Early Experiences of Serbian Surgeons Using No-Touch Technique for Vein Conduits in CABG Patients: A Follow-Up Study with Multi-Slice CT Angiography.

: The saphenous vein graft (SVG) remains the most frequently used conduit worldwide, despite its common disadvantage of early graft failure. To solve the problem and reduce the SVG damage, Souza implemented a new technique where a vein is harvested with surrounding fascia and fat tissue (the so-called no-touch technique). .

Aortic valve replacement vs. conservative treatment in asymptomatic severe aortic stenosis: long-term follow-up of the AVATAR trial.

Background And Aims: The question of when and how to treat truly asymptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) and normal left ventricular (LV) systolic function is still subject to debate and ongoing research. Here, the results of extended follow-up of the AVATAR trial are reported (NCT02436655, ClinicalTrials.gov).

Society of Thoracic Surgeons Risk Score and EuroSCORE-2 Appropriately Assess 30-Day Postoperative Mortality in the STICH Trial and a Contemporary Cohort of Patients With Left Ventricular Dysfunction Undergoing Surgical Revascularization.

Background: The STICH trial (Surgical Treatment for Ischemic Heart Failure) demonstrated a survival benefit of coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and left ventricular dysfunction. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) risk score and the EuroSCORE-2 (ES2) are used for risk assessment in cardiac surgery, with little information available about their accuracy in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. We assessed the ability of the STS score and ES2 to evaluate 30-day postoperative mortality risk in STICH and a contemporary cohort (CC) of patients with a left ventricle ejection fraction ≤35% undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting outside of a trial setting.