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Journal and News Scan
April 23, 2014
Submitted by: Joel Dunning
A brief case presentation is followed by an operative video detailing the technique for performing an aortic valve replacement in the setting of endocarditis. In this particular video, a pericardial patch is used to reconstruct the area of the commissure between the right and left coronary sinuses. A prosthetic tissue valve is then implanted. (Please see the companion video as well showing the operative technique for aortic root replacement in the setting of endocarditis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vPzaX... )
April 21, 2014
Submitted by: Stuart Grant
This article on Type A Aortic Dissection was selected as a top article from 2013 by the 2014 Circulation editors.
The original article is here:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/128/15/1602.full?sid=a7153f9d-9551-4...
April 16, 2014
Submitted by: Joel Dunning
The outcome of aortic valve replacement for patients with low gradient severe aortic stenosis and preserved ejection fraction is debated. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of aortic valve intervention on survival in that group. The findings suggest that aortic valve intervention is associated with improved survival among patients with low gradient severe aortic stenosis and preserved left ventricle function. The presence of either a low or normal stroke volume index did not affect the mortality benefit.
April 16, 2014
Submitted by: Joel Dunning
Ischaemic heart disease is a major risk factor for heart failure. However, long–term benefit of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in those patients has not been well elucidated. In patients with heart failure with advanced coronary artery disease, CABG was a better option than PCI because CABG was associated with better survival benefit, particularly in more complex coronary lesions stratified by the SYNTAX score.
Transcriptomic Architecture of the Adjacent Airway Field Cancerization in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer
April 14, 2014
Submitted by: Marcelo Jimenez
In this promising investigation, authors have found changes associated with airway cancerization in large airways in lung cancer patients, while these changes are absent in cancer-free smokers. And in addition, with shorter distance from tumors, airway cancerization expression increases statistically.
April 14, 2014
Submitted by: Mark Ferguson
This study evaluated the use of ultrasound to assess diaphragm thickening, rather than diaphragm motion, to predict extubation success. Measurements were made in 63 ventilated patients, end-expiration and end-inspiration differences in thickness during spontaneous breathing were calculated, and the outcome was extubation within 48 hr. The ROC AUC was 0.79 for assessing weaning success (79% accuracy).
April 14, 2014
Submitted by: Mark Ferguson
There are few instruments to assess patient-centered outcomes after lung transplant. The authors developed and validated a shortened version of the valued life activities disability scale for this population. The scale was devised using 140 lung transplant participants and was validated in 84 patients before and after transplant. The instrument takes only 3 min to complete, has good correlation with longer scales, has good internal consistency, correlates with physiologic parameters, and demonstrates expected improvement comparing before and after transplant states.
April 13, 2014
Submitted by: J. Rafael Sadaba
This manuscript reports on the 5-year outcomes in the 705 patients with left main (LM) lesions enrolled in the randomized arm of the SYNTAX trial. Follow-up data to 5 years were available in 96.9% of patients who underwent PCI and 92.5% of patients randomized to CABG. Total MACCE at 5 years was 36.9% in patients who received PCI compared with 31.0% in CABG patients (hazard ratio 1.23 [0.95, 1.59]; P=0.12) which was mainly related to differences in repeat revascularization. In the group of patients with high SYNTAX Scores (≥33), MACCE, as well as cardiac death, and revascularization were all significantly increased in patients receiving PCI; whereas stroke and MI occurred at similar rates between treatment arms. The findings suggest that PCI can provide equivalent long-term (to 5 years) death/stroke or MI to CABG, in particular in the subset of LM subjects with SYNTAX Scores <33.
April 10, 2014
Submitted by: Joel Dunning
This is an outstanding 20 minute video on all aspects of segmentectomy for lung cancer from one of the world's experts.
There is a whole free Journal on this issue which can be found at http://www.annalscts.com/issue/view/37
April 9, 2014
Submitted by: Joel Dunning
Bauters C, et al. – There are limited data on the prognosis of patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) in modern clinical practice. The mortality rate of patients with stable CAD in modern clinical practice is similar to that of the general population and is mostly due to noncardiovascular causes.