Aida K Sarcon, Omar A Selim, Barbara L Mullen, Benjamin F Mundell, Steven L Moran, K Robert Shen
{"title":"Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene mesh in chest-wall reconstruction: A 27-year experience.","authors":"Aida K Sarcon, Omar A Selim, Barbara L Mullen, Benjamin F Mundell, Steven L Moran, K Robert Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.05.026","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.05.026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>The study objective was to evaluate the success of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene mesh in chest-wall reconstruction.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (Gore-Tex) chest-wall reconstruction. The main outcome was a mesh-related event, defined as a mesh-related reoperation (eg, mesh infection requiring debridement with/without explant, tumor recurrence with explant) or structural dehiscence/mesh loosening with/without a hernia. Demographics and surgical outcomes were reported.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 246 reconstructions met inclusion (1994-2021). Fifty-five reconstructions (22.4%) had mesh-related events within a median of 1.08 years (interquartile range, 0.08-4.53) postoperatively; those without had a stable chest for a median of 3.9 years (interquartile range, 1.59-8.23, P < .001). Forty-one meshes (16.6%) became infected, requiring reoperation. Eighty-eight percent (36/41) were completely explanted; 8.3% (3/36) required additional mesh placement. Predictors of mesh-related events were prior chest-wall radiation (odds ratio, 9.73, CI, 3.47-30.10, P < .001), higher body mass index (odds ratio, 1.08, CI, 1.01-1.16, P = .019), and larger defects (odds ratio, 1.48, CI, 1.02-2.17, P = .042). The risk of mesh-related events with obesity was higher with prior chest-wall radiation.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Most patients (78%) with an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene mesh had a stable reconstruction after a median of 4 years. Obesity, larger defects, and prior chest-wall radiation were associated with a higher risk of a mesh-related event mostly due to mesh infections. Seventeen percent of reconstructions had reoperation for mesh infection; 88% were completely explanted. Only 8% required replacement mesh, suggesting that experienced surgeons can safely manage them without replacement. Future studies should compare various meshes for high-risk patients to help guide the optimal mesh selection.</p>","PeriodicalId":49975,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"303-313.e2"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141328029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stephanie N Nguyen, Alice V Vinogradsky, Alice M Tao, Megan M Chung, David M Kalfa, Emile A Bacha, Andrew B Goldstone
{"title":"Rare coronary artery variants are associated with increased mortality and reinterventions following the arterial switch operation.","authors":"Stephanie N Nguyen, Alice V Vinogradsky, Alice M Tao, Megan M Chung, David M Kalfa, Emile A Bacha, Andrew B Goldstone","doi":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.07.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.07.010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To determine the influence of coronary anatomy on long-term outcomes of the arterial switch operation (ASO).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively reviewed patients with transposition of the great arteries or Taussig-Bing anomaly who underwent ASO at our institution between 1992 and 2022. The primary endpoint was freedom from a composite of death, transplantation, and coronary reintervention.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 632 patients (median age, 5.0 days; interquartile range [IQR], 4.0-7.0 days) underwent ASO. Coronary anatomy included the following categories: usual (n = 411; 65%), circumflex (Cx) from sinus 2 (n = 89; 14%), inverted (n = 55; 9%), single sinus (n = 46; 7%), and intramural (n = 31; 5%). Overall operative mortality was 3% (n = 16) and highest in patients with intramural cardiac anatomy (n = 3; 10%), although it dropped to 0% in this group in the most recent decade. The median duration of follow-up was 14.5 years (IQR, 6.0-20.3 years). Twenty-year freedom from the primary endpoint was 95 ± 1% for usual anatomy, 99 ± 1% for Cx from sinus 2, 90 ± 4% for inverted, 91 ± 4% for single sinus, and 80 ± 9% for intramural (P < .001). Intramurals had the highest 20-year incidence of coronary reintervention (11 ± 8%). Cox modeling identified intraoperative coronary revision (hazard ratio [HR], 20.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 9.4-53.9; P < .001), Taussig-Bing anomaly (HR, 4.9; 95% CI, 2.2-10.9; P < .001), and an intramural coronary artery (HR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.0-8.2; P = .04) to be risk factors for the composite endpoint.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Rare coronary artery variants-particularly intramural-are associated with increased mortality and coronary reinterventions after ASO. A low threshold for unroofing intramurals is likely associated with declining mortality and improved outcomes. Additional investigations are needed to determine the long-term fate of the coronary arteries after ASO.</p>","PeriodicalId":49975,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"217-228.e22"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141617541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Preoperatively predicting survival outcome for clinical stage IA pure-solid non-small cell lung cancer by radiomics-based machine learning.","authors":"Haoji Yan, Takahiro Niimi, Takeshi Matsunaga, Mariko Fukui, Aritoshi Hattori, Kazuya Takamochi, Kenji Suzuki","doi":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.05.