Hoffman GM, Brosig CL, Bear LM, Tweddell JS, Mussatto KA. Effect of Intercurrent Operation and Cerebral Oxygenation on Developmental Trajectory in Congenital Heart Disease. Ann Thorac Surg. 2016 Feb;101(2):708-16.
In this prospective observational study, researchers assessed overall hemodynamic well-being by near-infrared spectroscopy associated with neurodevelopmental outcome. In contrast to other studies, increasing numbers of surgical procedures was not associated with neurodevelopmental outcome when adjusted for cardiopulmonary bypass time and physiologic status. As such, treatment strategies that target improved physiologic status may also result in improved neurodevelopmental outcome.
Jacobsen RM, Earing MG, Hill GD, Barnes M, Mitchell ME, Woods RK, Tweddell JS. The Externally Supported Ross Operation: Early Outcomes and Intermediate Follow-Up. Ann Thorac Surg. 2015 Aug;100(2):631-8.
Factors predicting failure of the Ross aortic valve replacement procedure include: preoperative aortic regurgitation, large preoperative aortic annulus size, bicuspid aortic valve, and significant preoperative aortic root dilation. These factors are common in young patients who might otherwise benefit from the Ross procedure. In an effort to limit postoperative root dilatation, decrease the need for re-intervention and extend the population who might be candidates for the Ross operation, we investigated the use of external support of the pulmonary autograft with a Dacron tube graft. This paper summarizes our experience with 26 children, adolescents and young adults, undergoing the externally supported Ross procedure and shows excellent intermediate term outcome.
Moore RA, Lorts A, Madueme PC, Taylor MD, Morales DL. Virtual implantation of the 50cc SynCardia total artificial heart. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2016 Jun;35(6):824-7.
The current standard of practice to determine patient eligibility to fit for circulatory systems devices includes measuring weight and body surface area. In this retrospective analysis, we proposed that virtual implantation of the Syncardia Total Artificial Heart would increase fit eligibility in pediatric patients. Significantly, we demonstrated that with virtual implantation in 15 consecutive patients, one-third of our study group could have been candidates for the device, despite not meeting traditional demographics in determining fit. This work was instrumental in allowing virtual implantation to use as acceptable fit criteria in the clinical trial for the pediatric 50/50cc Total Artificial Heart.