Centralized Quality Assurance of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program Study Number 2005: A Phase 3 Randomized Trial of Lung Cancer Surgery or Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Operable Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (VALOR).

Purpose: The phase 3 Veterans Affairs Lung Cancer Surgery Or Stereotactic Radiotherapy study implemented centralized quality assurance (QA) to mitigate risks of protocol deviations. This report summarizes the quality and compliance of the first 100 participants treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in this study.

Methods And Materials: A centralized QA program was developed to credential and monitor study sites to ensure standard-of-care lung SBRT treatments are delivered to participants.

Fractured sternal wire causing a cardiac laceration.

Background: Hemopericardium is a serious complication that can occur after cardiac surgery. While most post-operative causes are due to inflammation and bleeding, patients with broken sternal wires and an unstable sternum may develop hemopericardium from penetrating trauma.

Case Presentation: We present the case of a 62-year-old male who underwent triple coronary bypass surgery and presented five months later with sudden anterior chest wall pain.

Multidisciplinary approach to pelvic leiomyomatosis with intracaval and intracardiac extension: A case report and review of the literature.

Intravenous leiomyomatosis (IVL) is an uncommon variant of leiomyoma characterized by intravascular proliferation of a histologically benign smooth muscle tumor extending beyond the uterus into the distant great vessels. Leiomyomatosis may reach the inferior vena cava, right atrium, and pulmonary arteries. Owing to its rare occurrence, intracardiac leiomyomatosis has been reported as isolated case reports and small case series.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer: Executive Summary of an ASTRO Evidence-Based Guideline.

Purpose: This guideline presents evidence-based recommendations for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in challenging clinical scenarios in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods And Materials: The American Society for Radiation Oncology convened a task force to perform a systematic literature review on 4 key questions addressing: (1) application of SBRT to operable patients; (2) appropriate use of SBRT in tumors that are centrally located, large, multifocal, or unbiopsied; (3) individual tailoring of SBRT in "high-risk" clinical scenarios; and (4) SBRT as salvage therapy after recurrence. Guideline recommendations were created using a predefined consensus-building methodology supported by American Society for Radiation Oncology-approved tools for grading evidence quality and recommendation strength.

Impact of Race on Treatment and Survival among U.S. Veterans with Early-Stage Lung Cancer.

Introduction: Numerous reports suggest lower rates of surgical procedures and poorer survival for black patients with early-stage (stage I or II) NSCLC than for white patients. This study examined treatment trends among blacks and whites with early-stage NSCLC and determined whether racial disparities exist in survival among patients receiving similar treatment.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 18,466 patients in the Veteran Affairs Central Cancer Registry in whom stage I or II NSCLC was diagnosed in 2001-2010 was conducted.

Autologous mesenchymal stem cells produce concordant improvements in regional function, tissue perfusion, and fibrotic burden when administered to patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting: The Prospective Randomized Study of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery (PROMETHEUS) trial.

Rationale: Although accumulating data support the efficacy of intramyocardial cell-based therapy to improve left ventricular (LV) function in patients with chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy undergoing CABG, the underlying mechanism and impact of cell injection site remain controversial. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) improve LV structure and function through several effects including reducing fibrosis, neoangiogenesis, and neomyogenesis.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that the impact on cardiac structure and function after intramyocardial injections of autologous MSCs results from a concordance of prorecovery phenotypic effects.

Delayed left ventricular pseudoaneurysms after left ventricular aneurysm repairs with the CorRestore patch.

We present two cases of left ventricular pseudoaneurysm that developed after left ventricular aneurysm repair with the CorRestore patch (Somanetics Corp, Troy, MI). Both patients underwent subsequent pseudoaneurysm repair with Dacron patches (Boston Scientific Corp, Natick, MA). We discuss the physiologic limitations of the CorRestore patch and the causes of pseudoaneurysms that arise after left ventricular aneurysm repair.

C-ring mitral annuloplasty: 27-year follow-up.

We report the long-term follow-up of a patient with rheumatic mitral valve disease who underwent annuloplasty with a specially developed C-ring (the Cooley C-ring) for mitral valve repair in 1977. The repaired valve remained competent and unobstructed for 27 years before requiring replacement.