In Global News: Antipsychotics in Elderly Heart Patients, Transplant in 5-Month-Old, and Teamwork in the Operating Room [1]
Patient Care and General Interest
A new study finds that elderly heart surgery patients who exhibit postoperative delirium are sometimes given antipsychotic medications [3], which are ineffective and may even be dangerous.
A 5-month-old child in St. Louis, Missouri, becomes the youngest documented heart-lung transplant patient [4] in more than a decade.
A 3-year-old boy from Germany with a rare congenital heart disease travelled all the way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin [5], to undergo a complex procedure.
Drugs and Devices
The first clinical use of FRAME external support technology [6] for aneurysm repair in high flow arteriovenous (AV) fistulas took place in Germany.
Research, Trials, and Funding
A Harvard study regarding cardiothoracic surgery operating teams suggests that variations in interpersonal and leadership communication patterns may have a strong effect on teamwork [7].
A novel technique tested at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center allows damaged lungs to be placed on a machine that keeps them alive at normal body temperature, allowing doctors to better assess whether they are viable [8].