The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Apr 2023
Practice patterns of female cardiothoracic surgeons older than age 58 years: Are we making progress?
Women remain a small minority of cardiothoracic surgeons, and within adult cardiac surgery, the gender gap widens. This study examines the career pathway and trajectory of female adult cardiac surgeons. ⋯ Only a small portion of female cardiothoracic surgeons pursue a career in adult cardiac surgery compared to their male counterparts. From 1999 to 2009, 1300 individuals were board certified cardiothoracic surgeons, of whom only 103 (7.9%) were female. Of these, the majority of female cardiothoracic surgeons entered academic practice. Although the overall number of practicing female adult cardiac surgeons has increased with a growth rate of 10.7%, this number remains extremely low. A discrepancy remains between gender representation of academic titles and leadership positions. Although the field has increased female representation over the past few decades, work remains to ensure all potential talent is encouraged and supported.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Apr 2023
A tool to assess nontechnical skills of perfusionists in the cardiac operating room.
This study aimed to develop the Perfusionists' Intraoperative Non-Technical Skills tool, specifically to the perfusionists' context, and test its inter-rater reliability. ⋯ The Perfusionists' Intraoperative Non-Technical Skills tool presented moderate inter-rater reliability among perfusionists with varied levels of experience. This tool can be used to train and assess perfusionists in relevant nontechnical skills, with the potential to enhance safety and improve surgical outcomes.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Apr 2023
Preoperative physical frailty assessment among octogenarians undergoing cardiac surgery: Upgrading the "eyeball" test.
There are many well-described, but as yet unproven, physical ability tools to assess frailty. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 4 preoperative physical tests in predicting mortality, morbidity, and functional outcomes among octogenarians undergoing cardiac surgery. ⋯ The 5-m walk time test is an independent predictor of a composite of in-hospital mortality and major morbidity, as well as midterm survival. This test could be used as a simple adjunctive preoperative tool for octogenarians undergoing cardiac surgery.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Apr 2023
Trends in use and three-year outcomes of hepatitis C virus-viremic donor lung transplants for hepatitis C virus-seronegative recipients.
The feasibility and 6-month outcome safety of lung transplants (LTs) from hepatitis C virus (HCV)-viremic donors for HCV-seronegative recipients (R-) were established in 2019, but longer-term safety and uptake of this practice nationally remain unknown. ⋯ HCV D+/R- and HCV D-/R- LT have similar outcomes at 3 years posttransplant. These results underscore the safety of HCV D+/R- LT and the potential benefit of expanding this practice further.