ALERT!
This site is not optimized for Internet Explorer 8 (or older).
Please upgrade to a newer version of Internet Explorer or use an alternate browser such as Chrome or Firefox.
Journal and News Scan
December 13, 2019
Submitted by: Emily Robinson
The authors analyzed the outcomes of the continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices. The study includes 105 patients supported with HM2 (N=54), HM3 (N=25), and HW (N-26). Eighteen-month data suggested that HM3 had a better prognostic and adverse-event profile over other devices.
December 11, 2019
Submitted by: Wei-Guo Ma
On December 9, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) published updated recommendations on the screening of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) based on patient's gender, age, history of smoking, and family history of AAA for symptomatic adults:
- In men aged 65-75 years who have EVER smoked => One-time screening for AAA with ultrasonography (B recommendation);
- In men aged 65-75 years who have NEVER smoked => Selective screening for AAA with ultrasonography (C recommendation);
- In women who have NEVER smoked and have NO family history of AAA => Routine ultrasonographic screening for AAA is NOT recommended (D recommendation);
- Current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for AAA with ultrasonography in women aged 65-75 years who have ever smoked or have a family history of AAA (I statement).
December 10, 2019
Submitted by: Joel Dunning
Following the withdrawal of Professor Taggart’s name from the author list of the EXCEL trial, the BBC in the UK have filmed a full exposé of some of the background to this decision. Secretary General of EACTS, Dominic Pagano, has stated that if the allegations are true, then perhaps support should be withdrawn for the current guidelines that PCI is equivalent to bypass grafting.
It looks like the published results of this trial in The New England Journal of Medicine are unravelling and either this paper will need to be withdrawn and re-published, or extensive modifications must be made. Let us know what you think after reading this article.
December 9, 2019
Submitted by: Aristotle Protopapas
Given the escalating importance of atrial fibrillation for surgeons, this genomics article may be of considerable interest in future.
December 8, 2019
Submitted by: Wei-Guo Ma
Abe and associates reported the trends in the early outcomes of surgical repair for acute type A aortic dissection in 11,843 patients from the Japan Cardiovascular Surgery Database between 2008 and 2015. Operative mortality was 9.5% and 30-day mortality was 7.6%. The number of surgically treated cases increased by 45% during the interval. A signficant upward trend was found in patient age and the incidences of preoperative renal failure. Unadjusted operative mortality rate with arch replacement showed a significant downward trend (P = 0.01). Risk-adjusted mortality rate showed a downward trend both in ascending aortic or hemiarch and arch replacement, which did not reach statistical signficance.
December 6, 2019
Submitted by: Mark Ferguson
In this multi-institutional randomized trial comparing talc slurry through a chest tube to talc pudrage during VATS, success rates at 90 days were similar.
December 4, 2019
Submitted by: Aristotle Protopapas
Succinct commentary on the challenge of vascular access in ECMO circuits on the occasion of a manuscript on a novel design of a multi-access adaptor.
December 4, 2019
Submitted by: Emily Robinson
In this study, the authors report on the outcome of mitral valve repair, applying subannular repair for functional mitral valve regurgitation. Included are 108 patients who underwent annuloplasty with subannular repair (n=60) versus patients with annuloplasty only (n=48). Repositioning of the papillary muscle lead to excellent outcomes with less mitral valve regurgitation recurrence.
December 4, 2019
Submitted by: Emily Robinson
Higher case volumes (>10 annually) were associated with decreased mortality for surgical treatment of aortic dissection. This relationship was not evident for thoracic endovascular aortic repair.
December 4, 2019
Submitted by: Aristotle Protopapas
Well-presented Canadian prospective study juxtaposing a combination of Wells scoring and dimers to the imaging gold standard.
It was particularly fascinating to read the referenced assertion that:
.....the prevalence of pulmonary embolism among patients who undergo diagnostic testing is substantially higher in Europe than in North America.. (Penultimate paragraph): We wonder what would be the robust causes of such disparity........