Computed Tomography Imaging Measurements as a Surrogate for Clinical Outcomes After Surgical Management of Acute Type A Aortic Dissection: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative computed tomography imaging surveillance is an essential component of care after acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) repair. Prognostic imaging factors after ATAAD repair have not been systematically reviewed. METHODS AND RESULTS: We performed a systematic review to summarize postoperative computed tomography measurements including aortic diameter, cross-sectional area, volume, growth rate, and false lumen thrombosis in addition mid- to long-term clinical outcomes after ATAAD repair. Searches were conducted in Medline, Embase, and CENTRAL in October 2022. Studies were included if they reported clinical outcomes such as mortality or aortic reintervention after 1 year and included aforementioned computed tomography findings. Studies of chronic aortic dissection and studies of exclusive patient populations such as those with connective tissue diseases were excluded. Risk of bias was assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Searches retrieved 6999 articles. Sixty-eight studies met inclusion criteria (7885 patients). Extended repairs were associated with improved false lumen thrombosis, decreased aortic growth rate, and decreased rates of reintervention but not improved survival. Growth rates of the aorta post-ATAAD repair were highest in the descending thoracic aorta. The most frequent prognostic imaging factors reported were a patent/partially thrombosed false lumen and postoperative aortic diameter >40 to 45 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Established measurements of positive aortic remodeling, including complete false lumen thrombosis and stabilization of postoperative aortic diameter and growth are the most studied prognostic indicators for improved clinical outcomes after ATAAD repair. Growth rate of the aorta remains significant after ATAAD repair. Future studies should prospectively evaluate and compare prognostic factors for improved surveillance and management.

Trends in Pediatric Electronic Device-Related Burns: An Investigation of 21,962 Cases.

INTRODUCTION: The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was passed in 2008 to establish safety standards and improve the quality of children's products. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) led to a "stay-at-home" quarantine. The purpose of this study is to evaluate trends of pediatric burns and analyze the relationship with the CPSIA and COVID-19. METHODS: The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database was used to identify thermal and electric pediatric burns from 2002 to 2021. To evaluate the association of the CPSIA and COVID-19, burns before and after the law was passed, and the pandemic, were analyzed. Sex, ethnicity, age, injured body part, product, and disposition were determined. Chi-squared analysis was performed. RESULTS: A total of 21,962 burns met inclusion criteria, with 1409 electrical and 20,553 thermal burns. Majority of cases were male (58.3%) and involved household appliances (34.2%). For the CPSIA cohort, there was an average of 1274.1 burns per year before 2009, which decreased to 1003.3 burns per year after 2009. Before 2009, most burns affected the hand (44.5%), which increased after 2009 and remained the most-affected body part (48.1%, P < 0.001). For the COVID-19 cohort, there was an average of 1133.5 burns per year before 2020, which decreased to 779.5 burns per year after 2020. CONCLUSIONS: The CPSIA and COVID-19 pandemic may have led to a decreased incidence of pediatric burns from electronic devices. Pediatric populations are still at high risk for hand burns and household appliance burns. Providers should be aware of burn trends to inform guardians about the risks.

The Emerging and Important Role of Artificial Intelligence in Cardiac Surgery.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has greatly affected our everyday lives and holds great promise to change the landscape of medicine. AI is particularly positioned to improve care for the increasingly complex patients undergoing cardiac surgery using immense amount of data generated in the course of their care. When deployed, AI can be used to analyze this information at the patient's bedside more expediently and accurately, all while providing new insights. This review summarizes the current applications of AI in cardiac surgery from the vantage point of a patient's journey. Applications of AI include preoperative risk assessment, intraoperative planning, postoperative patient care, and outpatient telemonitoring, encompassing the spectrum of cardiac surgical care. Offloading of administrative processes and enhanced experience with information gathering also represent a unique and under-represented avenue for future use of AI. As clinicians, understanding the nomenclature and applications of AI is important to contextualize problems, to ensure problem-driven solutions, and for clinical benefit. Precision medicine, and thus clinically relevant AI, remains dependent on data curation and warehousing to gather insights from large multicentre repositories while treating privacy with the utmost importance. AI tasks should not be siloed but rather holistically integrated into clinical workflow to retain context and relevance. As cardiac surgeons, AI allows us to look forward to a bright future of more efficient use of our clinical expertise toward high-level decision making and technical prowess.

