022
Submitted by: Cameron Lind
Contemporary surgical practices for the management of congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (ccTGA) have not previously been described in multicenter analyses. This study defines contemporary outcomes in a multicenter cohort, concluding that patients with ccTGA remain a cohort with significant diversity in the operations used and substantial operative mortality and morbidity.
November 17, 2022
Submitted by: Wei-Guo Ma
Pirruccello and associates from Massachusetts General Hospital developed a prediction model for ascending aortic diameter in a cohort of 30,018 asymptomatic individuals based on eleven variables: age (years), gender, body mass index (kg/m2), heart rate (bpm), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg), height (cm), weight (kg), and the presence or absence of a diagnosis of diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia. The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve ranged from 0.77 to 0.81 for identifying individuals with an ascending aortic diameter 4 cm or greater in validation cohorts. This is an important step in identifying early signs of ascending thoracic aortic disease, a common cause of sudden death in the U.S.
November 14, 2022
Submitted by: Aristotle Protopapas
Quite possibly, this manuscript is projected to have the highest impact on patient care and industry for the immediate future. It provides an unusually clear narrative, and findings of a large international randomized clinical trial assert that a good quality venous conduit renders bypass superior to endovascular treatment in infrainguinal critical limb-threatening ischemia.
November 11, 2022
Submitted by: Cameron Lind
According to results of the STRESS trial, infants undergoing heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass did not have a lower chance of a bad outcome when administered with the steroid methylprednisolone, compared to the placebo. This trial was part of an initiative to develop a more reliable method of conducting clinical trials involving pediatric heart surgery patients.
November 11, 2022
Submitted by: Cameron Lind
Before a Belizean hospital’s partnership with Atrium Health Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute, local patients would have to travel out of the country for cardiac surgical care, which was cost prohibitive for many. Now, surgeons travel to Belize six times a year to perform cardiac catheterizations and other heart surgeries, and to train local doctors. The program is currently celebrating its tenth year in operation and continues to make lifesaving care more accessible in Belize.
November 11, 2022
Submitted by: Cameron Lind
This study assessed the use of regional analgesia in the reduction of postoperative opioid use in patients undergoing a sternotomy. Researchers used factors such as amount of opioids used, pain scores, and recovery time to determine if the method was effective. In the first seventy-two hours postoperatively, recovery checkpoints were similar between the two groups, and the study determined that regional analgesia did not reduce the amount of opioids administered in this short postoperative period.