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Journal and News Scan

Source: Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Author(s): Nienaber CA, Yuan X

A brief focused commentary on a recent medium size Japanese series of succesful surgery for Acute Aortic Syndrome. The limitations of the series presented in well- written Uchida manuscript( and already to the last AATS Meeting) are being explored, and the commentators' allusion to the need for randomised trial is evident. The FET techniques should probably be considered for the extended arch reconstruction arm of such a trial. 

Source: The New England Journal of Medicine
Author(s): EMPEROR-Preserved Trial Investigators

A large randomised double-blinded trial reporting a considerable benefit ( 0.79 HR with very small p and supporting confidence intervals) of the Boehringer SGLPT-2 inhibitor regardless of presence of formal diagnosis of diabetes. If corroborated by further research and thence included on guidelines  , the findings may alter the standard of pharmacological care of our surgical patients, namely coronopaths and vasculopaths .  

Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): Uma M. Sachdeva, MD, PhD, Andrea L. Axtell, MD, MPH, Tiuri E. Kroese, MD, David C. Chang, PhD, MPH, Christopher R. Morse, MD

 

There is an increasingneed to understand how obesity effect treatment due to its  prevalence  and known association with esophageal cancer. 

Source: Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia
Author(s): Andrew Roscoe, Vasileios Zochios

Scholarly endeavour to digest, in a relatively short and dense manuscript, the State-of-the-Art in assessing the function of the Forgotten Chamber. The notion of surgjcal pericardiotomy as a confounder of decision making is most interesting

Source: Journal of Vascular Surgery
Author(s): Lisa Hysa, Sara Khor, Benjamin W. Starnes, Warren B. Chow, Matthew P. Sweet, Jimmy Nguyen, Sherene Shalhub

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine cause-specific mortality in TBAD and to evaluate the clinical characteristics associated with aorta-related and non aorta-related mortality.
Methods: Clinical and administrative records were reviewed for patients with acute TBAD between 1995 and 2017. Demographics, comorbidities, presentation, and initial imaging findings were abstracted. Cause of death was ascertained through a multimodality approach using electronic health records, obituaries, social media, Social Security Death Index, and state mortality records. Causes of death were classified as aorta related, nonaorta related, or unknown. A Fine-Gray multivariate competing risk regression model for sub distribution hazard ratio was employed to analyze the association of clinical characteristics with aorta-related and non aorta-related mortality.

Results: A total of 275 individuals met inclusion criteria (61.1 6 13.7 years, 70.9% male, 68% white). Mean survival after discharge was 6.3 6 4.7 years. Completeness of follow-up Clark C index was 0.87. All-cause mortality was 50.2% (n . 138; mean age, 70.1 6 14.6 years) including an in-hospital mortality of 8.4%. Cause-specific mortality was aorta related, non aorta related, and unknown in 51%, 43%, and 6%, respectively. Compared with patients with non aorta-related mortality, patients with aorta-related mortality were younger at acute TBAD (69.5 6 11.2 years vs 61.6 6 15.5 years; P .001), underwent more descending thoracic aortic repairs (19.4% vs 45.8%; P . .002), and had a shorter survival duration(5.7 6 3.9 vs 3.4 6 4.5 years; P . .002). There was clear variation in cause of death by each decade of life, with higher aorta related mortality among those younger than 50 years and older than 70 years and a stepwise increase in non aorta related mortality with each increasing decade (P < .001). All-cause mortality at 1 year, 3 years, and 10 years was 15%, 24%, and 57%, respectively. After accounting for competing risks, the cumulative incidence of aorta-related mortality at
1 year, 3 years, and 10 years was 8.9%, 16.5%, and 27.2%, respectively, and that of non aorta-related mortality was 2.7%, 7.2%,and 29%, respectively. A maximum descending thoracic aortic diameter >4 cm was associated with an increase in hazard of aorta-related mortality by 84% (sub distribution hazard ratio, 1.84; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-3.28) on multivariate competing risk regression analysis.

Conclusions: TBAD is associated with high 10-year mortality. Those at risk for aorta-related mortality have a clinical phenotype different from that of individuals at risk for non aorta-related mortality. This information is important for building risk prediction models that account for competing mortality risks and to direct optimal and individualized surgical and medical management of TBAD.

