Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery最新文献

Beating-heart CABG in patients with LV dysfunction can provide the best of all words by limiting myocardial injury purported by cardioplegic arrest. Complete revascularization is possible and graft numbers are not different when compared to arrested heart CABG. Furthermore, beating-heart CABG more often reduces the need for intraoperative and postoperative mechanical support reducing the complications and costs associated with these devices. CENTRAL MESSAGE: Beating-heart CABG avoids ischemic insult to the heart while allowing for complete revascularization.

Proximal control of the thoracic aorta during the open repair of thoracoabdominal aorta can be challenging. Various techniques have been developed to address these challenges, including the use of deep hypothermic circulatory arrest and staged procedures, such as the conventional as well as frozen elephant trunk procedures. This paper is a brief review of the challenges and rationale behind some approaches.

Subspecialization in surgery is increasingly common and for great reasons. Over the past 20 years, there has been evidence in support of the link between subspecialization in the disciplines of orthopedic surgery, general, thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, and in interventional cardiology and better patient outcomes and technical advances in their respective fields. In addition, studies suggest that increased hospital and surgeon volume throughout surgery may lead to improved surgical outcomes. The degree of specialization has been shown to reduce operative mortality in a variety of procedures and highlights that the level of sophistication and fund of knowledge required within each area is so great that no one surgeon can "do it all" and do it well. Cardiac surgery has become more subspecialized; however, many still view coronary artery surgery as a generalist procedure. There is debate as to the relative contribution of hospital volume, surgeon volume, or degree of specialization on perioperative mortality following isolated coronary artery bypass grafting. In this paper, we will discuss the current data supporting the need for specialization in coronary surgery and present arguments in favor of further specialization in this field.

Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), developed to avoid the potential complications of cardiopulmonary bypass, remains a subject of debate. Studies have demonstrated that off-pump CABG is associated with higher rates of incomplete revascularization, inferior graft patency, and increased reintervention rates compared to on-pump CABG, leading to worse outcomes. The theoretical neuroprotective and renal-protective benefits associated with off-pump CABG have not been definitively proven, with stroke and renal failure rates similar to those of on-pump CABG in both short- and long-term follow-up. Off-pump CABG presents technical challenges, contributing to a steep learning curve, and its effectiveness is dependent on surgeon and center experience. Lower-volume centers and surgeons performing off-pump CABG have shown increased rates of mortality and reintervention. Despite the potential cost savings by avoiding cardiopulmonary bypass, the need for repeat interventions and associated complications can lead to higher long-term healthcare costs. This paper advocates for a more selective use of off-pump CABG while maintaining on-pump CABG as the standard approach for patients with coronary artery disease.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) continues to grow in popularity and has become the preferred mechanism for the treatment of aortic stenosis in most patients. Despite significant improvements in the safety of TAVR, complications remain inevitable. Aortic dissection, although rare, is a feared complication following TAVR. Aortic dissection after TAVR has been reported to occur in both the ascending and descending thoracic aorta and may occur acutely during valve placement or in a delayed fashion. Bicuspid aortic valve and ascending aortic aneurysm may increase the risk for Type A dissection following TAVR. Given the rarity of aortic dissection in TAVR, a high index of suspicion must be maintained to provide prompt diagnosis and management. Open surgical repair is the preferred treatment modality for type A aortic dissection, however endovascular management and conservative medical therapy can be utilized in select patients and are more commonly employed for type B dissection.

The Clinical Practice Standards Committee of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery assembled an expert panel and conducted a systematic review of the literature detailing studies directly comparing treatment options for high-risk patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A systematic search was performed to identify publications comparing outcomes following image-guided thermal ablation (IGTA), stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), and sublobar resection-the main treatment options applicable to high-risk patients with stage I NSCLC. There were no publications detailing completed randomized controlled trials comparing these treatment options. Several retrospective studies with comparisons were identified, some of which used large, population-based registries. The findings in 18 of these studies are summarized in this Expert Review article. Registry studies comparing IGTA with SABR in propensity-score matched patients with stage I NSCLC found no difference in overall survival. The use of thermal ablation was less frequent and had wider variation depending on geographic region as compared with SABR, however. Studies yielding high-quality data comparing SABR with sublobar resection have been limited. When comparing sublobar resection with IGTA, sublobar resection was associated with superior primary tumor control and overall survival in the retrospective cohort studies. Retrospective comparative studies are difficult to assess due to the inherent biases or treatment selection and the definitions of loco-regional control. Prospective randomized trials are needed to fully evaluate the outcomes of treatment options applicable to high-risk patients with early-stage lung cancer.