In Global News: UN Award Recognizes Pediatric Heart Surgery, Anthropologists Evaluate OR Cooperation, and Nitric Oxide for AKI

Patient Care and General Interest

The Israeli nonprofit organization Save a Child’s Heart received the United Nations’ Population Award, in recognition of its work providing congenital cardiac surgery to children in developing countries.

Several hospitals in the UAE have added pulse CO-oximeters with technology that integrates with a patient’s electronic health record to improve screening for critical congenital heart defects.

Drugs and Devices

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the Zephyr Endobronchial Valve from Pulmonx Corp to treat severe emphysema.

Research, Trials, and Funding

Researchers in Boston, USA, and Xi’an, China, find that nitric oxide administration during and after cardiopulmonary bypass might reduce postoperative kidney injury.

A team of medical anthropologists evaluated cooperation and conflict in the operating rooms of different surgical specialties, and they report their observations in the journal PNAS.

JenaValve Technology has launched a study of its JenaValve transcatheter aortic valve for the treatment of severe aortic regurgitation, which the company hopes will inform its anticipated application for CE mark approval in 2019.

Facilities voluntarily participating in the US Medicare’s Bundled Payments for Care Improvement programs for cardiac care are more likely to be large, high-resource centers, which may limit the generalizability of these models.