Source: The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Author(s): Amine Mazine, MD, MSc; Tirone E. David, MD; Myriam Lafreniere-Roula, PhD; Christopher M. Feindel, MD; Maral Ouzounian, MD, PhD

The study evaluates early outcomes of patients undergoing a Bentall procedure after previous cardiac surgery.
Included 473 patients with previous composite valve graft at a single institution: composite valve graft with a mechanical prosthesis (n = 256) or composite valve graft with a bioprosthesis (n = 217).
Primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcome was a composite of major morbidity and operative mortality: stroke, renal failure, prolonged mechanical ventilation, deep sternal infection, or reoperation during the same admission.
Median age was 57 and 74% patients were male. Median time between index surgery and reoperation was 13 years. 38% underwent urgent or emergency intervention, 13% had active endocarditis/abscess, 19% had left ventricular ejection fraction less than 40%, and 55% had undergone more than 1 previous operation.
At the time of the re-operative Bentall, both coronary arteries were reimplanted directly in 77% patients, whereas 17% received at least 1 interposition graft.
Thirty-day mortality occurred in 7.8%, and 32% patients had major morbidity and operative mortality. On multivariable analysis, risk factors associated with increased 30-day mortality included older age and coronary reimplantation by a technique other than direct anastomosis.
In the largest reported cohort of aortic root replacement after previous cardiac surgery, re-operative Bentall procedure was associated with a significant operative risk. The need for complex coronary reimplantation techniques was an important factor associated with adverse perioperative events.

Source: Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Author(s): Mohammed I. Dairywala, BS; Saurabh Gupta MD, MSc; Michael Salna, MD; Tom C. Nguyen, MD

The authors review existing literature and propose recommendations to improve physical preparedness for surgery both in and outside the operating room. Cardiothoracic surgeons suffer from MSK pain, most commonly in the neck and back due to a lack of proper ergonomics during surgery. A lack of dedicated ergonomics curriculum during training may leave surgeons at a high predisposition for work-related MSK disorders. The authors reviewed relevant surgical ergonomics studies and prevalence of MSK disease among surgeons and interventionalists. Whenever possible, data from quantitative studies and meta-analyses were presented. They report high rates of work-related pain in surgeons - as high as 87% in minimally-invasive surgeons. Several optimizations regarding correct table height, monitor positioning, and loupe angles are discussed. The authors share factors, including smaller incisions and technological advancements, that led to this plight. They make a case that work-related injuries are underreported and understudied and the field of surgical ergonomics remains open for investigative study. The authors also recommend exercises that can be performed to improve MSK pain and outcomes.

Source: Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia
Author(s): Protecting the Right Ventricle Network (PRORVnet)

A scholarly narrative on the utility of quantifying the performance of the right ventricle: the RV has been hitherto empirically assessed in many clinical setups.

Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): J. Hunter Mehaffey, MD, MSc, Robert B. Hawkins, MD, MSc, Zachary K. Wegermann, MD, Maria V. Grau-Sepulveda, MD, MPH, John M. Fallon, MD, J. Matthew Brennan, MD, MPH, Vinod H. Thourani, MD, Vinay Badhwar, MD, Gorav Ailawadi, MD

Patient prosthesis mismatch is linked with significant long-term morbidity and mortality after aortic valve replacement, but the roles and conclusion of annular enlargement (AE) remain poorly defined. We hypothesized that increasing rates of AE may lead to improved outcomes for patients at risk for severe patient prosthesis mismatch.

 

 

Source: Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions
Author(s): Rafail A. Kotronias, Jonathan J.H. Bray, Skanda Rajasundaram, Flavien Vincent, Cedric Delhaye, Roberto Scarsini, Federico Marin, Dimitrios Terentes-Printzios, Julian P.J. Halcox, Mamas A. Mamas, Rajesh Kharbanda, Eric Van Belle, Adrian P. Banning

A small meta-analysis suggesting a bemefit of vascular ultrasound for access to the groin vessels in TAVI. The utility of ultrasonography may be extended in access for groin cannulation in aortovascular surgery and ECMO 

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