Mentorship Effectiveness in Cardiothoracic Surgical Training.

BACKGROUND: Mentoring is an essential component of cardiothoracic surgery training, yet trainees report varied experiences despite substantial efforts to enhance mentorship opportunities. This study aimed to evaluate mentorship effectiveness and identify gaps in mentorship education. METHODS: A survey was distributed to cardiothoracic surgical trainees in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited programs (n = 531). Responses to 16 questions concerning trainee experiences, expectations, and perspectives on mentorship were collected. An 11-component mentorship effectiveness tool generated a composite score (0 to 55), with a score of 44 or lower indicating less effective mentorship. RESULTS: Sixty-seven residents completed the survey (12.6%), with most (83.6%) reporting a current mentor. Trainees with mentors cited "easy to work with and approachable" (44 of 58; 75.9%) as the major criterion for mentor selection, whereas trainees without a mentor reported an inability to identify one who truly reflected the resident's needs (6 of 11; 45.5%). Resident age, gender, race or ethnicity, marital status, family status, postgraduate year, and training program type or size were not associated with having a mentor (P = .15 to .73). The median mentorship effectiveness score was 51 (interquartile range, 44, 55). More than one-third of residents (25 of 67) had either no mentor (n = 6) or less effective mentorship (n = 16), or both (n = 3). Resident and program characteristics were not associated with mentorship effectiveness (P = .39 to .99). Finally, 61.2% of residents had not received education on effective mentorship, and 53.8% did not currently serve as a mentor. CONCLUSIONS: Many resident respondents have either no mentor or less effective mentorship, and most reported not having received education on mentorship. Addressing these gaps in mentorship training and delivery should be prioritized.

Effects of Older Donor Age and Cold Ischemic Time on Long-Term Outcomes of Heart Transplantation.

Using older donor hearts in cardiac transplantation may lead to inferior outcomes: older donors have more comorbidities that reduce graft quality, including coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. Shorter cold ischemic times might overcome the detrimental effect of older donor age. We examined the relationship between donor allograft age and cold ischemic time on the long-term outcomes of heart transplant recipients. rom 1994 through 2010, surgeons at our hospital performed 745 heart transplantations. We retrospectively classified these cases by donor ages of <50 years (younger) and ≥50 years (older), then by cold ischemic times of <120 min (short), 120 to 240 min (intermediate), and >240 min (long). Endpoints included recipient and graft survival, and freedom from cardiac allograft vasculopathy, nonfatal major adverse cardiac events, and rejection. For intermediate ischemic times, the 5-year recipient survival rate was lower when donors were older (70% vs 82.6%; P=0.02). This was also true for long ischemic times (69.8% vs 87.6%; P=0.09). For short ischemic times, we found no difference in 5-year recipient or graft survival rates (80% older vs 85.6% younger; P=0.79), in freedom from nonfatal major adverse cardiac events (83.3% vs 91.5%; P=0.46), or in freedom from cardiac allograft vasculopathy (50% vs 70.6%; P=0.66). Rejection rates were mostly similar. Long-term graft survival in heart transplantation patients with older donor allografts may improve when cold ischemic times are shorter.

Combining Stem Cell Therapy for Advanced Heart Failure and Ventricular Assist Devices: A Review.

The use of stem cell therapy in combination with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for patients with advanced heart failure (HF) is an attractive concept with the potential to alter the natural history of HF. Cell therapy trials for HF have demonstrated excellent safety and encouraging results, but current rates of myocardial recovery after LVAD implantation are limited. Early trials combining these 2 therapies to increase the likelihood of recovery and to potentially obviate the need for subsequent transplantation appear promising. Additionally, the application of cell therapy to patients undergoing LVAD implantation as a bridge to cardiac transplantation creates an opportunity to examine cardiac tissue before and after treatment and to study the mechanism of benefit. Despite the promise, there is a paucity of data for the combination of stem cell therapy with LVAD insertion in patients with HF. Of 11 case series or clinical trials, the largest enrolled 30 patients. We highlight clinical trials using stem cell therapy for end-stage HF most relevant to an LVAD patient population and comprehensively review the preclinical and clinical studies of combined stem cell therapy and long-term mechanical circulatory support. Based on the available clinical trials, the combination of stem cell therapy and LVAD support is a promising approach but requires further clinical refinement, with additional clinical data and larger numbers of patients required to support its clinical application.

Intermediate outcomes with ex-vivo allograft perfusion for heart transplantation.

