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Journal and News Scan
April 2, 2014
Submitted by: Mark Ferguson
This meta-analysis of 18 randomized trials investigated the risk of infection related to blood transfusions given according to liberal or restrictive criteria. The restrictive strategy (Hgb <7) was associated with an 18% reduction in the risk of serious infection (11.8% vs 16.9%). The effects were most pronounced in patients with sepsis and in those undergoing orthopedic surgery. No difference was evident among patients with heart disease, critical illness, or GI bleeding.
April 2, 2014
Submitted by: Mark Ferguson
In this observational study, the utility of decellularized allogeneic pulmonary artery patches for pulmonary arterioplasty was evaluated in 108 patients. No device failures or adverse events were detected. An historical comparison cohort in whom conventional materials were used experienced a 14% failure rate.
April 2, 2014
Submitted by: Mark Ferguson
This report summarizes outcomes in 40 reoperated patients (mean age 33 years) of an original 122 who underwent initial aortic root surgery for Marfans. Reoperations took place a mean of nearly 10 years later. 5 and 10 year survivals after second operations were 80% and 66%. Open and stent grafts procedures did not appear to have different outcomes. Acute dissection at the time of first operation was the only strong predictor of mortality.
April 2, 2014
Submitted by: Mark Ferguson
Quality metrics based on administrative databases are sometimes unreliable. This study examined data from nearly 245,000 Medicare patients undergoing CABG to determine the reliability of 30-day readmission rates and whether that metric is an appropriate indicator of hospital quality. The median readmission rate was 17.6%, but less than half lf the rate was attributed to the true signal, the rest being measurement noise. Less than 5% of hospitals had sufficient CABG volume to achieve reliable measurement of readmission rates.
April 1, 2014
Submitted by: Mark Ferguson
Transcatheter AVR (TAVR) was compared to surgical AVR for treatment of aortic stenosis in 795 high risk patients. TAVR was associated with a decreased risk of death at 1 year (14% vs 19%; p<0.04). This was likely due to a reduction in the risk of adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events.
April 1, 2014
Submitted by: Mark Ferguson
This randomized trial including more than 10,000 patients undergoing noncardiac surgery evaluated the use of perioperative aspirin in patients at increased risk for vascular complications. The end points were death or MI. The end points occurred in equal numbers (7%) in both groups. Bleeding complications were more common in the aspirin group (4.6% vs 3.8%).
March 31, 2014
Submitted by: Ruben Osnabrugge
The authors of this article sought to compare long-term outcome with early surgery with a conventional treatment strategy in patients with asymptomatic severe mitral regurgitation. In a propensity matched analysis of 207 pairs, they found that early surgery was associated with a lower risk of mortality (p=0.033) and cardiac events (p=0.002) than conventional treatment. In additional Cox proportional hazard analyses, the benefit of early early surgery seemed to be restricted to patients >50 years old.
March 30, 2014
Submitted by: Tom C. Nguyen
Randomized trial in high risk patients (n=121) with severe aortic stenosis comparing a balloon-expandable valve (Edwards Sapien XT) versus a self-expandable valve (Medtronic CoreValve). Higher device success and lower PPM implantation was appreciated in the ballon-expandable group.
March 30, 2014
Submitted by: Tom C. Nguyen
Randomized trial in high risk patients (n=121) with severe aortic stenosis comparing a balloon-expandable valve (Edwards Sapien XT) versus a self-expandable valve (Medtronic CoreValve). Higher device success and lower PPM implantation was appreciated in the ballon-expandable group.
March 29, 2014
Submitted by: Tom C. Nguyen
Recognized educational leaders Dr. Curt Tribble and Dr. Walter Merrill describe how to effectively use language during teaching, specifically the language of science, performance, and memory.