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Introduction: Telemedicine use in prenatal care has greatly expanded without substantial research. Optimizing user experiences can increase telemedicine's utilization to support care access. The purpose of this study was to explore patient and provider experiences using telemedicine for routine prenatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying factors affecting its utilization and satisfaction., Methods: In this mixed methods study, online surveys and semi-structured interviews with pregnant and postpartum patients and perinatal providers across the United States were used to explore experiences with telemedicine and prenatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from July to December 2021. Survey findings were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, and interviews were thematically coded and analyzed, followed by mixed methods analysis., Results: Results of 946 surveys (750 patients and 196 providers) and 30 interviews (15 patients and 15 providers) met inclusion for analysis. Telemedicine was utilized by 42% of patients and 72% of perinatal provider participants. The primary reason patients did not use telemedicine was because it was not offered. Patients and providers who did not use telemedicine expressed the following main concerns with virtual care: uncertainty about care quality, particularly when blood pressure and the fetal heart rate were not assessed, and potential challenges with developing trusting patient-provider relationships. Patients and providers who used telemedicine rated their experience as mild to moderate satisfaction across the 6 Telehealth Usability Questionnaire domains. Satisfaction scores were not dependent on whether physical examination components were included in virtual visits., Discussion: Providing patients with the choice to use telemedicine as needed or combined with in-person visits for routine prenatal care may increase care utilization. Although not directly linked with satisfaction, interest in using telemedicine would likely increase for patients and providers concerned with care quality if blood pressure and fetal heart rate are assessed during virtual visits., (© 2024 by the American College of Nurse‐Midwives.)

Objective: To report outcomes of total arch replacement (TAR) with hypothermic circulatory arrest and bilateral antegrade cerebral perfusion (bACP) using an "arch first" approach for acute Type A aortic dissection (ATAAD). The "arch first" approach involved revascularization of the aortic arch branch vessels with uninterrupted ACP, before lower body circulatory arrest, while the patient was cooling., Methods: This was an observational study of aortic surgeries from 2010 to 2021. All patients who underwent TAR with bACP for ATAAD were included. Short-term and long-term outcomes were reported utilizing descriptive statistics and Kaplan-Meier survival estimation., Results: A total of 215 patients were identified who underwent TAR + bACP for ATAAD. Age was 59.0 [49.0-67.0] years and 35.3% were female. 73 patients (34.0%) underwent a concomitant aortic root replacement, 188 (87.4%) had aortic cannulation, circulatory arrest time was 37.0 [26.0-52.0] minutes, and nadir temperature was 20.8 [19.4-22.5] degrees Celsius. 35 patients (16.3%) had operative mortality (STS definition), 17 (7.9%) had a new stroke, 79 (36.7%) had prolonged mechanical ventilation (>24 h), 35 (16.3%) had acute renal failure (by RIFLE criteria), and 128 (59.5%) had blood product transfusions. One-year survival was 77.1%, while 5-years survival was 67.1%. During follow-up, there were 23 (10.7%) reinterventions involving the descending thoracic aorta - either thoracic endovascular aortic repair or open thoracoabdominal aortic replacement., Conclusions: Among patients with ATAAD, short-term postoperative outcomes after TAR + bACP using the "arch first" approach are acceptable. Moreover, this operative strategy may furnish long-term durability, with a reasonably low reintervention rate and satisfactory overall survival., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: IS receives institutional research support from Abbott, Atricure, Artivion, Boston Scientific, Edwards, Medtronic, and Terumo Aortic. None of these are related to this manuscript.

