The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Multicenter Study
Variation in outcomes for risk-stratified pediatric cardiac surgical operations: an analysis of the STS Congenital Heart Surgery Database.
We evaluated outcomes for groups of risk-stratified operations in The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database to provide contemporary benchmarks and examine variation between centers. ⋯ This analysis documents contemporary benchmarks for risk-stratified pediatric cardiac surgical operations grouped by STAT Mortality Categories and the range of outcomes among centers. Variation was greatest for the more complex operations. These data may aid in the design and planning of quality assessment and quality improvement initiatives.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of thoracoscopic segmentectomy and thoracoscopic lobectomy for small-sized stage IA lung cancer.
Thoracoscopic lobectomy for lung cancer has been widely accepted, but thoracoscopic segmentectomy remains controversial because of the complexity of the procedure and of the fear of increased local recurrence. This study compared outcomes between thoracoscopic segmentectomy and thoracoscopic lobectomy in patients with small-sized (≤2 cm) stage IA non-small cell lung cancer. ⋯ Thoracoscopic segmentectomy is a safe option and provides comparable oncologic results to thoracoscopic lobectomy for small (≤2 cm) peripheral stage IA non-small cell lung cancer. Tumor size is an independent prognostic factor of disease-free survival for stage IA patients with small-sized lesions.
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Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has been designed to treat elderly patients with severe aortic stenosis at high risk for operation; however, these patients are also often affected by severe iliac-femoral arteriopathy that prohibits the transfemoral approach. ⋯ TAVI with the direct aortic approach is safe and feasible, offering a new attractive option to treat selected high-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis and peripheral vasculopathy, including those requiring a re-do procedure, and has emerged as a valuable alternative route to transapical access.
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Case Reports
Hybrid endovascular treatment of an anomalous right subclavian artery dissection in a patient with Marfan syndrome.
We report the case of a 26-year-old female patient with Marfan syndrome and an aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA) with associated Kommerell diverticulum. The patient presented with spontaneous acute dissection of the ARSA that showed fusiform dilation to 4 cm in diameter. Definitive treatment was performed using a two-stage hybrid endovascular technique, including extrathoracic bilateral upper extremity bypass and thoracic endovascular aortic repair with debranching of the right and left subclavian arteries. This was followed by coil and plug embolization to exclude the dissection and prevent subsequent endoleak.
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Comparative Study
Sublobar resection versus definitive radiation in patients with stage IA non-small cell lung cancer.
Many patients with resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are unfit for lobectomy owing to comorbidity. Surgical outcomes are biased by preoperative selection factors and upstaging that occurs during surgery. This study compares outcomes between sublobar pulmonary resection and traditional external beam radiation therapy. ⋯ Sublobar resection without lymph node sampling appears to be superior to radiotherapy for clinical stage IA NSCLC. For patients with prohibitive risk for lobectomy, sublobar resection may be preferable to radiotherapy. Radiotherapy results in current and future patients are likely to be better.