ALERT!
This site is not optimized for Internet Explorer 8 (or older).
Please upgrade to a newer version of Internet Explorer or use an alternate browser such as Chrome or Firefox.
Journal and News Scan
April 12, 2022
Submitted by: Christopher Anderson
This study both examined the outcomes of children (<18 years) operated on for anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) and linked patients undergoing ALCAPA repair between 1982 and 2003 in the Pediatric Cardiac Care Consortium with the National Death Index and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to examine their outcomes through 2019.
April 9, 2022
Submitted by: Jessica Luc
This study from the Canadian Ross Registry evaluated 466 consecutive patients who underwent a Ross procedure using a decellularized cryopreserved pulmonary homograft and evaluated for pulmonary homograft dysfunction. They demonstrate that the cumulative incidence of pulmonary homograft dysfunction was 11% at 6 years with pulmonary homograft stenosis (93%) being the most frequent cause, with an incidence of homograft reintervention of 3% at 6 years.
April 8, 2022
Submitted by: Christopher Anderson
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons current (STS) guidelines recommend delaying coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) for several days or performing platelet function testing in stable patients who received P2Y12 inhibitors. Their program routinely uses thromboelastography-platelet mapping (TEG-PM) to expedite CABG in P2Y12 nonresponders. They hypothesize that P2Y12 nonresponders had no difference in length of stay to surgery and blood product transfusion compared with patients undergoing urgent inpatient CABG not treated with a P2Y12 inhibitor.
April 8, 2022
Submitted by: Christopher Anderson
Readmission after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is linked with negative outcomes and raised cost. We evaluated the impact of a high-value care discharge protocol on readmission, length of stay (LOS), and discharge destination in patients undergoing isolated CABG.
April 5, 2022
Submitted by: Aristotle Protopapas
A brief but comprehensive editorial on nuances of the links between atrial fibrillation and heart failure, apropos a trial we have commented recently on, by the Johns Hopkins team that develops the calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II inhibitor molecules
March 30, 2022
Submitted by: Emily Farkas
Every year, millions of people are dying and millions more are disabled due to treatable cardiovascular diseases. Surgical capacity is unevenly distributed around the world and disproportionally affects populations in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). COVID-19 increases barriers for access to cardiac surgical care, and high- level action is urgently needed to not only expand cardiac services around the world but also to ensure health systems are strengthened so that cardiac patients can be effectively managed during and after the pandemic. The primary aim of this systematic review is to provide perioperative strategies to help restore or preserve cardiovascular services in LMICs under threat from financial and personnel constraints imposed by the pandemic.
March 30, 2022
Submitted by: Aristotle Protopapas
Interesting case-control study on variations of aortovascular compliance
March 29, 2022
Submitted by: Mark Ferguson
This timely article addresses the interface between the Covid pandemic and patients with congenital heart diseases. It offers responses to a variety of questions related to: vaccinations, passive immunization, Covid testing, antivirals, immunomodulatory therapy, and transplant status.
March 25, 2022
Submitted by: Christopher Anderson
Cardiothoracic surgeon Igor Mokryk, MD, PhD, spent last week taking his family on a 370-mile journey from Kyiv, Ukraine, to the Polish border. While there they joined aound 2 million other war refugees in Poland. After this he drove back to war-torn Kyiv to continue at his post and treat patients at the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
March 24, 2022
Submitted by: Christopher Anderson
Several surgical associations have given a new statement in response to the new Valve Academic Research Consortium (VARC) definitions for aortic valve clinical studies. They took issue with a few things, most notably, rehospitalization, bleeding, and myocardial infarction.