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Journal and News Scan

Source: News from around the web.
Author(s): Claire Vernon

Patient Care

December 3rd is the 50th anniversary of the first human heart transplantation, and the occasion is being commemorated with an event in Cape Town and writing about the historic event.

The president of Brazil had stents placed for coronary artery obstructions over the weekend.

The first transcatheter implantation of a retrievable aortic valve in China occurred at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University.

 

Drugs and Devices

A UK-based company is developing a more mobile, more affordable surgical robot.

Boston Scientific announced that it will indefinitely delay seeking US Food and Drug Administration approval for its Lotus Edge transcatheter valve.

Puerto Rico’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Maria could affect surgical device supplies.

The European Medicines Agency will move from London to Amsterdam.

 

Research, Trials, and Funding

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, in the US, find that lobectomy for early stage lung cancer provides better survival than stereotactic body radiation therapy.

A review of randomized controlled trials in pediatric heart surgery suggests that many studies do not provide sufficiently robust evidence.

A new imaging technology could provide higher resolution views of important tissues in minimally invasive surgery.

Biomedical engineers from Duke University in North Carolina, US, have implanted patches of induced cardiomyocytes onto rodent hearts; the implants showed near mature electrical and mechanical function.

Source: European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): Hiroshi Sato, Toshiro Ito, Yosuke Kuroda, Hiroki Uchiyama, Toshitaka Watanabe, Naomi Yasuda, Junji Nakazawa, Ryo Harada, Nobuyoshi Kawaharada

Sato and colleagues applied elliptic Fourier analysis to morphological aortic measurements from 80 patients with uncomplicated type B aortic dissection. The patients were divided in two groups according to aortic enlargement during follow-up. The shape of the aortic diameter at initial operation was a significant predictor of further morphologic development.

Source: New England Journal of Medicine
Author(s): Gregory E. Holt, Bianca Sarmento, Daniel Kett, Kenneth W. Goodman

An interesting dilemma posed by a tattoo providing advanced care directives.

Source: CNN
Author(s): Jacqueline Howard

Newspaper and prime time TV advertisements are beginning in the US today that detail the medical toll that smoking exacts on its victims.  The ads are paid for by big tobacco based on a court order from 2006 that has finally survived the appeal process.  A spokesperson for one of the companies stated that they hope to "develop less risky tobacco products."  The ads emphasize that smoking causes nearly 500,000 deaths annually in the US.

Source: MedPage Today
Author(s): Skeptical Scalpel

The medical care oversight committee for Hertfordshire County, England, has banned elective surgery for the obese and for those who are actively smoking. Obese patients must lose 10% to 15% of their body weight within 9 months to qualify, and smokers must abstain for at least 8 weeks if elective surgery is to be performed. Free counseling to achieve these goals is provided.

Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): Ourania Preventza, Joseph S. Coselli, Jessica Mayor, Katherine Simpson, Julius Carillo, Matt D. Price, Lorraine D. Cornwell, Shuab Omer, Kim I. de la Cruz, Faisal G. Bakaeen, Arin Jobe

Preventza and colleagues present their experience with aortic repair, analyzing prospectively collected data from 129 patients who underwent either a traditional elephant trunk (t-ET) procedure or a modified frozen elephant trunk (FET) procedure that does not use a hybrid graft. The authors found no statistically significant difference in mortality or persistent spinal cord ischemia between patients undergoing a t-ET and those undergoing a modified FET.

Source: MedStar Health YouTube Channel
Author(s): Luis Dibos

This is the kind of video that patients are going to in large numbers. It is a nice description of a CABG case performed at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Maryland, USA. Nearly a million hits makes these guys YouTube stars!

Source: Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Author(s): A. Marc Gillinov, Tomislav Mihaljevic, Hoda Javadikasgari, Rakesh M. Suri, Stephanie L. Mick, José L. Navia, Milind Y. Desai, Johannes Bonatti, Mitra Khosravi, Jay J. Idrees, Ashley M. Lowry, Eugene H. Blackstone, Lars G. Svensson

The authors review their first 1000 robotically assisted mitral valve surgery, demonstrating excellent repair rates and low operative mortality and morbidity.  

Source: Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Author(s): Niv Ad, Sari D. Holmes, Paul S. Massimiano, Anthony J. Rongione, Lisa M. Fornaresio, David Fitzgerald

Del Nido cardioplegia has been used in congenital heart surgery but the data for adult cardiac surgery has been lacking.  This randomized trial compares del Nido to whole blood cardioplegia for patients undergoing either a CABG, valve, or CABG/valve.  The results suggest that the use of del Nido is safe and may streamline the workflow.

Source: VuMedi
Author(s): W. Keeling

This is a lecture about the treatment of massive pulmonary embolus.

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