Review of Gender Affirming Mastectomy Surgery: Comparing Drains Versus No Drains.

BACKGROUND: Gender-affirming mastectomy can improve mental health and gender expression. However, there is no consensus on routine drain usage in gender-affirming surgeries. The purpose of this study is to compare gender-affirming mastectomies with and without drains and review complications. METHODS: An institutional review board-approved, retrospective review was performed to identify patients between 2017-2021 who had double-incision mastectomy, with or without nipple graft, and separated into drain and no-drain cohorts. Patient demographics, outcomes, and postoperative complications were analyzed, including unplanned return to the operating room, seromas, hematomas, postoperative infection, and postoperative antibiotic use. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed. RESULTS: There were 359 patients that had a gender-affirming mastectomy surgery between 2017 and 2021. The mean age was 26.1 years old, and mean body mass index was 27.4. There were 144 patients (40.1%) who had a drain, and 215 patients (59.9%) without a drain. For postoperative complications of all patients, there were 12 (3.3%) unplanned returns to the operating room, 18 seromas (5.0%), 26 hematomas (7.2%), 50 (13.9%) postoperative antibiotic use, and 4 postoperative infections (1.1%). There were no significant differences found between drain use for all postoperative complications, but no-drain use was significantly associated with less prescribed postoperative antibiotics compared to drain use (3.7% and 29.0%, respectively; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Gender-affirming mastectomy surgeries are safe and effective treatment options. No-drain placement was not associated with increased postoperative complications. Surgeons may consider not prescribing routine postoperative antibiotics if using drains, and avoiding drains for gender-affirming mastectomies may be considered in selected individuals based on clinical judgment.

Overcoming the Disparity in Mitral Valve Repair: A Sex-based Analysis of Long-term Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Sex-disparities remain pervasive across most cardiovascular diseases and continue to demonstrate significantly worse early and late outcomes for women, especially after surgical repair. This study aims to investigate outcomes of mitral valve (MV) repair by sex and identify opportunities for improvement. METHODS: A single-centre retrospective analysis of consecutive patients undergoing MV repair was conducted, from May 2008 - February 2023. In-hospital and long-term outcomes, including survival and symptomatic disease recurrence (sMR) were examined by sex. Adjusted outcome analysis was performed using inverse-probability treatment weighting (IPTW). RESULTS: In total, 490 patients underwent MV repair (Median age 65 years [IQR 57-73 years] sternotomy n=128 [26%], minimally-invasive n=362 [74%]), including 343 males and 147 females. Median follow-up time was 5.4 years, with an interquartile range of 3.1 to 8.4 years. IPTW-adjusted 30-day outcomes for female versus males, including death (1.4% vs 0.6%, p=0.59) and MACE (8.2% vs 7.6%, p=0.81), were not significantly different. Survival for females vs males after mitral valve repair was 94.9% vs 98.0% at 2 years, 91.4% vs 97.8% at 4 years and 87.2 % vs 88.7% at 8 years (HR 0.52 [0.19-1.44]). Both unadjusted and IPTW-adjusted Cox-regression hazard ratios for survival and freedom from sMR demonstrated no significant difference between sexes at long-term follow up. CONCLUSIONS: These contemporary results are encouraging and suggest that a critical "bridging of the gap" between sexes is possible with comprehensive efforts including earlier detection and awareness and improved surgical techniques, though other factors may be important to explore further.

Next-Day Discharge After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation With the ACURATE neo/neo2 Self-Expanding Aortic Bioprosthesis.

