Jan 29, 2013

The Particulars: The general consensus among experts is that lung transplantation using donor organs from those who smoked heavily may worsen prognosis. However, a shortage of donors has sparked effor...

Jan 29, 2013

Purpose: Pleural suction is used after lung resection in order to promote lung expansion and minimize air leak duration. Published randomized trials failed to prove this advantage but they are limited...

Jan 28, 2013

Purpose: Trimodality therapy incorporating preoperative chemotherapy (cisplatin-etoposide, CisP/Etop), radiation, and surgery is generally considered the standard of care for Superior Sulcus (SS) canc...

Jan 28, 2013

Purpose: Vein graft failure has been attributed to increased pressure in the venous conduit. Previous animal studies have demonstrated that external support for these grafts have resulted in a reducti...

Jan 28, 2013

Purpose: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common postoperative complication following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Since postoperative hemodynamics involve constriction of pericardium, we ...

Jan 28, 2013

Purpose: Injury incurred during saphenous vein harvesting results in poor graft patency and impairs the results of coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. A novel harvest method, the No-touch techniq...

Jan 28, 2013

Purpose: The pneumatic pulsatile Total Artificial Heart (TAH) has emerged as an effective, life-saving means of bridging-to-transplantation (BTT) patients at imminent risk of death from biventricular ...

Jan 28, 2013

Purpose: The adoption of Minimally Invasive Aortic Valve Replacement (MIAVR) through a right mini-thoracotomy is still limited by the small operating field, the longer cardiopulmonary bypass time comp...

Jan 28, 2013

Purpose: Low-dose warfarin throughout pregnancy (≤5 mg/day) was suggested to be safe in patients with mechanical heart valve prosthesis (MHVP). Being only shown in selected small low-risk groups, we...

Jan 28, 2013

Purpose: Optimal TAVI results require accurate valve positioning, possibly including anatomically correct orientation and secure fixation within the aortic annulus, thereby potentially decreasing para...

Jan 28, 2013

An Analysis of Activity, Trends, and Outcomes in 36,026 Patients Who Underwent Aortic Valve Intervention in the 5 Years from 2006–2010 Purpose: The interventional management of aortic valve disea...

Jan 27, 2013

Consensus statements on the management of knee osteoarthritis have not thoroughly addressed the use of opioid medications in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA). In order to reduce posto...

Jan 27, 2013

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) unveiled a new model to measure resident performance in 1999 that endorsed six general competencies. These include patient care, medica...

Jan 26, 2013

At hospitals participating in the Get With the Guidelines–Resuscitation registry, survival and neurologic outcomes following in-hospital cardiac arrest appear to have improved between 2000 and 2009....

Jan 25, 2013

Endovascular treatment for patients with peripheral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) appears to achieve good clinical results and has a low overall complication rate when these procedures are planne...

Jan 24, 2013

New research is being presented at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons 2013 Annual Meeting, from January 26 to 30 in Los Angeles. Meeting Highlights Can Lung Transplants Work With Heavy Smoking Don...

Jan 24, 2013

Massage therapy appears to significantly reduce pain, anxiety, and muscular tension in elective cardiac surgery patients, according to an Australian analysis. Massage therapy also appeared to improve ...

Jan 23, 2013

Using a comprehensive surgical safety checklist and a structured team training curriculum appears to result in significant reductions in 30-day morbidity, according to a study from researchers in Conn...

Jan 23, 2013

The Particulars: Patients who suffer a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and make it to the hospital alive often undergo either open surgical repair or endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Data...

Jan 22, 2013

The Particulars: Reducing the standard dose during CT-guided targeted biopsy reduces patient exposure to radiation. However, the effect of this approach on diagnostic accuracy and major complication r...