Educating Surgeons to Construct Valved Conduits: What Does It Take to Achieve Reproducible Results?

Background: Despite the demonstrated utility of surgeon-fashioned polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) valved conduits, methods for educating surgeons to reproducibly construct these conduits are lacking. We present a surgeon education process and early outcomes for children receiving surgeon-fashioned PTFE valved conduits during the initial learning curve.

Methods: The educational curriculum included 4 hours of proctored instruction/supervised valve construction, followed by 2 hours of individual practice.

A shifting landscape: Practice patterns and outcomes of cystic fibrosis and non-cystic fibrosis pediatric lung transplantation.

Background: New drugs may further decrease the need for lung transplant (LTx) in pediatric patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), but few studies highlight pediatric non-CF LTx characteristics and outcomes.

Methods: The ISHLT registry was used to report morbidity, graft failure, and survival for primary pediatric (<18 years) LTx performed 1990-2017. Recipient/donor characteristics and long-term outcomes were analyzed for CF and non-CF recipients.