In Global News: Updated US TAVR Coverage Decision, 3D Modeling for Chest Wall Reconstruction, and Disparity in Eligibility for Lung Cancer Screening [1]
Patient Care and General Interest
San Francisco, California, passed an ordinance to ban the sale of e-cigarettes [3] in the city, the first such ordinance in the USA.
The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the anticipated update to the national coverage decision for transcatheter aortic valve replacement [4]. The full decision memo [5] is available on the CMS website.
Patient-specific 3D modeling is used to aid planning of a complex chest wall reconstruction [6].
A brief interview with the chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Arizona, USA, focuses on the importance of transparency and a true team attitude [7] to achieve the best possible patient outcomes.
Research, Trials, and Funding
Researchers from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, USA, report that among adults diagnosed with lung cancer, a smaller proportion of black Americans than white Americans would have qualified for screening [8].