Previous studies have shown the safety of early discharge pathways in selected patients and using selected transcatheter heart valves. Hence, we sought to evaluate the safety of next-day discharge (NDD) in patients who underwent transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TF-TAVI) with the ACURATE neo/neo2 (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, Massachusetts) self-expanding aortic bioprosthesis. Patients who underwent TF-TAVI between January 2018 and April 2023 were prospectively included. Patients were stratified into 3 groups according to discharge times within 24 hours (NDD), between 24 and 48 hours, and those discharged >48 hours after TAVI. The primary outcome was the first unplanned readmission at 30 days after TAVI. Log-rank test was used to assess the differences in the outcome of interest between the groups. A total of 368 all-comers were included in this study. According to discharge times, 204 patients followed NDD, 69 patients 24 to 48 hours discharge, and 95 patients >48 hours discharge after TAVI. The mean age was 84 ± 6.3 years and 61% were women, without differences between the groups. The mean Society of Thoracic Surgeons score was lower in those with NDD versus 24 to 48 hours and >48 hours (2.9 ± 1.0, 3.2 ± 1.2, and 3.4 ± 1.4, respectively, p = 0.014). There were no differences between the groups in terms of preprocedural right bundle branch block or pacemaker. The need for new permanent pacemaker implantation was the leading postprocedural complication; it occurred more frequently in the >48 hours group than the 24 to 48 hours, and <24 hours groups (24% vs 8.6% and 2.2%, p <0.001). There were 5 strokes (1.4%) and all of them occurred in the >48 hours group (p = 0.005). At 30 days after discharge, there were no deaths and no differences in all-cause readmissions (9.3% in <24 hours, 8.6% in 24 to 48 hours, and 19% in >48 hours, log-rank p = 0.087). The readmission rates for new permanent pacemaker implantation requirement were 3.3% (n = 6) in NDD, 0% in 24 to 48 hours, and 1.6% (n = 5) in the >48 hours groups (p = 0.27). In conclusion, in unselected patients who underwent TF-TAVI with the ACURATE neo/neo2 self-expanding bioprosthesis, the NDD pathway is feasible and appears to be safe, without an increased risk of death or all-cause rehospitalization through 30 days after hospital discharge.

Mitral valve replacement in young patients: review and current challenges.

Mitral valve repair is the ideal intervention for mitral valve disease with excellent long-term survival comparable to the age-matched general population. When the mitral valve is not repairable, mechanical prostheses may be associated with improved survival as compared with biological prostheses. Newer mechanical and biological valve prostheses have the potential to improve outcomes following mitral valve replacement in young patients. Patients presenting for mitral valve surgery after failed transcatheter mitral valve-in-valve have high rates of postoperative mortality and morbidity, exceeding those seen with reoperative mitral valve surgery, which poses issues in young patients who have a higher cumulative incidence of reintervention.

Patients presenting with mitral valve disease, the most common type of heart valve disease, have a survival advantage when they undergo mitral valve repair as opposed to replacement, and this is particularly true for young patients. When the mitral valve is not repairable, mechanical prostheses (prosthetic implants) may be associated with improved survival as compared with biological prostheses, and this difference is mostly observed until the age of 70 years. Newer techniques of treating mitral valve disease without requiring open heart surgery have not yet been shown to be superior or even equivalent to traditional open heart surgery in the general population. Patients presenting for mitral valve surgery after failure of these newer techniques have high rates of death, exceeding those seen with mitral valve reoperation, which has important implications for young patients with mitral valve disease.

Contemporary surgical management of infective endocarditis of the aortic root.

Infective endocarditis involving the aortic root is associated with a high degree of morbidity and mortality. Native aortic root infections can develop from aggressive organisms or from delays in diagnosis or definitive care, whereas prosthetic valve infections commonly result in extensive destruction of the aortic root and neighboring structures. Early detection, tailored antibiotic therapy, thoughtful pre-operative planning, and multidisciplinary heart team management are the keys to optimizing patient outcomes. Aggressive and complete surgical debridement are mandatory prior to aortic root reconstruction. Surgical experience and patient-centered decision making are critical in selecting the optimal reconstructive strategy for the aortic root and adjacent structures. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12055-023-01604-6.

Surgical Repair of Ventricular Septal Defect Following Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation: A Case Report.

This case report describes the rare occurrence of a ventricular septal defect (VSD) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in an 88-year-old male patient with aortic stenosis and other comorbidities. Initially asymptomatic, the patient was discharged but readmitted 2 weeks later with decompensated heart failure. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) revealed an increase in the size of the VSD and right ventricular dilation. Surgical intervention was chosen over percutaneous closure due to the patient's condition. A bovine pericardial patch was successfully used for repair. This case highlights the importance of vigilant post-TAVI monitoring and individualized treatment for TAVI-related complications.

