The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Multicenter Study
Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutation as a Risk Factor for Recurrence in Lung Adenocarcinoma.
The presence of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations is an established prognostic factor for patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma. Here, we examined whether EGFR mutation status is a prognostic factor for patients who had undergone surgery. ⋯ Patients with Ex19 had significantly shorter recurrence-free survival and had extrathoracic recurrence more frequently than patients with Ex21 among patients with resected lung adenocarcinoma, implying that Ex19 could be a worse prognostic factor.
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"Spread through air spaces" (STAS) is a recently described invasive pattern of lung cancer that spreads within air spaces beyond the edge of the main tumor. In the current study, we investigated the significance of STAS in patients with pathologic stage I adenocarcinoma. ⋯ Spread through air spaces was associated with clinicopathologically invasive features and was predictive of worse survival.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Microvascular Responsiveness to Pulsatile and Nonpulsatile Flow During Cardiopulmonary Bypass.
Pulsatile perfusion may offer microcirculatory advantages over conventional nonpulsatile perfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Here, we present direct visual evidence of microvascular perfusion and vasoreactivity between perfusion modalities. ⋯ Pulsatility generated by the roller pump during CPB improves microcirculatory blood flow and tissue oxygen saturation compared with nonpulsatile flow in high-risk cardiac surgical patients, which may reflect attenuation of the systemic inflammatory response and ischemia-reperfusion injury.
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Prolonged intubation after cardiac surgery is associated with significant morbidity. A fast-track extubation protocol primarily driven by bedside providers was instituted for all postoperative cardiac surgery patients to facilitate safe and expeditious extubation. ⋯ The institution of a bedside provider-directed FTE pathway reduced overall intubation times and increased the rate of early extubation, without an increase in reintubation or mortality. This program-wide multidisciplinary approach appears to promote safe and expeditious extubation of cardiac surgery patients.