Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on March 24, identified the recall by Medtronic of its Affinity Pixie Oxygenator and Cardiotomy/Venous Reservoir with Balance Biosurface as Class I, the most serious. The recall was issued because of potentially elevated levels of harmful bacterial endotoxins. Use of a device…
Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 1 identified the recall by Medtronic of its HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device (HVAD) Pump Implant Kits as Class I, the most serious. The kit is part of the HeartWare HVAD System, which is used to help the heart pump blood…
Editor's Note The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a substantial decline in cardiac surgery volume and an unexplained increase in deaths after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), finds this study presented January 30 at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). Researchers from the University of California,…
Editor's Note In a Scientific Statement, the American Heart Association (AHA) says marijuana use has no cardiovascular benefits and that it has been linked to an increased risk of heart attacks, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure. Though a full understanding of how marijuana use affects the heart and blood vessels…
Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS) on August 4 announced that it is strongly opposed to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule for CY 2021. In the fee schedule, which is set to take place January 1, 2021, Medicare payments will…
Editor's Note US News & World Report on July 28 released its 2019-2020 Best Hospitals Honor Roll. The top five are: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota Cleveland Clinic Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell, New York City, and UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles (tie) Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston…
Editor's Note This study found reduced cardiac surgery activity, redeployed personnel, and curtailed educational and research activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey respondents from 60 cardiac surgery centers in 19 countries said they had reduced their cardiac surgical procedures by an average of 50% to 75% in response…
Editor's Note As hospitals face a surge of COVID-19 patients, the ability for them to care for trauma cases and medical and surgical emergencies is severely compromised. Because of this, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) on April 7 issued a statement calling for strategies to preserve capacity and capability…
Editor's Note Specialists like cardiac and orthopedic surgical teams as well as anesthesiologists and cardiologists are being redeployed in hospitals to help treat the rising number of COVID-19 patients, the March 30 Modern Healthcare reports. What used to be the heart team at Manhattan’s Mount Sinai Morningside is now a…
Editor's Note This study of Medicare patients at 340 teaching hospitals and matched patient controls at 2,444 nonteaching hospitals found that as risk of mortality increased, the mortality benefit of treatment at teaching hospitals also increased, though with marginally higher costs. Included in the analysis were 86,751 pairs of general,…