Risk Factors for Reduced Long-Term Survival Following Isolated Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement in Different Age Groups.

Background: According to recent guidelines, the selection of transcatheter vs surgical aortic valve replacement (TAVR vs SAVR) in low-risk patients depends on age and life expectancy. Our objective was to understand independent risk factors for reduced life expectancy following isolated SAVR and the rate of redo aortic valve (AV) intervention in different age groups, to delineate optimal intervention depending on patient characteristics.

Methods: Between 2000 and 2015, 2026 patients underwent isolated SAVR with Carpentier-Edwards pericardial tissue valves (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA).

Long-term outcomes of isolated mechanical versus bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement in different age groups of propensity-matched patients.

Objectives: Prothesis choice in isolated mitral valve replacement for patients aged 75 years or younger remains debated as most studies comparing prothesis type have included large proportions of combined operations and benefits are influenced by concomitant procedures. This study compared long-term outcomes of isolated mechanical versus bioprosthetic mitral valves in different age groups of propensity-matched populations.

Methods: This is a retrospective, multicentre, propensity-matched observational study.

Inter- and Intra-rater Reliability of the Checketts' Grading System for Pin-site Infections across All Skin Colours.

Unlabelled: The Checketts' grading system (CGS) is the only classification that provides both a description of how to visually grade the infection and the appropriate course of treatment. There are no studies on the reliability of this system nor on whether skin colour can influence applicability. This study aims to determine the inter-rater and intra-rater reliability of the CGS to assess whether this scale could be used as a universal grading system across all skin colours.

2023 Update on equity, diversity, and inclusion in Canadian cardiac surgery.

Purpose Of Review: Despite efforts to diversify the medical field, cardiac surgery remains amongst the least diverse specialties. Specifically, the percentage of women and racial minorities has remained low in past few decades. This may impact prospective trainee recruitment and surgical care.

Successful thrombolysis of early bioprosthetic mitral valve thrombosis following extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: Case report.

Bioprosthetic mitral valve thrombosis (BPMVT) following post-operative extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a rare complication with high mortality. A 75-year-old man with a flail posterior mitral leaflet underwent a bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement and was subsequently placed on central veno-arterial high flow ECMO following intractable shock after protamine administration. He developed BPMVT over the following 48 hr, which did not resolve with 3 weeks of systemic heparin.

A Proactive Approach for Managing COVID-19: The Importance of Understanding the Motivational Roots of Vaccination Hesitancy for SARS-CoV2.

Importance: Vaccination hesitancy-the reluctance or refusal to be vaccinated-is a leading global health threat (World Health Organization, 2019). It is imperative to identify the prevalence of vaccination hesitancy for SARS-CoV2 in order to understand the scope of the problem and to identify its motivational roots in order to proactively prepare to address the problem when a vaccine eventually becomes available.

Objective: To identify (1) the prevalence of vaccination hesitancy for a SARS-CoV2 vaccine, (2) the motivational roots of this hesitancy, and (3) the most promising incentives for improving the likelihood of vaccination uptake when a vaccine does become available.