Newswise — LOS ANGELES (Jan. 26, 2024) -- Cardiothoracic surgeons and investigators from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai will lead sessions featuring a range of heart procedures at the 60th Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), Jan. 27-29, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. They will share their expertise in advance of American Heart Month in February.

The sessions will include results from a study that compared outcomes between patients under age 60 who underwent surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and patients under 60 who had a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) (J. Maxwell Chamberlain Memorial Paper in Adult Cardiac Surgery: Guidelines Versus Practice: A Statewide Survival Analysis of SAVR Versus TAVR in Patients Aged <60 Years, Sunday, Jan. 28, 7–8 a.m. CT).

“We need to continue to study these treatment outcomes in younger people in order to present the best, evidence-based advice to patients,” said Joanna Chikwe, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Cardiac Surgery in the Smidt Heart Institute and senior author of the study.

Chikwe will also share her expertise in the sessions How Low Can You Go? Should MVR Age Guidelines Be Lowered Due to Better Bioprosthetic Mitral Valve Durability? (Saturday, Jan. 27, 11:25 a.m.–12:25 p.m. CT); How I Do It: Complex Mitral Reconstruction Techniques (Sunday, Jan. 28, 5:27–5:37 p.m. CT); Advanced Mitral Techniques (Monday, Jan. 29, 7:15–8:45 a.m. CT).

Additional Smidt Heart Institute experts at the conference include:

Michael Bowdish, MD, vice chair of the Department of Cardiac Surgery and professor of Cardiac Surgery, will present Trends From the Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (Saturday, Jan. 27, 9:45–9:55 a.m. CT); Late-Breaking: Cardiac Surgery After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Trends and Outcomes (Saturday, Jan. 27, 3–3:08 p.m. CT); and Quick Summary of Late Breaker: Cardiac Surgery After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: Trends and Outcomes (Sunday, Jan. 28, 12:03–12:11 p.m. CT).

Pedro Catarino, MD, director of Aortic Surgery and professor of Cardiac Surgery, will discuss DCD and Normothermic Regional Perfusion (Monday, Jan. 29, 4:01–4:11 p.m. CT). Catarino also will participate in the panel discussion Expanding the Donor Pool: Utilization of Non-Brain-Dead Donors (Monday, Jan. 29, 4:11–4:30 p.m. CT).

Michael Farkouh, MD, associate dean for Research and Clinic Trials, will give a presentation called Why I Still Recommend CABG (Saturday, Jan. 27, 1:25–1:35 p.m. CT). Farkouh also will participate in a panel discussion about the Recharge Trial (Sunday, Jan. 28, 7:12–8 a.m. CT).

Dominick Megna Jr., MD, assistant professor of Cardiac Surgery and surgical director of the Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit, will discuss general thoracic surgeries during the session How I Do It: General Thoracic Video Session (Sunday, Jan. 28, 5:44–5:51 p.m. CT). 

To secure interviews with experts from the Smidt Heart Institute, please contact Stephanie Cajigal at [email protected] or 347-806-2938.

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