In Global News: Cardiac Arrest at a Water Park, Therapies for Lung Cancer, and a Travel Award

Patient Care

The first total aortic replacement in Malaysia was performed for a patient with a thoracoabdominal aneurysm at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur.

A balloon dilation of his narrowing airway helps a premature baby breathe easier in Cape Town, South Africa.

Engineering principles and 3D printing help a surgical team reshape and stabilize the ribcage of a man with scoliosis in North Carolina, USA.

A man suffered a cardiac arrest at a water park in Israel, but quick action and an onsite automatic defibrillator saved his life.

Drugs and Devices

Randomization in the TANGO-2 trial of meropenem-vaborbactam for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections was halted early due to superior outcomes from the investigational treatment.

The European Medicines Agency recommended multiple anticancer agents for approval, including atezolizumab, an anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy for non–small cell lung cancer.

AstraZeneca’s MYSTIC trial has found that a combination of biologics did not improve progression-free survival with PD-L1-positive lung cancer over chemotherapy, though overall survival results are still pending.

AdvaMed sent a letter to the US FDA to protest changes to its definition of “intended use.”

Health Canada has licensed Medtronic Canada’s MR-conditional cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators.

Research, Trials, and Funding

Applications are now being accepted for the 2017 Carolyn E. Reed Traveling Fellowship Award, awarded each year to a woman thoracic or cardiac surgeon for travel with the purpose of learning a new technology.

Researchers from Melbourne, Australia, published a study in the NEJM that questions whether new interventions to help premature infants breathe are better for their long-term lung function.