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Journal and News Scan
This study of 389 pts receiving a continuous flow LVAD evaluated the risk of thromoembolic (TE)complications associated with preop AF. TE occured in 25% of pts; freedom from TE at 2 years was 46% in those with AF and 72% in those without AF (p<0.001). AF did not affect late survival.
The authors presented a novel concept of tricuspid annuloplasty for functional tricuspid regurgitation using an adjustable annuloplasty band. This method allowed authors to adjust the ring size on beating heart after weaning off the cardiopulmonary bypass.
The MitraClip Therapy Economic and Clinical Outcomes Study Europe (ACCESS-EU) enroled 117 patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation (MR) considered ineligible for surgery. Mortalities at 30 days and 12 months were 6.0 and 17.1%, respectively. At 12 months, 74.6% (53 of 71) of patients in follow-up achieved significant reductions in MR and improved clinical outcomes. This complementary non-surgical intervention should be indicated by an inter-disciplinary team of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons.
A database analysis on 4212 patients found female sex to be associated with improved survival in patients with Stage I adenocarcinoma but not with other stages or with squamous carcinoma. The authors discuss the reasons for their findings.
A multicenter retrospective study on over 26000 patients compared off-pump and on-pump surgery for CABG. Off-pump surgery was associated with a lower perioperative incidence of stroke in patients with two or more cardiovascular risk factors especially with chronic renal failure.
See highlights as the meeting takes place, including the interview below with the EACTS President, Jose Luis Pomar.
This is an outstanding video on the surgical repair of the pulmonary arteries, which has been published in the MMCTS as a detailed techniques article.
This updated meta-analysis evaluated outcomes in 2687 pts from 8 randomized clinical trials assessing the utility of polyunsaturated fatty acids in preventing postoperative atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery. Treatment reduced the incidence of a-fib overall by 16% to 25%. In patients undergoing isolated CABG the reduction was 34% (p=0.003).
This study reviewed single institutional data to develop a composite risk index for mortality after heart transplantation in patients with congenital heart disease. Results in 46 pts operated 1996-2011 were studied with the primary differentiation being single vs double ventricle morphology. Predictors of mortality were preoperative renal insufficiency and the combination of single ventricle morphology and dialysis.
This derivation and validation study involving 2300 patients who underwent resection for NSCLC explored predictors of local/regional recurrence. Recurrence-free survival was similar between the datasets. Predictors of recurrence were different between the datasets. The derivation dataset identified stage I adeno, stage I squamous/large cell, and stage II-IIIA as predictors. The validation dataset identified lymphovascular invasion and stage as predictors.