Robot-assisted cardiac surgery: who needs training, the surgeon or the program?
STS consensus document on recommendations for the development of robot-assisted cardiac surgery programs.
Heart Surgery Today
Mechanical versus biological valve in patients aged 50 to 70 years: do we still lack a definitive answer?
This article reviews the systematic review and meta-analysis by Trevis et al. comparing long-term outcomes after aortic valve replacement (AVR) with mechanical versus bioprosthetic valves in patients aged 50 to 70 years.
Consequences of overlooking tricuspid regurgitation during TAVI.
The expansion of transcatheter aortic valve implantation avoids open surgery, but also prevents concomitant repair of associated tricuspid regurgitation. This study assesses the consequences of leaving this second valve untreated and seeks to identify which patient profiles might benefit most from conventional combined surgery.
Radical pericardiectomy for constrictive pericarditis: how far should resection go, and with or without CPB?
This study supports the emerging trend toward pericardiectomy extended to the left-sided cardiac chambers, in contrast to the traditional strategy, which by definition was limited to the low-pressure chambers and performed without CPB.
Routine primary sternal closure after Norwood surgery: bold or insolent in the face of dogma?
Retrospective comparative study assessing outcomes after a strategy of primary versus delayed sternal closure following the Norwood procedure.
Rethinking pumphead: does cardiac surgery really cause cognitive decline?
Systematic review on cognitive decline after cardiac surgery analyzing the quality of the studies supporting this phenomenon
Custodiol vs Del Nido: which should we choose for minimally invasive mitral valve repair?
Single-centre retrospective observational study comparing two cardioplegic strategies in patients undergoing minimally invasive mitral valve repair between 2014 and 2025.
Double problem, double solution: why treat only one valve when both are diseased?
Single-centre retrospective propensity score–matched study from Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, comparing double valve surgery (DVS) with isolated transcatheter aortic valve replacement (I-TAVR) in patients with severe aortic stenosis and concomitant moderate-to-severe mitral stenosis, with particular focus on heart failure readmissions during follow-up.
Prótesis AMDS in type A dissection with malperfusion: extending treatment to the arch without replacing it
This study evaluates the AMDS Hybrid Prosthesis as an adjunct to conventional open repair in acute DeBakey type I aortic dissection with malperfusion, aiming to stabilize the aortic arch, expand the true lumen, and reduce dynamic malperfusion without routine total arch replacement.
Lessons learned from iatrogenic aortic dissection
This article provides an overview of iatrogenic aortic dissection based on an international registry, addressing its clinical features, diagnostic challenges, and different management strategies compared with spontaneous aortic dissection.