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.05.010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Clinical stage IA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showing a pure-solid appearance on computed tomography is associated with a worse prognosis. This study aimed to develop and validate machine-learning models using preoperative clinical and radiomic features to predict overall survival (OS) in clinical stage IA pure-solid NSCLC.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Patients who underwent lung resection for NSCLC between January 2012 and December 2020 were reviewed. The radiomic features were extracted from the intratumoral and peritumoral regions on computed tomography. The machine-learning models were developed using random survival forest and eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithms, whereas the Cox regression model was set as a benchmark. Model performance was assessed using the integrated time-dependent area under the curve (iAUC) and validated by 5-fold cross-validation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 642 patients with clinical stage IA pure-solid NSCLC were included. Among 3748 radiomic and 34 preoperative clinical features, 42 features were selected. Both machine-learning models outperformed the Cox regression model (iAUC, 0.753; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.629-0.829). The XGBoost model showed a better performance (iAUC, 0.832; 95% CI, 0.779-0.880) than the random survival forest model (iAUC, 0.795; 95% CI, 0.734-0.856). The XGBoost model showed an excellent survival stratification performance with a significant OS difference among the low-risk (5-year OS, 100.0%), moderate low-risk (5-year OS, 88.5%), moderate high-risk (5-year OS, 75.6%), and high-risk (5-year OS, 41.7%) groups (P < .0001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>A radiomics-based machine-learning model can preoperatively and accurately predict OS and improve survival stratification in clinical stage IA pure-solid NSCLC.</p>","PeriodicalId":49975,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"254-266.e9"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141093894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Air-Quality variability highlights disparities in lung cancer.","authors":"Zamaan Hooda, Mara B Antonoff","doi":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.07.054","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.07.054","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49975,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"e8"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142057112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arjune S Dhanekula, Rachel Flodin, Palcah Shibale, Joseph Volk, Thoetphum Benyakorn, Scott DeRoo, Sherene Shalhub, Christopher R Burke
{"title":"Natural history of the distal aorta following elective root replacement in patients with Marfan syndrome.","authors":"Arjune S Dhanekula, Rachel Flodin, Palcah Shibale, Joseph Volk, Thoetphum Benyakorn, Scott DeRoo, Sherene Shalhub, Christopher R Burke","doi":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2023.10.061","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2023.10.061","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>It is unclear if the addition of a prophylactic arch operation is beneficial at the time of root replacement in patients with Marfan syndrome (MFS). This project aims to understand the fate of the distal aorta following elective root replacement in patients with MFS.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Between 2000 and 2019, 124 adult patients with MFS were identified as having undergone elective aortic root replacement with a clamped distal aortic anastomosis during their lifetime. Serial axial imaging was analyzed. The primary outcome was a composite of subsequent type B aortic dissection (TBAD), aneurysmal degeneration (>4 cm), and aortic reintervention. Secondary outcomes included subsequent TBAD and mortality.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Mean age at root replacement was 33.3 years. Median follow-up was 11.3 years. Thirty-one patients (25%) experienced the primary outcome, with no survival difference (P = .9). The crossclamp and aortic cannulation sites were stable (growth rate, 0.33 mm/year), and 2 patients (1.6%) required reintervention there. Twenty-three patients (19.8%) experienced subsequent TBAD. Patients with TBAD had a higher rate of distal degeneration (P < .001), but no significant change in survival (P = .2). Preoperative hypertension (odds ratio, 3.96; P < .05) and younger age at root replacement (odds ratio, 1.05; P < .05) increased the risk of TBAD, based on regression analysis.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The distal aorta (including the clamp and cannulation site) overall appears stable in patients with MFS following elective root replacement without prophylactic arch operation. Development of TBAD seems to be the primary driver of distal degeneration. Factors associated with TBAD development included hypertension, underscoring the importance of strict blood pressure control in these patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":49975,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"49-58.e5"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71488185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adeel Abbasi, Cindy Li, Max Dekle, Christian A Bermudez, Daniel Brodie, Frank W Sellke, Neel R Sodha, Corey E Ventetuolo, Carsten Eickhoff