Transcatheter heart valve explant with infective endocarditis-associated prosthesis failure and outcomes: the EXPLANT-TAVR international registry.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Surgical explantation of transcatheter heart valves (THVs) is rapidly increasing, but there are limited data on patients with THV-associated infective endocarditis (IE). This study aims to assess the outcomes of patients undergoing THV explant for IE. METHODS: All patients who underwent THV explant between 2011 and 2022 from 44 sites in the EXPLANT-TAVR registry were identified. Patients with IE as the reason for THV explant were compared to those with other mechanisms of bioprosthetic valve dysfunction (BVD). RESULTS: A total of 372 patients from the EXPLANT-TAVR registry were included. Among them, 184 (49.5%) patients underwent THV explant due to IE and 188 (50.5%) patients due to BVD. At the index transcatheter aortic valve replacement, patients undergoing THV explant for IE were older (74.3 ± 8.6 vs. 71 ± 10.6 years) and had a lower Society of Thoracic Surgeons risk score [2.6% (1.8-5.0) vs. 3.3% (2.1-5.6), P = .029] compared to patients with BVD. Compared to BVD, IE patients had longer intensive care unit and hospital stays (P < .05) and higher stroke rates at 30 days (8.6% vs. 2.9%, P = .032) and 1 year (16.2% vs. 5.2%, P = .010). Adjusted in-hospital, 30-day, and 1-year mortality was 12.1%, 16.1%, and 33.8%, respectively, for the entire cohort, with no significant differences between groups. Although mortality was numerically higher in IE patients 3 years postsurgery (29.6% for BVD vs. 43.9% for IE), Kaplan-Meier analysis showed no significant differences between groups (P = .16). CONCLUSIONS: In the EXPLANT-TAVR registry, patients undergoing THV explant for IE had higher 30-day and 1-year stroke rates and longer intensive care unit and hospital stays. Moreover, patients undergoing THV explant for IE had a higher 3-year mortality rate, which did not reach statistical significance given the relatively small sample size of this unique cohort and the reduced number of events.

Trends of Medicare Reimbursement Rates for Gender-Affirming Surgery Procedures.

BACKGROUND: Awareness of Medicare reimbursement is important for gender-affirming surgeons who treat transgender patients with Medicare. In 2014, Medicare began to provide coverage for medically necessary transition-related surgery. The purpose of this study was to analyze trends in Medicare reimbursement rates for gender-affirming surgery procedures from 2014 to 2022. METHODS: The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Look-Up Tool provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was used, and the Current Procedural Terminology codes for 43 gender-affirming surgery services were obtained. Monetary units, conversion factors, relative value units (RVUs) for work, facility, and malpractice costs for 30 transmasculine and 13 transfeminine procedures were analyzed. Descriptive statistics were performed to account for inflation and to determine the relative differences between 2014 and 2022. RESULTS: For all gender-affirming surgery procedures covered by Medicare, the average relative difference of monetary units decreased by 2.99% between 2014 and 2022. On average, there was a 3.97% decrease of work-based RVU charges for transmasculine procedures and a 1.73% decrease of work-based RVU charges for transfeminine procedures. After adjusting for inflation, the average relative difference of monetary units for all gender-affirming surgery procedures decreased by 23.42% between 2014 and 2022. CONCLUSIONS: Reimbursement rates for gender-affirming surgery procedures covered under Medicare have decreased over the observed period, and trends in reimbursement rates have not kept up with consumer price index inflation. Gender-affirming surgeons should be conscious of these changes in reimbursement rates and advocate for fairer compensation to promote medical care among an underserved population.

Impact of nondiameter aortic indices on surgical eligibility: Results from the Treatment in Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm: Surgery Versus Surveillance (TITAN: SvS) randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: Traditional criterion for intervention on an asymptomatic ascending aortic aneurysm has been a maximal aortic diameter of 5.5 cm or more. The 2022 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association aortic guidelines adopted cross-sectional aortic area/height ratio, aortic size index, and aortic height index as alternate parameters for surgical intervention. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of using these newer indices on patient eligibility for surgical intervention in a prospective, multicenter cohort with moderate-sized ascending aortic aneurysms between 5.0 and 5.4 cm. METHODS: Patients enrolled from 2018 to 2023 in the randomization or registry arms of the multicenter trial, Treatment In Thoracic Aortic aNeurysm: Surgery versus Surveillance, were included in the study. Clinical data were captured prospectively in an online database. Imaging data were derived from a core computed laboratory. RESULTS: Among the 329 included patients, 20% were female. Mean age was 65.0 ± 11.6 years, and mean maximal aortic diameter was 50.8 ± 3.9 mm. In the one-third of all patients (n = 109) who met any 1 of the 3 criteria (ie, aortic size index ≥3.08 cm/m2, aortic height index ≥3.21 cm/m, or cross-sectional aortic area/height ≥ 10 cm2/m), their mean maximal aortic diameter was 52.5 ± 0.52 mm. Alternate criteria were most commonly met in women compared with men: 20% versus 2% for aortic size index (P < .001), 39% versus 5% for aortic height index (P < .001), and 39% versus 21% for cross-sectional aortic area/height (P = .002), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: One-third of patients in Treatment In Thoracic Aortic aNeurysm: Surgery versus Surveillance would meet criteria for surgical intervention based on novel parameters versus the classic definition of diameter 5.5 cm or more. Surgical thresholds for aortic size index, aortic height index, or cross-sectional aortic area/height ratio are more likely to be met in female patients compared with male patients.

