Journal and News Scan

When she was four months old, doctors determined that Bryce would need heart surgery as soon as possible. Though she was in the 50th percentile for weight when she was born, Bryce had sunk to below zero.

Her cardiologist brought in Khanh H. Nguyen of Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital who performs a unique form of open-heart surgery, where the incision is made under the armpit, rather than the traditional method of sternotomy. Dr Nguyen started using this different approach 14 years ago.

Patient Care

The Doodle Factory, an Egyptian brand that combines art and charity, has launched a new collection to fund heart surgeries for two children.

Premium cigar makers in the US are launching a second bid to convince the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to exempt their products from a previous expansion of tobacco regulations.

The cardiac surgery program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has been suspended while the program recruits a replacement for its lead surgeon, who retired.

Drugs and Devices

The US FDA has approved Andexxa from Portola, an antidote for factor Xa inhibiting blood thinners, and the company expects to launch the drug in June.

The US FDA is seeking permanent injunctions against two stem cell clinics for deviations from good manufacturing practices and for marketing stem cell products to patients without FDA approval. The clinics were said to have been administering stem cells for the experimental treatment of cancers, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, among other conditions.

Research, Trials, and Funding

Researchers in the US find that women are proportionately represented in clinical trials for hypertension and atrial fibrillation but underrepresented in trials for coronary artery disease and acute coronary syndrome.

Researchers in Sweden published research suggesting that lung cancer surgery outcomes are not affected by the day of the week that the surgery is performed.

An international group of researchers from Italy, the US, and the UK described disparities in lung cancer care between England and the US, finding that fewer patients in England present with early stage lung cancer and fewer English patients with stage I disease undergo surgery.

The authors have used a number of novel kidney related biomarkers to improve the identification of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) and its likely progression. This is an important issue in cardiac surgery, as the outcomes after significant kidney injury can be quite devastating. If we can improve on watching creatinine changes, we can then look at interventions which may reduce the incidence or severity of AKI.

This systematic review by Udelsman and colleagues assesses the clinical successes and setbacks of the current methods of airway replacement. Twenty-one studies, focusing primarily on the clinical translation of circumferential or near circumferential tracheal substitutes, were included in the final assessment. A total of 41 patients were identified as having received allotransplantation, autologous tissue reconstruction, bioprosthetic reconstruction, or tissue engineered reconstruction between January 2000 and October 2017. The authors conclude that each modality has its unique advantages and disadvantages; however, no clear ideal prosthetic or graft material stands out at present. Further laboratory work is required before tracheal substitutes, particularly tissue engineered conduits, are more widely utilized.