BACKGROUND: The Organ Care System, an ex-vivo heart perfusion platform, represents an alternative to the current standard of cold organ storage that sustains the donor heart in a near-physiologic state. It is unknown whether using the Organ Care System influences 2-year outcomes after heart transplantation. We reviewed our institutional experience to compare 2-year outcomes for patients randomized to the Organ Care System or standard cold storage. METHODS: Between 2011 and 2013, heart transplant candidates from a single tertiary-care medical center enrolled within the PROCEED II trial were randomized to either standard cold storage or the Organ Care System. Outcomes assessed included 2-year survival, freedom from cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), non-fatal major cardiac events (NF-MACE), biopsy-proven cellular rejection (CMR) and biopsy-proven antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients were randomized to the Organ Care System (n = 19) or cold storage group (n = 19). There was no significant difference in 2-year patient survival (Organ Care System: 72.2%; cold storage: 81.6%; p = 0.38). Similarly, there were no differences in freedom from CAV, NF-MACE, CMR or AMR. The Organ Care System group had significantly longer total ischemia time (361 ± 96 minutes vs 207 ± 50 minutes; p < 0.001) and shorter cold ischemia time (134 ± 45 minutes vs 207 ± 50 minutes; p < 0.001) compared with the cold storage group. CONCLUSION: The Organ Care System did not appear to be associated with significant differences in intermediate results compared with conventional strategies. These results suggest that this ex-vivo allograft perfusion system is a promising and valid platform for donor heart transportation.

Microaxial Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device as a Bridge to Transplantation after LVAD Malfunction.

Evolving technology and improvements in the design of modern, continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices have substantially reduced the rate of device malfunction. As the number of implanted devices increases and as survival prospects for patients with a device continue to improve, device malfunction is an increasingly common clinical challenge. Here, we present our initial experience with an endovascular microaxial flow left ventricular assist device as a successful bridge to transplantation in a 54-year-old man who experienced left ventricular assist device malfunction.

Combined Lung-Kidney Transplantation: An Analysis of the UNOS/OPTN Database.

Poor outcomes after thoracic transplantation with concurrent renal dysfunction are well described: without transplantation or with thoracic-only transplantation, patients face unacceptably high mortality. Outcomes after combined lung-kidney transplantation (LKT) remain largely uninvestigated. The United Network for Organ Sharing/Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network database was queried to identify all LKTs, lung transplantations (LTs), and kidney transplantations (KTs) performed in the United States from 1995 to 2013. Survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using log-rank tests or Cox regression models. Thirty-one LKTs were performed. Mean recipient age was 45.4 ± 13.5 years; 48.3 per cent were male. Retransplantation for graft failure was the leading indication for LT (n = 13) and the most common renal indication was calcineurin inhibitor nephrotoxicity (n = 11). Mean lung allocation score was 46.6 ± 14.4, mean creatinine was 3.7 ± 2.8 g/dL, and glomerular filtration rate was 23.1 (interquartile range 11.9, 38.3) mL/min/1.7 m(2), and 11 (35.5%) were dialysis dependent. Patient survival after LKT was 92.9 per cent, 71.0 per cent, and 71.0 per cent at one month, six months, and one year, with a median survival of 95.2 months. One- and five-year survival after LKT, 71.0 per cent and 59.9 per cent, were similar to LT (n = 23,913), 81.7 per cent and 51.4 per cent (P = 0.061 and 0.55), and inferior to KT (n = 175,269), 94.9 per cent and 82.8 per cent (P < 0.0001), respectively. Patient survival after LKT was similar to isolated LT, and these results suggest that LKT is a feasible therapeutic option for LT candidates with significant renal dysfunction.

Catastrophic outcome of de novo aortic thrombus after stent grafting for blunt thoracic aortic injury.

Fourteen months after thoracic endovascular aortic repair for blunt thoracic aortic injury, a 24-year-old man abruptly collapsed. His neurologic function in the lower extremities fluctuated. Subsequent computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a nearly occlusive thrombus within his aortic stent. He underwent open descending thoracic aortic replacement. This dramatic case is the first report of spontaneous intraluminal thrombosis in an intact stent graft, as well as the first report of waxing and waning symptoms of spinal cord ischemia resulting from nearly obstructive thrombus. Stent graft thrombus is a potential complication after endovascular repair for traumatic aortic injury and is an additional consideration when weighing the risks and benefits of endovascular repair and subsequent surveillance strategies.

Small bowel carcinoid: Location isn't everything!

AIM: To investigate the prognostic significance of the primary site of disease for small bowel carcinoid (SBC) using a population-based analysis. METHODS: The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database was queried for histologically confirmed SBC between the years 1988 and 2009. Overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using Log rank testing. Log rank and multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to identify predictors of survival using age, year of diagnosis, race, gender, tumor histology/size/location, tumor-node-metastasis stage, number of lymph nodes (LNs) examined and percent of LNs with metastases. RESULTS: Of the 3763 patients, 51.2% were male with a mean age of 62.13 years. Median follow-up was 50 mo. The 10-year OS and DSS for duodenal primaries were significantly better when compared to jejunal and ileal primaries (P = 0.02 and < 0.0001, respectively). On multivariate Cox regression analysis, after adjusting for multiple factors, primary site location was not a significant predictor of survival (P = 0.752 for OS and P = 0.966 DSS) while age, number of primaries, number of LNs examined, T-stage and M-stage were independent predictors of survival. CONCLUSION: This 21-year, population-based study of SBC challenges the concept that location of the primary lesion alone is a significant predictor of survival.