Quality of Life 5 Years Following Transfemoral TAVR or SAVR in Intermediate Risk Patients.

BACKGROUND: Symptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) at high risk for surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) sustain comparable improvements in health status over 5 years after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) or SAVR. Whether a similar long-term benefit is observed among intermediate-risk AS patients is unknown. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to assess health status outcomes through 5 years in intermediate risk patients treated with a self-expanding TAVR prosthesis or SAVR using data from the SURTAVI (Surgical Replacement and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation) trial. METHODS: Intermediate-risk patients randomized to transfemoral TAVR or SAVR in the SURTAVI trial had disease-specific health status assessed at baseline, 30 days, and annually to 5 years using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ). Health status was compared between groups using fixed effects repeated measures modelling. RESULTS: Of the 1,584 patients (TAVR, n = 805; SAVR, n = 779) included in the analysis, health status improved more rapidly after TAVR compared with SAVR. However, by 1 year, both groups experienced large health status benefits (mean change in KCCQ-Overall Summary Score (KCCQ-OS) from baseline: TAVR: 20.5 ± 22.4; SAVR: 20.5 ± 22.2). This benefit was sustained, albeit modestly attenuated, at 5 years (mean change in KCCQ-OS from baseline: TAVR: 15.4 ± 25.1; SAVR: 14.3 ± 24.2). There were no significant differences in health status between the cohorts at 1 year or beyond. Similar findings were observed in the KCCQ subscales, although a substantial attenuation of benefit was noted in the physical limitation subscale over time in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: In intermediate-risk AS patients, both transfemoral TAVR and SAVR resulted in comparable and durable health status benefits to 5 years. Further research is necessary to elucidate the mechanisms for the small decline in health status noted at 5 years compared with 1 year in both groups. (Safety and Efficacy Study of the Medtronic CoreValve® System in the Treatment of Severe, Symptomatic Aortic Stenosis in Intermediate Risk Subjects Who Need Aortic Valve Replacement [SURTAVI]; NCT01586910).

Ambulatory facial feminization surgery: a comparative analysis of outcomes and complications.

BACKGROUND: To date, there are no studies investigating the safety and outcomes of facial feminization surgery (FFS) as an outpatient procedure. This is the first study of its kind analyzing the outcomes of ambulatory FFS based on a comparison of complications, post-operative emergency department or urgent care (ED/UC) visits, and readmissions between patients who underwent FFS with admission versus same-day surgery. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on all patients who underwent FFS in a single integrated healthcare system. Patient charts were reviewed for operative details, complications, post-operative ED/UC visits, readmission, and demographic factors. Major outcomes including complications, readmissions, and ED/UC visits were compared between groups with same-day discharge and post-operative hospital admission. RESULTS: Of 242 patients included in the study, ED/UC visits were comparable between patients discharged same-day (18.2%) and patients admitted post-operatively (21.6%, p = 0.52). Logistic regression showed no significant difference in the composite outcomes of minor complications, major complications, and readmissions (15.6% for ambulatory versus 19.3% for admission, p = 0.46). Temporary nerve palsy, infection, and hematoma were the most common post-operative complications. However, covariates of a lower face procedure and operative time were shown to have significant differences in the composite complication outcome (p = 0.04 and p = 0.045, respectively). CONCLUSION: Ambulatory FFS is a safe practice with no associated increase in adverse outcomes including complications, ED/UC visits, and readmission when compared to post-operative admission. Adoption of same-day FFS should be considered by high-volume gender health centers to potentially benefit from increased scheduling flexibility and efficiency, increased access to care, and lower healthcare costs.