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Journal and News Scan

Source: European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): Sinha S, Dong T, Dimagli A, Vohra HA, Holmes C, Benedetto U, Angelini GD

This study compared in-hospital mortality risk prediction after cardiac surgery using the EuroSCORE II system with results generated by several machine-learning techniques. The dataset contained 227,087 adult patients, among whom there were 6,258 deaths (2.76 percent). Machine learning techniques showed some statistical improvements over EuroSCORE II, but the clinical impact of this was modest. The addition of other risk factors in future studies may result in further improvements.

Source: Journal of the American College of Cardiology
Author(s): Jing Fang MD, Yani Liu MD, Ying Zhu MD Rui Li MD, Rui Wang MD, Dao Wen Wang, Yunhu Song, Chenhe Li, Yue Chen MD, Lin Cheng, Kangchao Zheng, Yun Zhao, Shiliang Li, Cai Cheng, Liming Xia, Xiaoping Chen, Song Wan, Xiang Wei

This paper reports the first in-human trial exploring surgical reduction therapy for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). Patients recruited to the trial were those who presented with refractory HOCM with disabling symptoms despite best medical management. The authors reported on the procedural success of a novel transapical beating heart septal myectomy via a minithoracotomy under echocardiographic guidance.

Source: Circulation
Author(s): Laurie J. Morrison, Claudio Sandroni, Brian Grunau, Michael Parr, Finlay Macneil, Gavin D. Perkins, Mayuki Aibiki, Eileen Censullo, Steve Lin, Robert W. Neumar, Steven C. Brooks and on behalf of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation

Can we increase the rate and consistency of organ donation from donors experiencing out-of-hospital arrest? What are the challenges and opportunities associated with procurement from this population? The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation released a scientific statement defining a protocol for organ donation after cardiac arrest, designed for applicability to all health systems. Read the full statement from Circulation journal ahead of print.

Source: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
Author(s): The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Staff

Recently, NICE released guidance from the British regulatory body limiting the Ozaki operation to research until further review, which is scheduled in three calendar years. The overarching concern appears to be the durability of the autoprosthesis. NICE guidelines have the strongest influence in healthcare in the United Kingdom and often abroad.

Source: NBC News
Author(s): Megan Holohan

The first domino transplant procedure performed on infants was successfully completed recently in New York City. One patient needed a heart transplant because of cardiomyopathy and was able to donate a heart valve to another infant, who was only born with one. 

Source: The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Author(s): Kate L. Brown, MPH, MD, Qi Huang, PhD, Elena Hadjicosta, PhD, Anna N. Seale, MD, MRCP, Victor Tsang, FRCS, David Anderson, FRCS, David Barron, MD, FRCS, Hannah Bellsham-Revell, MD, Christina Pagel, PhD, Sonya Crowe, PhD, Ferran Espuny-Pujol, PhD, Rodney Franklin, MD, FRCP, Deborah Ridout, MSc

This study reported long term outcomes of over three thousand single ventricle patients in the United Kingdom, with a median of 7.6 years. The most significant predictor of long-term survival was single ventricle subtype, with the worst outcomes observed among patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome or unbalanced AVSD. Other negative outcome predictors were low weight at time of first procedure and acquired comorbidities. Although center volume was not a major predictor of long-term outcomes in this study, it is important to note that congenital care in the UK is highly centralized; thus, no low volume centers were captured in this study.

Source: European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): Mario Gaudino, Faisal G Bakaeen, Sigrid Sandner, Gabriel S Aldea, Hirokuni Arai, Joanna Chikwe, Scott Firestone, Stephen E Fremes, Walter J Gomes, Ki Bong-Kim, Kalie Kisson, Paul Kurlansky, Jennifer Lawton, Daniel Navia, John D Puskas, Marc Ruel, Joseph F Sabik, Thomas A Schwann, David P Taggart, James Tatoulis, Moritz Wyler von Ballmoos

This article provides a systematic review of the choice of conduits for coronary artery bypass grafting and has been endorsed by both the STS and EACTS. The review reports on a variety of factors related to specific conduits, from patency and clinical outcomes to harvesting and target vessel selection.

Source: Circulation Research
Author(s): Michael E. Widlansky, Yong Liu, Shakirah Tumusiime,Benjamin Hofeld, Nabeel Khan, Michael Aljadah, Jingli Wang, Amberly Anger, Qiongzi Qiu, Bhavika Therani, Pengyuan Liu, Mingyu Liang

In a research letter on a small pilot genomic study of sampling coronary atheroma, the authors offer a brief explanation on how their technique can be applied to detect stability of coronary plaque.

Source: Cardiovascular Business
Author(s): Dave Fornell

Because of the potential risk of early structural valve deterioration, the FDA has sent notice about Abbott’s decision to stop selling and distributing Trifecta aortic surgical heart valves in the United States. The FDA recommends that healthcare providers be aware of the risk of SVD with Trifecta valves, discuss risk with patients, and monitor patients who have undergone implantation with Trifecta valves.Because of the potential risk of early structural valve deterioration, the FDA has sent notice about Abbott’s decision to stop selling and distributing Trifecta aortic surgical heart valves in the United States. The FDA recommends that healthcare providers be aware of the risk of SVD with Trifecta valves, discuss risk with patients, and monitor patients who have undergone implantation with Trifecta valves.

Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Author(s): Nelson, Karamlou, et. Al.

This report describes a new Society of Thoracic Surgeons mortality risk model for adults with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiac operations that are not included in existing risk models. A risk model was developed using forty-seven congenital variables in 192,196 patients operated on between 2011 and 2019. The risk model was more accurate at predicting operative mortality in adult patients undergoing congenital cardiac surgery (C statistic, 0.815) than the existing Society of Thoracic Surgeons adult risk model without congenital variables (C statistic, 0.79). This will support an online risk calculator for adult patients undergoing congenital cardiac surgery. 

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