An interesting dilemma posed by a tattoo providing advanced care directives.
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Vascular
November 27, 2017
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 prod
November 27, 2017
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.
The Stent Is Not to Blame: Lessons Learned With a Simplified US Version of the Frozen Elephant Trunk
November 21, 2017
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.
November 15, 2017
This interesting article outlines language-related aspects of gender bias and provides some suggestions for mitigation.
November 14, 2017
The authors present a successful surgical treatment in a 14-year-old girl with Loeys-Dietz syndrome; a redo aortic arch and ascending aorta replacement with a valve-sparing operation was performed.
October 27, 2017
A measured succinct reflection on MagLev and older ventricular assist devices, on the occasion of a relevant 'expert opinion' paper on the topic.
October 25, 2017
The author of this editorial offers a thoughtful commentary on the value and cost related to the use of robotic compared to other minimally invasive approaches to common diseases, as exemplified in two recent publications.
October 20, 2017
Physicians are sometimes at risk related to services they provide for patients. This study describes the effects of low dose radiation in the cath lab on the brains of interventional cardiologists. This is something for CT surgeons to be aware of as they become more involved in catheter-based techniques.
October 18, 2017
The authors report the non-intuitive finding that blood from female donors who had ever been pregnant was associated with increased mortality among male recipients (HR 1.13). If validated by other studies, might this substantially complicate matching donated blood with appropriate recipients? Clearly the underlying mechanism will be interesting to