In Global News: Cardiac Arrest at a Water Park, Therapies for Lung Cancer, and a Travel Award [1]
Patient Care
The first total aortic replacement in Malaysia [3] was performed for a patient with a thoracoabdominal aneurysm at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur.
A balloon dilation of his narrowing airway [4] helps a premature baby breathe easier in Cape Town, South Africa.
Engineering principles and 3D printing help a surgical team reshape and stabilize the ribcage of a man with scoliosis [5] in North Carolina, USA.
A man suffered a cardiac arrest at a water park [6] in Israel, but quick action and an onsite automatic defibrillator saved his life.
Drugs and Devices
Randomization in the TANGO-2 trial of meropenem-vaborbactam [7] for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections was halted early due to superior outcomes from the investigational treatment.
The European Medicines Agency recommended multiple anticancer agents for approval [8], including atezolizumab, an anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy for non–small cell lung cancer.
AstraZeneca’s MYSTIC trial has found that a combination of biologics did not improve progression-free survival [9] with PD-L1-positive lung cancer over chemotherapy, though overall survival results are still pending.
AdvaMed sent a letter to the US FDA to protest changes to its definition of “intended use.” [10]
Health Canada has licensed Medtronic Canada’s MR-conditional cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators [11].
Research, Trials, and Funding
Applications are now being accepted for the 2017 Carolyn E. Reed Traveling Fellowship Award [12], awarded each year to a woman thoracic or cardiac surgeon for travel with the purpose of learning a new technology.
Researchers from Melbourne, Australia, published a study in the NEJM that questions whether new interventions to help premature infants breathe [13] are better for their long-term lung function.