Monthly archive

In July 2022, medical professionals from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences reported a case of mitral valve bioprosthesis failure due to significant vegetation successfully treated with percutaneous aspiration (AngioVac) evacuation followed by MViV intervention. The complete report by Jack Xu, Shravan Turaga, Jay Bhama, Srikanth Vallurupalli, and Gaurav Dhar can be found in Methodist DeBakey Cardiovascular Journal. The summary of their report is detailed below.

Mitral valve replacement is most often completed with bioprosthetic valves; however, they possess limited durability, and when operating on a failed bioprosthetic again, morbidity and mortality increase. Therefore, transcatheter mitral valve-in-valve (MViV) replacements using a transseptal approach are used more often because of their high technical success and low risk of complication. In addition, for patients at high surgical risk, the use of the AngioVac transcatheter aspiration system (Angiodynamics) for a minimally invasive technique is increasing in popularity, especially to debulk vegetation, tumors, or thrombi on the right side.

In January 2022, The Royal London Hospital clinicians provided guidance on perioperative management of diabetes to reduce postoperative complications. The complete manuscript by Bonnie Grant and Tahseen A. Chowdhury can be found in Clinical Medicine. Its summary is described below.

Surgical intervention is more likely in those with diabetes than those without it. In addition, those with diabetes are more likely to develop perioperative complications that can include poor wound healing, infection, or cardiovascular events.

The Centre for Perioperative Care (CPOC) has released new guidance on perioperative management for those with diabetes, an area of critical focus since diabetes in surgical patients increases the risk of unfavorable outcomes. Despite this, though, there has been inadequate diabetes care in the perioperative period.

In February 2022, researchers from Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin (Department of Paediatric Cardiology), University College Dublin, The Heart Institute at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (Department of Pediatrics), East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre (Department of Pediatric Cardiology), Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (Division of Paediatric Cardiology), Groote Schuur Hospital University of Cape Town (Division of Cardiology), Royal Portuguese Hospital (Department of Paediatric Cardiology), Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, University of Florida (Congenital Heart Center), and the University of Alberta ((Department of Cardiology) reviewed the current status of training in medical education regarding congenital cardiology. The full manuscript by Colin J. McMahon, Justin T. Tretter, Andrew N. Redington, Frances Bu’Lock, Liesl Zuhlke, Ruth Heying, Sandra Mattos, R. Krishna Kuma, Jeffrey P. Jacobs, and Jonathan D. Windram can be found in Cardiology In The Young. A summary is detailed below.

The improvements seen in the overlap between the fields of pediatrics and cardiac care have been numerous over the past five decades due to increased investments in research and development. Despite these advances, the training of next-generation researchers and clinicians has remained relatively the same across these decades.

In February 2022, researchers from the Veterans Emergency Management Evaluation Center within the US Department of Veterans Affairs assessed the desire of healthcare workers for additional workforce preparedness training and the factors that affect this desire. The complete manuscript by Michelle D. Balut, Claudia Der-Martirosian, and Aram Dobalian can be found in Southern Medical Journal. The study findings are detailed below.

The Joint Commission (TJC) accredits around 77% of US hospitals, which requires healthcare organizations to test their emergency plan through an annual exercise.