Background: Aortic arch surgery with hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA) carries a higher risk of morbidity and mortality compared to routine cardiac surgical procedures. The newly developed ARCH (arch reconstruction under circulatory arrest with hypothermia) score has not been externally validated. We sought to externally validate this score in our local population., Methods: All consecutive open aortic arch surgeries with HCA performed between 2014 and 2023 were included. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed. Model discrimination was assessed by the C-statistic with 95% confidence intervals as part of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Model performance was visualized by a calibration plot and quantified by the Brier score., Results: A total of 760 patients (38.3% females) were included. The mean age was 61 (±13.6) years, with 56.4% of patients' age >60 years. The procedures were carried out mostly emergently or urgently (59.6%). Total arch replacement was performed in 32.5% of the patients, and aortic root procedures were carried out in 74.6%. In-hospital death occurred in 64 patients (8.4%), and stroke occurred in 5.4%. The C-statistic revealed a low discriminatory ability for predicting in-hospital mortality (area under the ROC curve, 0.62; 95% confidence interval, 0.54-0.69; P = .002); however, model calibration was found to be excellent (Brier score of 0.07)., Conclusions: The ARCH score for in-hospital mortality showed low discriminatory ability in our local population, although with excellent ability for prediction of mortality., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest Statement Dr Sultan has received institutional research support from Abbott, Artivion, Boston Scientific, Edwards, Medtronic, and Terumo Aortic. Dr Chu had received consulting fees from Sanamedi. All other authors reported no conflicts of interest. The Journal policy requires editors and reviewers to disclose conflicts of interest and to decline handling or reviewing manuscripts for which they may have a conflict of interest. The editors and reviewers of this article have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: This study reports the incidence, outcomes, and risk factors for aortic reinterventions after repair of acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD)., Methods: This was an observational study of aortic operations from 2010 to 2021. All patients with ATAAD undergoing open aortic arch reconstruction were included. Patients were dichotomized by the need for reintervention, which included reinterventions proximal to or distal to the index aortic repair. Propensity matching was used to determine the impact of reintervention on long-term outcomes. The cumulative incidence function for reintervention was estimated, and multivariable Fine-Gray analysis was performed to identify variables associated with reintervention, with death treated as a competing event., Results: We identified 601 patients undergoing surgery for ATAAD. An aortic reintervention was required in 71 (11.8%), comprising a proximal reintervention in 12 patients, a distal reintervention in 56, and both in 3. The cumulative incidence of reintervention was 11.6% (95% CI, 8.9%-14.6%) at 5 years and was 16.0% (95% CI, 12.2%-20.3%) at 10 years, with a median time to reintervention of 4.0 years (interquartile range, 0.9-7.5 years). Multivariable analysis using the Fine-Gray method showed no operative variables were associated with reinterventions. Among the 71 reinterventions, there were 4 (5.6%) operative deaths. After propensity matching, there was no difference in Kaplan-Meier survival estimates across each group (P = .138 by log-rank statistics)., Conclusions: The cumulative incidence of aortic reintervention after ATAAD repair was reasonably low (16% at 10 years), reinterventions were relatively safe (6% operative mortality), and reinterventions did not significantly impact long-term survival., (Copyright © 2024 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To describe outcomes of reconstruction of the aortomitral continuity (AMC) during concomitant aortic and mitral valve replacement (ie, the "Commando" procedure)., Design: A retrospective study of consecutive cardiac surgeries from 2010 to 2022., Setting: At a single institution., Participants: All patients undergoing double aortic and mitral valve replacement., Interventions: Patients were dichotomized by the performance (or not) of AMC reconstruction., Measurements and Main Results: A total of 331 patients underwent double-valve replacement, of whom 21 patients (6.3%) had a Commando procedure. The Commando group was more likely to have had a previous aortic valve replacement (AVR) or mitral valve replacement (MVR) (66.7% v 27.4%, p < 0.001), redo cardiac surgery (71.4% v 31.3%, p < 0.001), and emergent/salvage surgery (14.3% v 1.61%, p = 0.001), whereas surgery was more often performed for endocarditis in the Commando group (52.4% v 22.9%, p = 0.003). The Commando group had higher operative mortality (28.6% v 10.7%, p = 0.014), more prolonged ventilation (61.9% v 31.9%, p = 0.005), longer cardiopulmonary bypass time (312 ± 118 v 218 ± 85 minutes, p < 0.001), and longer ischemic time (252 ± 90 v 176 ± 66 minutes, p < 0.001). Despite increased short-term morbidity in the Commando group, Kaplan-Meier survival estimation showed no difference in long-term survival between each group (p = 0.386, log-rank). On multivariate Cox analysis, the Commando procedure was not associated with an increased hazard of death, compared to MVR + AVR (hazard ratio 1.29, 95% CI: 0.65-2.59, p = 0.496)., Conclusions: Although short-term postoperative morbidity and mortality were found to be higher for patients undergoing the Commando procedure, AMC reconstruction may be equally durable in the long term., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest I.S. receives institutional research support from Abbott, Atricure, Artivion, Boston Scientific, Edwards, Medtronic, and Terumo Aortic. None of these are related to this manuscript., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)