The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Multicenter Study
Postoperative Opioid Consumption in Thoracic Surgery Patients: How Much Is Actually Used?
The objective of this initiative was to perform a prospective, multicenter survey of patients after lung resection to assess the amount of opioid medication consumed and the disposition of unused opioids to inform the development of evidence-based prescribing guidelines. ⋯ Although patients undergoing MIS lung resection used significantly less opioid medication over a shorter duration of time than did patients after thoracotomy, they had relatively more excess opioid prescription. Evidence-based, procedure-specific guidelines with tailored pain regimens should be developed and implemented to reduce the amount of postoperative opioid medication remaining in the community.
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Case Reports
Pneumonectomy in an Older Patient With Swyer-James-MacLeod Syndrome With a Giant Bulla.
Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome is a rare lung disease that appears as unilateral pulmonary hyperlucency on chest radiographs and is considered to occur as a result of childhood bronchiolitis obliterans. We report the case of a 54-year-old woman who experienced exertional dyspnea owing to Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome associated with a giant calcified bulla that occupied the entire hemithorax. ⋯ Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome is a rare disease characterized by unilateral pulmonary hyperlucency on chest radiography. In this case, Swyer-James-MacLeod syndrome associated with a giant calcified bulla that compressed the patient's left lung was treated with right pneumonectomy.
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Multicenter Study
Gender Differences in Outcomes After Implantation of Left Ventricular Assist Devices.
Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation has historically been underutilized in women compared with men. It was hypothesized that the introduction of continuous-flow LVADs would lead to more LVAD implantations in women and possibly narrow the gender gap. ⋯ The number of women undergoing LVAD implantation has increased with the introduction of continuous-flow LVADs, but a gender gap still exists. Most major in-hospital outcomes after LVAD implantation are similar between genders.
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Data from administrative claims and cancer registries have an ever-expanding role in thoracic surgery health services and health policy research. However, their strengths, limitations, and appropriate applications are often poorly understood, leading to errors in study design and data interpretation. The intent of this review is to discuss relevant and crucial considerations when conducting research with some of the most common national thoracic surgery data sources. ⋯ An appreciation of the strengths, limitations, and differences between various sources of data from administrative, hospital-based, and population-based cancer registries is equally essential for investigators to improve the quality and accuracy of their research and for readers to properly interpret the results of such studies.
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We have previously demonstrated the efficacy of mitochondrial transplantation (MT) for the treatment of ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). We now investigate the efficacy of delayed MT by intracoronary administration in a model of regional IRI as a strategy for cardioprotection. ⋯ Delayed MT by intracoronary injection appreciably decreases myocardial infarct size, increasing regional and global myocardial function. These results suggest that this can be a viable treatment modality in IRI, thus reducing long-term morbidity and mortality in cardiac surgical patients.