Physician Wellness in Academic Cardiovascular Medicine: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

Academic medicine as a practice model provides unique benefits to society. Clinical care remains an important part of the academic mission; however, equally important are the educational and research missions. More specifically, the sustainability of health care in the United States relies on an educated and expertly trained physician workforce directly provided by academic medicine models.

TEE-Guided Percutaneous Aspiration of a Large Lead-Associated Vegetation Prior to Transvenous Lead Extraction.

• Vacuum-assisted aspiration of large CIED lead vegetations is a promising technology. • TEE guidance is critical for the safe and complete aspiration of vegetations. • Real-time TEE identifies important residual findings following lead extraction.

Landscape of Mentorship and its Effects on Success in Cardiology.

The effects of mentorship on measurable outcomes of success and the aspects of mentorship that are most valuable in promoting the careers of cardiologists are unclear. To address this, we conducted a large-scale survey of cardiologists in a real-world setting. We identified factors that enhance the mentorship experience, and found that mentee needs change with career stage.

Perceptions on Diversity in Cardiology: A Survey of Cardiology Fellowship Training Program Directors.

Background The lack of diversity in the cardiovascular physician workforce is thought to be an important driver of racial and sex disparities in cardiac care. Cardiology fellowship program directors play a critical role in shaping the cardiology workforce. Methods and Results To assess program directors' perceptions about diversity and barriers to enhancing diversity, the authors conducted a survey of 513 fellowship program directors or associate directors from 193 unique adult cardiology fellowship training programs.

Status of Early-Career Academic Cardiology: A Global Perspective.

Early-career academic cardiologists, who many believe are an important component of the future of cardiovascular care, face myriad challenges. The Early Career Section Academic Working Group of the American College of Cardiology, with senior leadership support, assessed the progress of this cohort from 2013 to 2016 with a global perspective. Data consisted of accessing National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute public information, data from the American Heart Association and international organizations, and a membership-wide survey.

Racial/Ethnic variation in carotid artery revascularization utilization and outcomes: analysis from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry.

Background And Purpose: It is not known whether racial or ethnic disparities observed with other revascularization procedures are also seen with carotid artery stenting (CAS) and endarterectomy (CEA).

Methods: We compared the utilization and outcomes of CAS and CEA across racial/ethnic groups within the CARE Registry between May 2007 and December 2012.

Results: Between 2007 and 2012, of the 13 129 patients who underwent CAS, majority were non-Hispanic whites (89.

Challenges facing early career academic cardiologists.

Early career academic cardiologists currently face unprecedented challenges that threaten a highly valued career path. A team consisting of early career professionals and senior leadership members of American College of Cardiology completed this white paper to inform the cardiovascular medicine profession regarding the plight of early career cardiologists and to suggest possible solutions. This paper includes: 1) definition of categories of early career academic cardiologists; 2) general challenges to all categories and specific challenges to each category; 3) obstacles as identified by a survey of current early career members of the American College of Cardiology; 4) major reasons for the failure of physician-scientists to receive funding from National Institute of Health/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute career development grants; 5) potential solutions; and 6) a call to action with specific recommendations.

Two different presentations of sinus of valsalva aneurysm.

Sinus of Valsalva aneurysm (SVA) is a rare cardiac anomaly that can be congenital or acquired. We report 2 cases of SVA. The first case involves a 59-year-old male presenting with frequent syncope.

Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations presenting as platypnea-orthodeoxia in graft-versus-host disease.

This case highlights the utility of agitated saline studies during transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) for detection of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVM) as a viable alternative to contrast-enhanced imaging studies. By carefully studying each pulmonary vein individually during saline contrast studies, TEE is able to demonstrate and localize PAVM. In addition, this report represents the first documentation of PAVM arising as a complication of graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant.