Prenatal Diagnosis Matters: Linked to Earlier Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease

A study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has shown that prenatal diagnosis, or diagnosis before a baby is born, is associated with earlier surgery for babies with congenital heart defects, the most common birth defects affecting nearly 1% of all live births. The association was demonstrated for critical defects (when heart surgery is required before the infant leaves the hospital) and certain types of noncritical defects, which constitute about 75% of all congenital heart defects.

Researchers discover new opportunities for preventing kidney injury following cardiac surgery

A new study finds that the minimum level of oxygen delivery during cardiopulmonary bypass may be lower than previously thought — meaning, there may be opportunities to avoid transfusing patients during cardiac surgical procedures. Researchers say cardiac surgical programs may be unnecessarily transfusing patients to prevent kidney injury.

Multicenter Trial Finds Using Circulatory Death Donors is Safe and Effective for Heart Transplantation

A study published in New England Journal of Medicine confirms that circulatory death donor hearts that are reanimated and perfused with blood outside of the body are as safe and effective to transplant as brain death donor hearts preserved using traditional cold storage. These findings suggest that using hearts donated after circulatory death (DCD) may have the potential to widen the donor pool helping more patients in need of life-saving heart transplants.

Researchers Show That a Machine Learning Model Can Improve Mortality Risk Prediction for Cardiac Surgery Patients

A machine learning-based model that enables medical institutions to predict the mortality risk for individual cardiac surgery patients has been developed by a Mount Sinai research team, providing a significant performance advantage over current population-derived models.

U-M Health surgical team guides Zambia’s first total aortic arch replacement

Surgeons in Zambia completed the country’s first total aortic arch replacement – guided by a team from University of Michigan Health. Zambia, a country of around 20 million people, has fewer than 10 cardiac specialists in both the government and private sector. Cardiovascular disease is the nation’s second leading cause of death.

This Groundbreaking Biomaterial Heals Tissues From the Inside Out

A new biomaterial that can be injected intravenously, reduces inflammation in tissue and promotes cell and tissue repair. The biomaterial was tested and proven effective in treating tissue damage caused by heart attacks in both rodent and large animal models. Researchers also provided proof of concept in a rodent model that the biomaterial could be beneficial to patients with traumatic brain injury and pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Thomas E. MacGillivray, MD, Elected President of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Thomas MacGillivray, MD, has been elected President of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Dr. MacGillivray is the physician executive director of Cardiac Surgery at MedStar Health and chairman of Cardiac Surgery at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.

Risk of Surgical Mitral Valve Repair for Primary Mitral Regurgitation

In an article published jointly on January 18, 2023, in both The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, leading cardiology and cardiothoracic surgical researchers analyzed recent national data to assess the outcomes and risk of mitral valve repair for primary mitral regurgitation.

Northwestern Medicine Taps Douglas R. Johnston, MD, to Lead Cardiac Surgery

Nationally recognized cardiothoracic surgeon, Douglas R. Johnston, MD, has been named surgical director of Northwestern Medicine’s Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute and chief of the division of cardiac surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

First Report of Minimally Invasive Aortic Valve Replacement Using Real-Time CT Imaging in Elderly Man with Heart Failure and Blood Clot

Cardiologists from the Structural and Congenital Heart Center and Cardiac Surgeons at Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center/Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine have reported what is believed to be the very first patient with heart failure and a blood clot to undergo a minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve replacement using CT (computed tomography) fusion imaging, a technique that employs two different imaging modalities.

New insight in patient response to surgical disruption in life-saving hormones

Research by experts at the Universities of Birmingham and Bristol, published today in Royal Society Interface, shows cardiac surgery causes major dynamic changes in concentration of ACTH and cortisol, as well as their pattern of secretion.
Using novel mathematical techniques, researchers developed a model of HPA axis activity that predicts the physiological mechanisms responsible for different patterns of cortisol secretion.

MedStar Health offers the first FDA approved treatment for long-standing, persistent atrial fibrillation

Two MedStar Health hospitals are now offering an FDA-approved treatment for patients who have had persistent atrial fibrillation for more than a year. The Hybrid AF™ Convergent Therapy is available both at MedStar Washington Hospital Center and MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore.

Fast-track Extubation Protocol Reduces Ventilation Time

High rates of variability in extubation times among cardiac surgery patients in Duke University Hospital’s cardiothoracic intensive care unit led to a new fast-track extubation protocol and redesigned care processes. As a result, more patients were extubated within six hours after being admitted to the ICU after surgery.

Lifetime Monitoring Following Infant Cardiac Surgery May Reduce Future Hypertension Risk

In a medical records study covering thousands of children, a U.S.-Canadian team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine concludes that while surgery to correct congenital heart disease (CHD) within 10 years after birth may restore young hearts to healthy function, it also may be associated with an increased risk of hypertension — high blood pressure — within a few months or years after surgery.

Minimally Invasive Aortic Valve Replacement Risks Are Overestimated, Miller School Study Finds

Minimally invasive aortic valve replacement surgery is a safer procedure than indicated by current surgical risk scores, according to a study published in Innovations, the journal of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery, led by Joseph Lamelas, M.D., chief and program director of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Miami Health System.

New Version of AACN’s Critical Care Orientation Course Includes Stand-alone and Specialty-focused Options

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses has released the latest version of its Essentials of Critical Care Orientation online course. Since its initial launch in 2002, ECCO has been used at more than 1,100 hospitals and healthcare facilities as an integral part of their critical care orientation or to supplement classroom-based education.

Morristown Medical Center Raises the Roof on Cardiac Care, Completing Two-Story Expansion of New Jersey’s Leading Heart Hospital

Atlantic Health System’s Morristown Medical Center, nationally recognized for heart care, today opened the second of two new 36-bed units for patients with heart disease, completing a two-story expansion of the Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute. The unit opened today will serve cardiac surgery patients, while the first 36-bed unit, which opened in November, serves structural heart disease patients who have complex disorders and diseases of the heart.

Morristown Medical Center Raises the Roof on Cardiac Care, Completing Two-Story Expansion of New Jersey’s Leading Heart Hospital

Atlantic Health System’s Morristown Medical Center, nationally recognized for heart care, today opened the second of two new 36-bed units for patients with heart disease, completing a two-story expansion of the Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute. The unit opened today will serve cardiac surgery patients, while the first 36-bed unit, which opened in November, serves structural heart disease patients who have complex disorders and diseases of the heart.

Michigan hospital improves post-CABG outcomes, using proactive amiodarone protocol

A quality improvement project at Beaumont Hospital in Michigan resulted in a decreased incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation and shorter mean lengths of stay. The results indicate that an amiodarone POAF prophylaxis protocol could significantly reduce costs, improve patient outcomes and increase the overall quality of care.

Careful Monitoring of Children Following Cardiac Surgery May Improve Long-Term Outcomes

In a medical records study covering thousands of children, a U.S.-Canadian team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine concludes that while surgery to correct congenital heart disease (CHD) within 10 years after birth may restore young hearts to healthy function, it also may be associated with an increased risk of death and kidney failure within a few months or years after surgery.

University of Michigan Expert Available: Study Cautions Against Catch-All Assumptions about LVADs and Mitral Regurgitation

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Mitral valve procedures are often not performed because of the standing belief that LVAD support resolves mitral regurgitation, due to better left heart performance. A new study in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery found when…