: Acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) is a life-threatening cardiovascular emergency, of which the long-term impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and male-female-specific insights remain inadequately clarified. : Consecutive adult ATAAD patients who underwent surgery were retrospectively included between 2007 and 2017 in four referral centers in the Netherlands, and baseline data were collected. The 36-Item Short-Form (SF-36) Health Survey was sent to all survivors between 2019 and 2021 and compared to validated SF-36 scores of the Dutch general population stratified by age group and sex.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Randomized controlled trials are the gold standard for evidence generation in medicine but are limited by their real-world generalizability, resource needs, shorter follow-up durations and inability to be conducted for all clinical questions. Decision analysis (DA) models may simulate trials and observational studies by using existing data and evidence- and expert-informed assumptions and extend analyses over longer time horizons, different study populations and specific scenarios, helping to translate population outcomes to patient-specific clinical and economic outcomes. Here, we present a scoping review and methodological primer on DA for cardiac surgery research.
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March 2024
Half a century after the first pulmonary autograft operation (Ross operation), performed in 1967 by Donald Ross in central London, there is a very strong conviction that the Ross operation is the best available valve substitute today, not only for children, but also for younger and older adults. The Ross operation has stimulated a lot of science to do with tissue-engineering and biology of heart valves, which is a promising avenue for the future. For one of us (M.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTreatment decisions in healthcare often carry lifelong consequences that can be challenging to foresee. As such, tools that visualize and estimate outcome after different lifetime treatment strategies are lacking and urgently needed to support clinical decision-making in the setting of rapidly evolving healthcare systems, with increasingly numerous potential treatments. In this regard, microsimulation models may prove to be valuable additions to current risk-prediction models.
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