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Journal and News Scan
October 4, 2023
Submitted by: Javeria Tariq
The paper aimed to inform answers to questions of parents to those born with congenital defects necessitating arterial switch correction. Authors explored the quality of life in children undergoing the arterial switch operation beyond the early postoperative period. They investigated parental and socioeconomic factors that could influence quality of life. A total of 208 patients were enrolled in the study at a single tertiary cardiac center between 2012-2018. PedsQL 3.0 was used to calculate HRQOL. The immediate survival rate was 94.2 percent and most children (98.9 percent) started formal school in age-appropriate classes. Social factors were not significantly associated with quality-of-life parameters in this cohort.
October 4, 2023
Submitted by: Jo Chikwe
A retrospective cohort analysis of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database of 128,723 patients—who underwent pulmonary resection for non-small cell lung cancer between 2009 and 2019—identified 1,873 (1.5 percent) with interstitial lung disease. Patients with interstitial lung disease were more likely to smoke (90 percent vs 85 percent, P < .001), have pulmonary hypertension (6 percent vs 1.7 percent, P < .001), diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide < 40 percent (11 percent vs 4 percent, P < .001), and underwent more sublobar resections (34 percent vs 23 percent, P < .001) compared with patients without interstitial lung disease. Patients with interstitial lung disease had increased postoperative mortality (5.1 percent vs 1.2 percent; odds ratio, 3.94; 95 percent CI, 3.09-5.01; P < .001) and composite morbidity and mortality (13.2 percent vs 7.4 percent, P < .001).
October 4, 2023
Submitted by: Jason Trevis
This qualitative study explores the views and experiences of patients and staff involved in prehabilitation of elective patients undergoing cardiac surgery. This was nested within a wider randomized controlled trial comparing elective cardiac surgery patients undergoing a six-week prehabilitation program against those assigned to usual care. This qualitative study highlights some interesting considerations when designing and implementing a prehabilitation program in this group of patients.
October 4, 2023
Submitted by: Wei-Guo Ma
This newly published review on aortic valve sparing operations includes history and development, technical modifications, contemporary outcomes, and future directions.
September 28, 2023
Submitted by: Cameron Lind
A new survey found that sexual misconduct across the surgical profession is widely experienced in the United Kingdom. Nearly 90 percent of women and 80 percent of men reported having personally witnessed sexual harassment. Nearly 29 percent of woman reported having been victims of assault in the workplace. Although only 1.9 percent of survey respondents identified as cardiothoracic surgeons, and a larger sample size is needed, this study is an important first step in identifying and working to solve a looming problem in the surgical profession.
September 28, 2023
Submitted by: Javeria Tariq
The optimal timing for AVR in young adults can be hard to predict with the lack of evidence-based guidelines. One third of a total of 172 patients recruited from a single tertiary cardiac center between 2005-2019 underwent surgery before meeting guideline indications, but they were more likely to normalize their LV postoperatively. The authors found that patients with increased LV end-systolic diameters and those who underwent previous cardiac surgery were less likely to reach LV normalization post AVR. Prosthetic valve related complications occurred in 20.3 percent of patients at an average 5.6 year follow up and freedom from further aortic reinterventions was 98 percent, 96.5 percent and 85.4 percent at one, five and ten years respectively.
September 28, 2023
Submitted by: Jason Trevis
Use of antiplatelet medication following coronary artery bypass grafting is common practice to reduce thrombotic events. However, antiplatelet resistance is of growing concern. The authors of this review conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of eleven studies involving 3122 patients. The primary outcome measures were major adverse cardiovascular events and mortality. The authors report a 39 percent prevalence of antiplatelet resistance from the studies included.
September 28, 2023
Submitted by: EACTS Staff
Unicuspid aortic valve requires intervention in early life and the ideal treatment is unknown. This study examined 345 patients divided into two groups: 167 undergoing valve repair and 91 undergoing a Ross procedure. Survival at ten years was 95 percent in the Ross group and 97 percent after valve repair, and freedom from reintervention at ten years was better with Ross (98 percent) as compared to repair (80.5 percent). ROC analysis indicated a trend toward better durability in patients aged less than twenty-six years. It seems that repair of a unicuspid valve can be used as a bridge to pulmonary autograft replacement in younger patients.
September 21, 2023
Submitted by: Jo Chikwe
Six billion people lack access to safe, timely, and affordable cardiac surgical care due to limited access, capacity, and financial support. Noncommunicable diseases and surgical care receive a small fraction of global health funding, compared with infectious diseases, despite evidence supporting the effectiveness and socioeconomic benefits of expanding global access. This article reviews the ethical arguments for resource allocation for cardiac surgical care worldwide, with a particular focus on rural and remote settings in low- and middle-income countries, supported by country-level case studies from Ghana and India.
September 21, 2023
Submitted by: Jason Trevis
In this study, the authors evaluated survival after heart transplantation in adults with single and biventricular congenital heart disease against those receiving a transplant without congenital heart disease. It is a retrospective analysis over a fifteen-year period. The study found that among CHD transplant recipients, single-ventricle diseases correlated with higher short-term mortality.