Journal and News Scan

Butt and colleagues examined the incidence and reasons for hospitalizations following coronary artery bypass grafting  (CABG). This study was performed using a Danish nationwide registry including more than 30,000 patients. Within 1 year after CABG, 40% of patients were readmitted at least once, most of them due to a cardiovascular cause. Risk factors for readmission included lower socioeconomic status, preoperative comorbidities, postoperative complications during the index admission, and a longer length of stay in the hospital.

A common cause of donor lung unsuitability is aspiration pneumonitis. Pig lungs experimentally damaged by aspiration of gastric contents were supported using cross-circulation with a living swine donor, resulting in cellular regeneration and substantial recovery.

Patient Care and General Interest

Despite being the leading cause of death in the US, heart disease was the most-Googled disease in only one state: Maine.

A study that sought to understand the importance of successful teamwork for general surgery used cardiothoracic surgical teams as their comparison group because of the stability and experience that these teams typically have.

Experts call attention to what they say is a public health crisis facing countries that continue to produce and use asbestos, including Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

A 50-year-old mitral valve prosthesis is rediscovered when a woman in Italy undergoes an operation.

Drugs and Devices

In an update to a letter sent in February 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration has warned healthcare providers against off-indication use of the Impella RP system from Abiomed, emphasizing that the benefits of the device outweigh the risks in appropriately selected patients.

Health Canada has approved the Apple Watch’s electrocardiogram app and irregular rhythm notifications.

Research, Trials, and Funding

Researchers from Pakistan and across the US report finding positive “spin” of results in approximately two-thirds of articles publishing cardiovascular-focused randomized clinical trials.

Metformin reduced left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with coronary artery disease who did not have diabetes, say researchers from the UK.

At the recent EuroPCR meeting in Paris, France, researchers present the usage of Abbott’s transcatheter tricuspid valve repair system to treat tricuspid regurgitation in 85 patients.

Canadian and Brazilian researchers report their use of radar to remotely monitor heart and respiratory rates, with 80% and 94% correlation with a wearable sensor, respectively.

The authors utilized a retrospective review of the UNOS database from 2007-2014 to evaluate the impact of donor sequence number (DSN) on outcomes. Specifically, they interestingly identified that survival is the same across various DSNs, indicating a potential ability to increase transplant numbers based on similar survival when utilizing donors of higher DSN.