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Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysm is a significant risk factor for aortic dissection and rupture. Guidelines recommend referral of patients to a cardiovascular specialist for periodic surveillance imaging with surgical intervention determined primarily by aneurysm size. We investigated the association between socioeconomic status and surveillance practices in patients with ascending aortic aneurysms. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of 465 consecutive patients diagnosed between 2013-2016 with ascending aortic aneurysm ≥4cm on computed tomography scans. Primary outcomes were clinical follow-up with a cardiovascular specialist and aortic surveillance imaging within 2 years following index scan. We stratified patients into quartiles using the area deprivation index (ADI), a validated percentile measure of 17 variables characterizing socioeconomic status at the census block group level. Competing risks analysis was used to determine interquartile differences in risk of death prior to follow up with a cardiovascular specialist. Results: Lower socioeconomic status was associated with significantly lower rates of surveillance imaging and referral to a cardiovascular specialist. On competing risks regression, the ADI quartile with lowest socioeconomic status had lower hazard of follow-up with a cardiologist or cardiac surgeon prior to death (HR 0.46 [0.34, 0.62], p

AngioVac suction embolectomy is recommended by the manufacturer to be performed with a centrifugal pump due to safety considerations. However, roller head pumps are significantly cheaper to use, and thus may be more readily available during shortages and in resource poor settings. We present the technique of Angiovac suction embolectomy being successfully performed with a roller pump to evacuate a clot-in-transit in the inferior vena cava and right atrium, along with discussion of important safety caveats.

Background. Query a single institution computed tomography (CT) database to assess the prevalence of aortic arch anomalies in general adult population and their potential association with thoracic aortopathies. Methods. CT chest scan reports of patients aged 50-85 years old performed for any indication at a single health system between 2013 and 2016 were included in the analysis. Characteristics of patients with and without aortic arch anomalies were compared by t-test and Fisher exact tests. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess for independent risk factors of thoracic aortic aneurysm. Results. Of 21,336 CT scans, 603 (2.8%) described arch anomalies. Bovine arch (n=354, 58.7%) was the most common diagnosis. Patients with arch anomalies were more likely to be female (p

Objective: To assess the impact of surgeon experience on the outcomes of degenerative mitral valve disease. Methods: We reviewed all patients who had surgery for degenerative mitral valve disease between 2011-2016. Experienced surgeon was defined as performing  25 mitral valve operations/year. Patient characteristics and outcomes were compared. Multivariable analysis was performed to identify factors associated with MR recurrence. Survival analysis for mortality was done using Kaplan Meier curve and Cox proportional Hazard method. Results: There were 575 patients treated by 9 surgeons for severe mitral regurgitation caused by degenerative mitral valve disease between 2011-2016. Three experienced surgeons performed 77.2% of the operations. Patients treated by less experienced surgeons had worse comorbidity profile and were more likely to have an urgent or emergent operation (P=0.001). Experienced surgeons were more likely to attempt repair (P=0.024), to succeed in repair (94.7% vs 87%, P=0.001), had shorter cross-clamp times (P=0.001), and achieved higher repair rate (81.3% vs 69.7%, P=0.005). Experienced surgeons were more likely to use neochordae (P=0.001) and less likely to use chordae transfer (P=0.001). Surgeon experience was not associated with recurrence (moderate or higher MR) within the first two years after surgery but was an independent risk factor for mortality (HR= 2.64, P=0.002). Conclusions: Techniques of degenerative mitral valve surgery differ with surgeon experience, with higher rates of repair and better outcomes associated with more experienced surgeons.

Background: Complex cardiac operations may have better outcomes when performed by mid-career surgeons compared with surgeons in early or late stages of their career. However, it is unknown how cardiac case complexities are distributed among surgeons of different experience levels. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study using New York (NY) and California (CA) statewide surgeon-level coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) outcome data, including 336 cardiac surgeons who performed 43,604 CABGs. Surgeon-level data including observed mortality rate (OMR) and expected mortality rates (EMR) was collected from 2014-2016 in NY and 2015-2016 in CA. Surgeons’ number of years-in-practice was determined by searching for each surgeon’s training history on online registries. Loess and linear regression models were then used to characterize the relationship between surgeon EMR and surgeon years-in-practice. Results: The median number of surgeon years-in-practice was 20 (interquartile range [IQR] 11-28) with median case volume 103 (IQR 42,171). The median surgeon observed to expected mortality (O:E) ratio was 0.87 (IQR 0.19-1.4). Linear regression relating EMR to years in practice showed that EMR was similar across years in practice. Linear regression relating surgeon isolated CABG O:E ratio to years in practice also showed similar outcomes across years in practice. Conclusion: There is a relatively equal distribution of high and low risk CABG cases among surgeons of differing experience levels. This equal distribution of high and low risk cases does not reflect a triaging of more complex cases to more experienced cardiac surgeons, which prior research shows may optimize patient outcomes.