Quality and Impact of Manuscripts Using The Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Databases.

BACKGROUND: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) National Databases contain the largest and most comprehensive cardiac, thoracic, and congenital surgery data available. In this analysis characteristics of manuscripts that used the STS National Databases were examined to evaluate the quality and impact of these publications. METHODS: Manuscripts published from 2010 to 2020 that used the STS National Databases (Adult Cardiac, General Thoracic, and Congenital Heart Surgery) were examined. The number of times cited per published manuscript, journal of publication, and journal CiteScore were assessed. Author characteristics, including institutional association and h-index, were evaluated for first and last authors. RESULTS: Of 539 published manuscripts, 179 (33.2%) used the Adult Cardiac Surgery, 128 (23.7%) the Congenital Heart Surgery, 85 (15.8%) the General Thoracic Surgery, and 136 (25.2%) used unspecified STS National Databases. Collectively the analyzed manuscripts were cited 18,943 times, with a mean of 35.1 (range, 0-528) citations per manuscript. Manuscripts were published in 97 journals with a mean year-adjusted CiteScore of 5.6 (range, 0.1-60.2). Authors associated with 361 institutions contributed to published manuscripts. The mean h-index of first authors was 24.6 (range, 0-100) and of last authors was 44.1 (range, 0-164). From 2010 to 2020 first authors wrote a mean of 1.6 (range, 1-31) and last authors wrote a mean of 1.9 (range, 1-29) STS National Databases publications. CONCLUSIONS: The STS National Databases are some of the most robust data collection sources available to cardiothoracic surgeons. These data have enabled valuable research in respected journals from authors of varying experience levels.

Less invasive durable management of postoperative ventricular tachycardia storm after LVAD insertion.

BACKGROUND: Ventricular tachycardia (VT) can be a challenging problem in patients following durable left ventricular device (LVAD) implantation, and can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. Both the etiology and management of VT in this population can also vary substantially. CASE PRESENTATION: We herein report a case of a patient with preoperative VT who developed a drug resistant VT storm postoperatively that was ultimately controlled durably with a bedside stellate ganglion block. CONCLUSION: This case illustrates that stellate ganglion block can be an effective and durable intervention for terminating refractory VT in LVAD patients. This method is attractive because it can be performed at the bedside in relatively unstable patients, and is less invasive than other alternatives such as VT ablation and thoracic sympathectomy.