{"title":"Interpretable machine learning-based predictive modeling of patient outcomes following cardiac surgery.","authors":"Adeel Abbasi, Cindy Li, Max Dekle, Christian A Bermudez, Daniel Brodie, Frank W Sellke, Neel R Sodha, Corey E Ventetuolo, Carsten Eickhoff","doi":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2023.11.034","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2023.11.034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The clinical applicability of machine learning predictions of patient outcomes following cardiac surgery remains unclear. We applied machine learning to predict patient outcomes associated with high morbidity and mortality after cardiac surgery and identified the importance of variables to the derived model's performance.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We applied machine learning to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database to predict postoperative hemorrhage requiring reoperation, venous thromboembolism (VTE), and stroke. We used permutation feature importance to identify variables important to model performance and a misclassification analysis to study the limitations of the model.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study dataset included 662,772 subjects who underwent cardiac surgery between 2015 and 2017 and 240 variables. Hemorrhage requiring reoperation, VTE, and stroke occurred in 2.9%, 1.2%, and 2.0% of subjects, respectively. The model performed remarkably well at predicting all 3 complications (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.92-0.97). Preoperative and intraoperative variables were not important to model performance; instead, performance for the prediction of all 3 outcomes was driven primarily by several postoperative variables, including known risk factors for the complications, such as mechanical ventilation and new onset of postoperative arrhythmias. Many of the postoperative variables important to model performance also increased the risk of subject misclassification, indicating internal validity.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>A machine learning model accurately and reliably predicts patient outcomes following cardiac surgery. Postoperative, as opposed to preoperative or intraoperative variables, are important to model performance. Interventions targeting this period, including minimizing the duration of mechanical ventilation and early treatment of new-onset postoperative arrhythmias, may help lower the risk of these complications.</p>","PeriodicalId":49975,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"114-123.e28"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11133766/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138471146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Varun J Sharma, Abbie Kangarajah, Amy Yang, Michelle Kim, Siven Seevayanagam, George Matalanis
{"title":"Valve-sparing aortic root replacement: Long-term variables significantly associated with mortality and morbidity.","authors":"Varun J Sharma, Abbie Kangarajah, Amy Yang, Michelle Kim, Siven Seevayanagam, George Matalanis","doi":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2023.11.027","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2023.11.027","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>In aortic root surgery, valve-sparing aortic root replacement is an attractive alternative by mitigating the risks inherent to prosthetic valves; however, little is known about the variables that impact its durability. We review our mid- to long-term outcomes after valve-sparing aortic root replacement and describe factors that impact survival and valve reintervention and insufficiency.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A retrospective review of 284 consecutive patients undergoing valve-sparing aortic root replacement between November 1999 and January 2022 at Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia, was undertaken, with a median follow-up of 6.43 ± 4.83 years, but up to 22.0 years. Freedom from mortality, aortic reintervention, and insufficiency was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier methods, Cox proportional hazard models, and Fine-Gray analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The median age of patients at intervention was 60.0 years (interquartile range, 48.0-67.0), of whom 68 (23.9%) had bicuspid aortic valve disease, 27 (9.5%) had Marfan syndrome, 119 (41.9%) had severe aortic root dilation (>50 mm), and 155 had (54.6%) severe aortic insufficiency at the time of intervention. The 30-day mortality was 1.8%, with freedom from mortality of 96.0% (95% CI, 92.6-97.8) at 5 years and 88.2% (95% CI, 81.4-92.6) at 10 years. Freedom from aortic reintervention was 92.2% (95% CI, 87.7-95.2) at 5 years and 79.8% (95% CI, 71.8-85.8) at 10 years. Factors associated with reintervention were concomitant leaflet repair (hazard ratio, 8.13, 95% CI, 1.07-61.7) and bicuspid valvulopathy (hazard ratio, 2.23, 95% CI, 1.07-4.68), with reintervention in the bicuspid aortic valve being more likely due to aortic stenosis and in the tricuspid aortic valve due to aortic insufficiency (chi-square P = .05). The freedom from aortic insufficiency was 89.1% (95% CI, 83.5-92.9), 84.9% (95% CI, 77.8-89.9) at 5 and 10 years, respectively, and 80.7% (95% CI, 71.0-87.4).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Valve-sparing aortic root replacement has excellent long-term outcomes, with low mortality and reintervention rates. Concomitant leaflet repair and bicuspid valve disease are the only long-term factors associated with reintervention.</p>","PeriodicalId":49975,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"68-77.e0"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138296306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Joanna Chikwe, Qiudong Chen, Michael E Bowdish, Amy Roach, Dominic Emerson, Annetine Gelijns, Natalia Egorova
