Heart Surgery
Hospitals redeploy surgical specialists to front lines to fight COVID-19
Editor's Note Specialists like cardiac and orthopedic surgical teams as well as anesthesiologists and cardiologists are being redeployed in hospitals to help treat the rising number of COVID-19 patients, the March 30 Modern Healthcare reports. What used to be the heart team at Manhattan’s Mount Sinai Morningside is now a…
Outcomes, costs of Medicare patients having surgery at teaching vs nonteaching hospitals
Editor's Note This study of Medicare patients at 340 teaching hospitals and matched patient controls at 2,444 nonteaching hospitals found that as risk of mortality increased, the mortality benefit of treatment at teaching hospitals also increased, though with marginally higher costs. Included in the analysis were 86,751 pairs of general,…
FDA: Class I recall of Abbott coronary dilatation catheters
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration on February 19 identified the recall by Abbott Vascular of its NC Trek RX and NC Traveler RX Coronary Dilatation Catheters (diameter 4.0 mm, 4.5 mm, and 5.00 mm) as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of failure of…
Joint Commission: Texas hospital earns first Primary Heart Attack Center certification
Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced February 19 that the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth has been awarded the first Primary Heart Attack Center (PHAC) certification by the Joint Commission and American Heart Association. The certification standardizes and improves coordinated systems of care for identification, assessment, monitoring,…
FDA authorizes marketing of first AI guided cardiac ultrasound
Editor's Note The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) on February 7 authorized marketing of software to assist in the acquisition of cardiac ultrasound images. The software, named “Caption Guidance,” uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help capture images of a patient’s heart from different angles, which are used to diagnose various…
Association of LVAD vs IABP with mortality, bleeding
Editor's Note The use of an intravascular microaxial left ventricular assist device (LVAD) vs an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated by cardiogenic shock was associated with worse in-hospital clinical outcomes in this study. Of 3,360 propensity-matched patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention for AMI,…
FDA: Class I recall of Cook Medical’s CrossCath Support Catheters
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 17 identified the recall by Cook Medical of its CrossCath Support Catheters as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of a manufacturing error that may cause the radiopaque marker bands on the catheters to dislodge or…
Association of postop MI with high mortality rates after vascular surgery
Editor's Note Despite high rates of patients discharged with cardioprotective medications, the long-term burden of postoperative myocardial infarction (MI) after major vascular surgery is substantial, with a high mortality rate in the following year, this study finds. Of 26,231 vascular surgery patients analyzed, factors linked to an increased risk of postoperative…
FDA updates device failure linked to Getinge’s Maquet/Datascope Intra-aortic Balloon Pumps
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 19 updated the device failure associated with Getinge’s Maquet/Datascope Intra-aortic Balloon Pumps (IABPs) in a letter to health care providers. Since 2017, the FDA has received more than 75 reports of the IABPs shutting down while running on battery. Five…
FDA: Class I recall of Abbott CentriMag Circulatory Support System
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on November 4 identified the recall by Abbott of its CentriMag Circulatory Support System as Class I, the most serious. The recall was initiated because of a calibration system error resulting from electromagnetic interference that may cause the pump to slow or stop,…
Free Daily News
- Study: ERAS protocol reduces opioid use after cardiac surgery
- Study: Prehabilitation reduces surgical complications, speeds recovery
- Commentary: Studies show how surgeon decisions follow the money
- Proposed HIPAA updates would improve cybersecurity, increase costs for healthcare providers
- Study: EMR data can enhance hand hygiene compliance, infection prevention
- Study: Machine learning model improves perioperative pain assessment
- Call for improved suicide risk screening in ASCs aims to strengthen safety protocols
- Study: Perioperative pregabalin reduces risk of kidney decline compared to gabapentin
- Medical school diversity declines after Supreme Court ruling
- Surgeons risk losing ground as transcatheter tricuspid valve interventions rise