The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Jun 2016
A complexity scoring system for degenerative mitral valve repair.
To develop a score to allow stratification of complexity in degenerative mitral valve repair. ⋯ Our scoring system may allow effective stratification of complexity of mitral valve repair. Future studies are required to evaluate the use of our score in a prospective setting.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Jun 2016
Early and midterm outcomes of triple patch technique for postinfarction ventricular septal defects.
Early and midterm outcomes were evaluated in patients who had postinfarction ventricular septal defect (VSD) and underwent VSD repair using the triple patch technique. ⋯ Early and midterm outcomes of modified infarct exclusion using the triple patch technique are acceptable. This technique is safe and simple, and may be useful for reducing postoperative residual shunt.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Jun 2016
Baseline measure of health-related quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Esophagus) is associated with overall survival in patients with esophageal cancer.
Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Esophagus is a health-related quality of life instrument validated in patients with esophageal cancer. It is composed of a general component and an esophageal cancer subscale. Our objective was to determine whether the baseline Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Esophagus and esophageal cancer subscale scores are associated with survival in patients with stage II and III cancer of the gastroesophageal junction or thoracic esophagus. ⋯ In patients with stage II and III esophageal cancer being considered for therapy, higher baseline Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Esophagus and esophageal cancer subscale were independently associated with longer survival, even after adjusting for age, stage, histology, and therapy received. Further study is needed, but Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Esophagus may be useful as a prognostic tool to inform patient decision-making and patient selection criteria for studies.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Jun 2016
Observational StudyCharacteristics and long-term outcomes of contemporary patients with bicuspid aortic valves.
We sought to study the impact of surgical intervention on long-term outcomes in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) patients who develop aortic valvular complications and/or have a concomitant aortopathy. ⋯ Patients with BAV have a high prevalence of AV dysfunction and concomitant aortopathy. Undergoing surgery (AV replacement and/or repair ± AAR) was associated with a significantly lower incidence of death and/or dissection.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Jun 2016
EditorialThe cardiac surgery-associated neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (CSA-NGAL) score: A potential tool to monitor acute tubular damage.
Acute kidney injury (AKI), defined as a rise in serum creatinine (functional AKI), is a frequent complication after cardiac surgery. The expression pattern of acute tubular damage biomarkers such as neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) has been shown to precede functional AKI and, therefore, may be useful to identify very early tubular damage. The term subclinical AKI represents acute tubular damage in the absence of functional AKI (biomarker positivity without a rise in serum creatinine) and affects hard outcome measures. ⋯ The aim of this paper was to review the current available evidence on NGAL applicability in adult cardiac surgery patients and combine this knowledge with the expert consensus of the authors to generate an NGAL based tubular damage score: The cardiac surgery-associated NGAL Score (CSA-NGAL score). The CSA-NGAL score might be the tool needed to improve awareness and enable interventions to possibly modify these detrimental outcomes. In boldly doing so, it is intended to introduce a different approach in study designs, which will undoubtedly expand our knowledge and will hopefully move the AKI biomarker field forward.