In this insightful interview, CTSNet Editor-in-Chief Joel Dunning speaks with CTSNet Senior Editor—Global Emily Farkas, Associate Director of Global Health in Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine, about the upcoming Cardiac Surgery Intersociety Alliance (CSIA) conference and global cardiothoracic surgery. They discuss details of the upcoming conference, including its primary goals, covered topics,…
This week on The Beat, CTSNet Editor-in-Chief Joel Dunning spoke with CTSNet Senior Editor—Global Emily Farkas, Associate Director of Global Health in Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine, about the upcoming Cardiac Surgery Intersociety Alliance (CSIA) conference and global cardiothoracic surgery. In their interview, they discuss details of the upcoming conference, including its…
In this edition of the CTSNet podcast, The Lifeline, host and nurse educator Jill Ley, Clinical Professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing, Founder of the Essentials of Cardiac Surgical Resuscitation, and former Cardiac Surgery Clinical Nurse Specialist at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, CA, USA, speaks with CTSNet…
Treating patients with both gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and severe obesity can be challenging. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy alone can exacerbate GERD symptoms and can induce GERD in asymptomatic patients (1). Obese patients have worse long-term control of reflux symptoms following a standalone laparoscopic fundoplication (2, 3). The laparoscopic Nissen sleeve gastrectomy (NSG) is an effective…
The authors present a 75-year-old woman with dyspnea on exertion. She was diagnosed with an aortic valve stenosis and moderate-to-severe mitral valve regurgitation due to a localized A2 prolapse. This case demonstrates a step-by-step transaxillary, direct-vision aortic valve replacement, mitral valve repair, concomitant ablation, and left atrial appendage clip. This video submission is from the 2026 CTSNet Instructional Video Competition.…
This week on The Beat, CTSNet Editor-in-Chief Joel Dunning spoke with Dr. Aamir Amin, a cardiothoracic surgery resident at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, UK, about humanoid robots and artificial intelligence (AI) in surgery. Dr. Amin shares his insights from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) executive program on AI in healthcare,…
An 8 cm left sub-areolar thoracotomy was performed as the working port. The pericardium was opened vertically over the left ventricular apex and suspended with retraction sutures. Using 3-0 polypropylene pledgeted sutures, the apical cuff was secured to the left ventricular (LV) apex. The driveline was tunneled subcostally and exteriorized on the lateral abdominal wall.…
Congenital diverticulum of the ventricle is a rare cardiac malformation and is usually associated with other congenital abnormalities, including intracardiac, midline thoracic, diaphragmatic, and anterior abdominal wall defects, first described by Cantrell, Haller and Ravitch (1). In this video, the authors describe a single-stage repair of an apical left ventricular diverticulum with ventricular septal defect…
The transition toward minimally invasive cardiac surgery is no longer solely about reducing incision size; it is about creating a standardized, versatile, and sustainable concept. The direct-view transaxillary approach represents a significant evolution that is ready for widespread clinical adoption. It provides a simplified surgical setup that enhances the experience for both patients and surgeons.…
This educational video reviews the anatomy of the aorto-mitral junction and demonstrates how the aorto-mitral angle influences mitral valve geometry, surgical exposure, and repair strategy. Using a custom valve model and pathological specimens, the video illustrates the spatial relationship between the aortic valve, mitral valve annulus, and aorto-mitral continuity, highlighting the transition from traditional anatomical…
This week on The Beat, CTSNet Editor-in-Chief Joel Dunning spoke with Dr. Ahmed Ghazy, Head of Minimally Invasive Surgery at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany, about robotic cardiac surgery adoption and training. Dr. Ghazy shares his experience working with Dr. M. M. Yusuf, a cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, India.…
In this study, Sogabe and colleagues investigated the impact of weather on the incidence of acute aortic dissection in a cohort of 293 patients. During a 1,096-day study period (January 2019 to December 2021), a total of 293 cases of acute aortic dissection were identified, including 206 Stanford type A and 87 type B dissections. The authors…
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Expert Consensus Document (2026) on Addressing Definition and Practices of Sublobar Resection in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) provides evidence-based recommendations to guide the rapidly increasing use of sublobar resection following the landmark CALGB 140503 and JCOG0802 trials. Using a structured Delphi consensus process, an expert panel from the STS developed 21 recommendations addressing key controversies in the management…
Ectopic parathyroid adenomas in the anterior mediastinum are rare and present significant diagnostic and surgical challenges. This video shows the case of a 49-year-old male with a history of hypertension who presented with severe hypercalcemia (17.9 mg/dL) and acute kidney injury. Diagnostic evaluation, including 18F-choline positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) (1), identified an ectopic parathyroid…
This video completes a day of excellent presentations by leading surgeons exploring advanced minimally invasive techniques including congenital ventricular septal defect (VSD) surgery, endoscopic transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) explantation, multivessel minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB), and more at the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery Annual Scientific Meeting 2026. To begin,…
CTSNet Editor-in-Chief Joel Dunning speaks with Drs. Michael Mack and Tom Nguyen about the proposed US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services changes to how cardiologists and cardiac surgeons interact during transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures. Dr. Mack explained the current heart team system, established in 2011 through collaboration with the US Food and…
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