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Journal and News Scan
This study, conducted at the Cleveland Clinic, investigated reports of failure of the Trifecta externally wrapped, bovine pericardial aortic valve prosthesis (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL). Concerns were raised about the long-term Trifecta durability.
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons' most recent Practice Survey was executed in the fall of 2019, the results of which were discussed at their 2020 annual meeting. Women in Thoracic Surgery, in conjunction with STS, reviewed those results, with a focus on female respondents. Women remain a significantly small subset of the cardiothoracic workforce.
This review nicely summarizes the recommendations for antithrombotic therapy in the setting of acute coronary syndromes. In a section relevant to cardiac surgeons, they suggest that patients who undergo CABG surgery in the setting of an acute coronary syndrome should be similarly treated with dual antiplatelet therapy.
On Friday, March 26, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Harmony Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve (TPV) System to be used to treat pediatric and adult patients with a native or surgically-repaired right ventricular outflow tract who have severe pulmonary valve regurgitation.
This study analyzes surgery versus chemoradiation for esophageal cancer in older patients.
Holmgren et al. report the long-term outcome of aortic valve replacement patients for bicuspid or tricuspid aortic valve pathologies within a Swedish cohort. In their analysis, patients with bicuspid valve morphology showed an independent association with improved outcome, even matching the general population´s prognosis.