Editor's Note MedStar Georgetown University Hospital’s Verstandig Pavilion is now home to a moveable MRI system that enables real-time intraoperative imaging, NBC Washington reported September 18. As detailed in the article and accompanying video, MRIs are typically performed the day after surgery, sometimes revealing residual tumor tissue that could have…

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Editor's Note Patients prescribed a glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist (GLP-1) showed higher postoperative infection rates after ankle-fusion procedures in a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society. Healio reported the news September 20.   Conducted by a team at the Milton S. Hershey Medical…

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Editor's Note Research suggests parathyroidectomy may not provide a mental health benefit for PHPT patients, particularly in the context of preventing new depression. Published September 4 in JAMA Surgery, the study examined 40,231 adults with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), revealing that early parathyroidectomy does not reduce the risk of developing new…

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Editor's Note According to the 2023 Wage Report from consultancy Springboard Healthcare, cardiac catheterization laboratory (cath lab) technologist and nurse wages have begun to stabilize in 2023, 3 years after the pandemic, Cardiovascular Business September 19 reports. Permanent nurses saw a modest wage increase of 3.7%, while travel nurses experienced…

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Editor's Note A recent observational study published in JAMA Network suggests the placement of defibrillation pads during cardiac arrest treatment could significantly impact survival rates, Cath Lab Digest September 23 reports. The study analyzed 255 cases of cardiac arrest where the two pads were placed either at the front and…

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Editor's Note Tubal sterilization, often considered a permanent form of contraception, has a failure rate of 3% to 5%, leading to unplanned pregnancies in some cases, UC San Francisco reported August 27. Publishing in NEJM Evidence, university researchers report that contraceptive arm implants or intrauterine devices (IUDs) may be more reliable…

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Editor's Note Research shows atrial fibrillation (Afib), a heart rhythm disorder, affects 10.5 million US adults—three times more than previously believed, HealthDay News reported September 12. The article focuses on a study from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.…

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Editor's Note Often exceeding federal safety limits, OR noise contributes significantly to communication breakdowns, heightened cognitive load, and increased surgical errors, according to a review of literature published September 17 in Cureus. Identified noise sources include surgical instruments, alarms, and staff conversations, which can reach up to 120 decibels (dBA)—a…

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Editor's Note Although data suggest transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) using the MitraClip device may offer similar outcomes to mitral valve surgery in patients with heart failure and functional mitral regurgitation (FMR), experts have criticized the research, TCT MD reported September 1. Presented at the recent European Society of Cardiology (ESC)…

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Editor's Note Nearly 20 years of data on the first 50 face transplants in the world indicate that survival rates exceed those of several solid organ transplants, according to a global study published September 18 in Jama Surgery. Conducted between 2005 and 2021, the study involved 18 transplant centers, assessed…

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