{"title":"Surgery and transcatheter intervention for degenerative mitral regurgitation in the United States.","authors":"Joanna Chikwe, Qiudong Chen, Michael E Bowdish, Amy Roach, Dominic Emerson, Annetine Gelijns, Natalia Egorova","doi":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.01.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.01.014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>We evaluated practice trends and 3-year outcomes of transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) and surgical repair for degenerative mitral regurgitation in the United States.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>From the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data (2012-2019), 53,117 mitral valve interventions (surgery or TEER) were performed for degenerative mitral regurgitation, identified by excluding rheumatic and congenital disease, endocarditis, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, and concomitant or prior coronary revascularizations. Median follow-up was 2.9 years (interquartile range, 1.2-5.1 years). End points were 3-year survival, stroke, mitral reinterventions, and heart failure readmissions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Volume of total annual mitral interventions did not significantly change (P = .18) between 2012 and 2019. However, surgical cases decreased by one-third, whereas TEER increased. Among 27,170 patients (52.5% men; mean age, 73.5 years) who underwent TEER (n = 7755) or surgical repair (n = 19,415), surgical patients were younger (71.8 vs 80.8 years; P < .001), with less comorbidity and frailty. In 4532 patient pairs matched for age, frailty, and comorbidity, 3-year survival after TEER was 65.9% (95% CI, 64.3%-67.6%) and 85.7% (95% CI, 84.5%-86.9%) after surgery (P < .001). Three years after TEER or surgery, stroke rates were 1.8% (95% CI, 1.5%-2.2%) and 2.0% (95% CI, 1.6%-2.4%) (P = .49); heart failure readmission rates were 17.8% (95% CI, 16.7%-18.9%) and 11.2% (95% CI, 10.3%-12.2%) (P < .001); and mitral reintervention rates were 6.1% (95% CI, 5.5%-6.9%) and 1.3% (95% CI, 1.0%-1.7%) (P < .001), respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Among Medicare beneficiaries with degenerative mitral regurgitation, an increase in TEER utilization was associated with worse survival, increased heart failure readmissions, and more mitral reinterventions. Randomized trials are needed to better inform treatment choice.</p>","PeriodicalId":49975,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"80-88.e19"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139492436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Discussion to: Surgery and transcatheter intervention for degenerative mitral regurgitation in the United States.","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.01.033","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.01.033","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49975,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"89-91"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140121191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Matthew J Bott, Nicolas Toumbacaris, Kay See Tan, Bryan C Husta, Benjamin D Medina, Prasad S Adusumilli, Jason A Beattie, Robert P Lee, Bernard J Park, Joseph Dycoco, David R Jones, Mohit Chawla, Gaetano Rocco, Or Kalchiem-Dekel
{"title":"Characterizing a learning curve for robotic-assisted bronchoscopy: Analysis of skills acquisition in a high-volume academic center.","authors":"Matthew J Bott, Nicolas Toumbacaris, Kay See Tan, Bryan C Husta, Benjamin D Medina, Prasad S Adusumilli, Jason A Beattie, Robert P Lee, Bernard J Park, Joseph Dycoco, David R Jones, Mohit Chawla, Gaetano Rocco, Or Kalchiem-Dekel","doi":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.06.018","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtcvs.2024.06.018","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Shape-sensing robotic-assisted bronchoscopy is an emerging technology for the sampling of pulmonary lesions. We seek to characterize the shape-sensing robotic-assisted bronchoscopy learning curve at an academic center.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Shape-sensing robotic-assisted bronchoscopy procedures performed by 9 proceduralists at a single institution were analyzed. Cumulative sum analyses were performed to examine diagnostic sampling and procedure time over each operator's first 50 cases, with the acceptable yield threshold set to 73%.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>During the study period, 442 patients underwent sampling of 551 lesions. Each operator sampled 61 lesions (interquartile range, 60-63 lesions). Lesion size was 1.90 cm (interquartile range, 1.33-2.80 cm). The median procedure time for single-target cases decreased from 62 minutes during the first 10 cases to 39 minutes after case 40 (P < .001). The overall diagnostic yield was 72% (range, 58%-83%). Six of 9 operators achieved proficiency over the study period. An aggregated cumulative sum analysis of those who achieved competency demonstrated a steep improvement between lesions 1 and 21 and crossing of the competency threshold by lesion 25. Temporal analysis of yield-related lesion characteristics demonstrated that at approximately lesion 20, more challenging lesions were increasingly targeted, as evidenced by smaller target size, higher rates of unfavorable radial endobronchial ultrasound views, and a negative bronchus sign.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Skills acquisition in shape-sensing robotic-assisted bronchoscopy is variable. Approximately half of proceduralists become facile with the technology within 25 lesions. After the initial learning phase, operators increasingly target lesions with more challenging features. Overall, these findings can inform certification and competency standards and provide new users with expectations related to performance over time.</p>","PeriodicalId":49975,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery","volume":" ","pages":"269-278.e6"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141472070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}