The Annals of thoracic surgery
-
Interfacility transport of patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been performed in large numbers at only a few programs. Limited data are available on outcomes after ECMO transport to justify expanding or discontinuing these programs. ⋯ Interfacility transport on ECMO is feasible and can be accomplished safely in the critically ill. Survival of transported patients is comparable to age-matched and treatment-matched ECMO patients at large.
-
Rectal cancer has a higher risk of developing lung metastasis compared with colon cancer. It is unclear whether the prognosis after pulmonary metastasectomy for these distinct tumors is different. ⋯ Disease-free survival and site of recurrence after pulmonary metastasectomy for colorectal carcinoma are dependent on the site of the primary tumor. Lung metastases from rectal cancer have a worse disease-free survival compared with colon cancer. This may influence treatment and follow-up strategies.
-
Biography Historical Article
George Jerome Magovern, MD, November 17, 1923-November 4, 2013.
George Jerome Magovern, the 20th president of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (1984-1985) and emeritus member of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (1984-1991), died surrounded by his family on November 4, 2013. He leaves behind him a lasting commitment to the advancement of patient care, education, and research.
-
Although more than 200,000 bypass operations are performed in the United States annually, few data exist on the predictors of costs and resource use for this procedure. Questions related to clinical outcomes, costs, and resource use in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were addressed. ⋯ The STS-PROM and preoperative regression models are useful for preoperative prediction of costs and length of stay for groups of patients, case-mix adjustment in hospital benchmarking, and pay for performance measures. The combined preoperative and postoperative models identify incremental costs and length of stay associated with adverse events and are more suitable for prioritizing quality improvement efforts.