Faculty Bibliography

Once considered a surgical frontier fraught with risk, aortic arch aneurysms now represent a domain of evolving innovation. Despite their rarity, they pose severe risks of dissection, rupture, and mortality if not adequately managed. Primarily caused by prior aortic dissections, atherosclerosis, or connective tissue disorders, these aneurysms are often found incidentally on CTA or MRA imaging. Medical management focuses on reducing aortic wall stress through blood pressure control, risk factor modification, and regular imaging to monitor growth. Surgical intervention is typically indicated when the aneurysm diameter exceeds 5.5 cm, exhibits rapid growth, or causes symptoms such as compression or dissection. Open repair remains the gold standard for treatment due to its superior long-term outcomes, though hybrid and endovascular approaches are favored for high-risk patients due to reduced perioperative morbidity. Innovations in hybrid techniques and endovascular devices, alongside advancements in cerebral perfusion strategies, are shaping the future of personalized and minimally invasive approaches to aortic arch repair. This comprehensive review delves into the current management strategies for these aneurysms.

Delayed chest closure is frequently required following heart and lung transplantation due to graft edema, bleeding, size mismatch, or hemodynamic instability, yet current open-chest management strategies rely largely on improvised spacers with recognized mechanical and physiologic limitations. We describe the design and initial clinical application of a modular open-chest management system intended to provide controlled sternal separation while minimizing mediastinal compression and direct cardiac interaction. The device incorporates interchangeable plates and crossbars constructed from a biocompatible-fiberglass-reinforced polymer selected for mechanical strength, low profile, partial radiopacity, and MRI compatibility. Observational clinical use in thoracic transplant recipients demonstrated reproducible deployment, stable chest wall mechanics, preserved ventricular filling, and compatibility with postoperative imaging without device-related complications. This approach may provide a more standardized and physiologically consistent alternative to improvised open-chest techniques in selected transplant patients requiring delayed closure.

Cardiac tumors, though rare, present significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenges due to their heterogeneous nature and anatomical complexity. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on prevalence, diagnostic modalities, and management strategies for primary and metastatic cardiac tumors. Echocardiography, cardiac MRI, and CT remain cornerstone imaging tools for differentiating tumors from non-neoplastic masses, while advances in PET/CT and tissue characterization techniques refine staging and treatment planning. Surgical resection with clear margins (R0) is critical for resectable tumors, particularly benign myxomas, though malignant tumors like sarcomas require multimodal approaches combining surgery, radiotherapy, and systemic therapies. Emerging strategies such as heart autotransplantation and staged resections offer promise for complex cases, while oligometastatic disease management highlights the role of stereotactic radiotherapy and immunotherapy. Key challenges include standardizing resection margins, optimizing neoadjuvant therapies, and addressing high recurrence rates in malignancies. Future directions emphasize integrating AI-driven imaging analysis, molecular biomarkers, and genomic profiling to personalize therapies, alongside global registries to enhance data on rare tumors. Equitable access to advanced diagnostics and multidisciplinary collaboration are essential to improve outcomes. This review underscores the need for standardized guidelines, technological innovation, and patient-centered research to address gaps in cardiac oncology.

BACKGROUND/UNASSIGNED:Donation after circulatory death (DCD) with cardiopulmonary bypass for thoracoabdominal normothermic regional perfusion (TA-NRP) has led to increased use of donor hearts. Rejection rates and long-term survival outcomes are not known. METHODS/UNASSIGNED:A single-center retrospective cohort review of patients who underwent DCD heart transplantation from January 2020 to December 2023 was performed. Donor and recipient characteristics, operative characteristics, and posttransplantation outcomes were analyzed. Subgroup analysis comparing co-localized vs distant donors and recipients was performed. The primary end point was 1-year survival. Secondary end points included incidences of primary graft dysfunction (PGD), cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), rejection rate, and overall mortality. Our TA-NRP protocol has remained the same, consisting of sternotomy, ligation of aortic arch vessels, establishment of cardiopulmonary bypass, reintubation, resuscitation of the heart, and cold static storage during transport. RESULTS/UNASSIGNED:< .005) ischemia times, without any other differences. CONCLUSIONS/UNASSIGNED:Outcomes after DCD heart transplantation using TA-NRP remain encouraging with acceptable rates of rejection, PGD, CAV, and survival at 1 year.