Monthly archive

In August 2022, Adult Congenital Heart Disease researchers at Southampton University Hospital summarized current guidelines on cardiopulmonary resuscitation as provided by the Resuscitation Council UK. The complete summary by Panagiota Mitropoulou and Samantha Fitzsimmons can be found in Medicine. Their key points are detailed below.

Cardiac arrest occurs when cardiac activity suddenly stops, causing the affected individual to become unresponsive and display no signs of normal breathing or circulation. Cardiac arrest is a life-threatening condition requiring immediate corrective measures, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Mitropoulou et al. summarized the guidelines for CPR, with critical findings regarding hospital training, ethical guidelines, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July 2022, researchers from the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (Departments of Cardiovascular Surgery, Internal Medicine III (Cardiology, Angiology, and Critical Care), and Radiology and Neuroradiology), German Centre for Cardiovascular Research, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation & Providence Research, Centre for Cardiovascular Innovation, Centre for Heart Valve Innovation, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital (Department of Radiology), and Copenhagen University Hospital discuss the current data surrounding TAVR and the obstacles remaining for its expansion. The complete manuscript by Xiling Zhang, Thomas Puehler, Derk Frank, Janarthanan Sathananthan, Stephanie Seller, David Meier, Marcus Both, Philipp Blanke, Hatim Seoudy, Mohammed Saad, Oliver J. Muller, Lars Sondergaard, and Georg Liutter can be found in the Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease. A summary of the review article is detailed below.

Aortic valve stenosis (AS) due to degeneration is one of the most common valvular diseases, with an incidence that increases with age. Over one-third of those with AS are considered high risk for surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). In these patients, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an alternative treatment option that is non-inferior to SAVR in many randomized trials and intermediate-risk patients. Current clinical trials for TAVR focus on determining if it can extend its use to younger patients or those at low risk; however, some challenges with TAVR remain.

In July 2022, researchers from Columbia University Medical Center (Department of Pediatrics), Children’s Hospital of Michigan (Division of Hematology), and Erasmus Medical Center University Medical Center Sophia Children’s Hospital (Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology) reviewed the use of unfractionated heparin (UFH) and direct thrombin inhibitors (DTIs) in pediatric patients with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy. The complete manuscript by Cindy Neunert, Meera Chitlur, and Cornelia Heleen van Ommen can be found in Frontiers in Medicine. In addition, a summary of the review is included below.

Pediatric patients with life-threatening respiratory or cardiac failure are often put on ECMO, accounting for 20.1% of all ECMO runs. However, thrombotic complications occur in up to 37.5% of pediatric patients, and despite technological improvements, hemostatic complications, including thrombosis and bleeding, are still essential contributors to mortality and morbidity.