Journal and News Scan

This study evaluated preoperative cerebrospinal fluid drainage (CSFD) In patients undergoing isolated descending TEVAR with or without arch involvement (+/− arch TEVAR).

Philipp Angleitner et al. present a retrospective study regarding incidence and outcome of bloodstream infections in LVAD patients. The incidence of bloodstream infections is 32.1% within the first year. This event was associated with increased risk of death and stroke. Risk factors of bloodstream infections were identified as lower albumin and ECMO/IABP prior to LVAD implantation.

A latge RCT of the first myosin inhibitor in severe chronic heart failure: somewhat difficult to interpret results, as deaths were slightly higher in the intervention group while there was no 'significant' benefit in cardiovascular deaths. The authors discuss the possibility of benefit in lower ejection fractions and proceed to discuss and present subgroups in an effort to glean some granularity in indications for omecamtiv mecarbil.

Techniques of unifocalization and pulmonary artery reconstructions have been developed to treat complex disorders of pulmonary artery development. The objective of this study was to document the prevalence of complications in these patients. The data demonstrate that the median value for duration of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was 473 minutes, number of complications was five, and length of stay was 24 days. Major adverse cardiac events occurred in 11% of patients. Notably, while complications were relatively frequent, the overall outcomes were generally favorable. Importantly, CPB time had a poor correlation with total number of complications and hospital length of stay; a finding that is different from what has been observed in relation to other complex congenital or adult cardiac operations.