In Global News: HCV and Heart Transplants, Refusing Lung Cancer Treatment, and Predicting Intraoperative Hypotension

Patient Care and General Interest
Cardiac arrest survivors gathered at Basildon Hospital in the UK to share their stories and raise awareness, while attempting to set a world record for most cardiac arrest survivors at one gathering.
The University of Washington in the US joins a growing list of institutions that offer hearts from hepatitis C-positive donors to patients on the transplant waiting list, as evidence accumulates that the virus can be safely treated in organ recipients.
 
Drugs and Devices
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has approved the Perceval sutureless valve from LivaNova for treating aortic valve disease.
 
Research, Trials, and Funding
Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles in the US and from Edwards Lifesciences trained a machine-learning algorithm to predict intraoperative hypotension using physiological data that is routinely collected during surgery.
Swedish researchers have found an association between invasive procedures such as coronary artery bypass grafting and infective endocarditis, and the accompanying editorial postulated that improving sterile technique and procedures for infection control when possible may prove more beneficial than administering prophylactic antibiotics.
Research presented at the recent American Thoracic Society meeting in San Diego, California, evaluated patient refusal of lung cancer treatment, finding that US patients with early stage disease were more likely to refuse surgical treatment if they did not have insurance or if they were covered by Medicaid.