Cardiovascular Surgery

In the LAAOS III trial, surgeons could seal off the LAA during the open heart procedure using sutures, staples or approved closure devices. The image shows a SentraHeart lasso type LAA occluder about to seal off the LAA from the outside of the heart. 

The Transmedics Organ Care System (OCS) Heart, or “Heart in a Box,” enables transplant surgeons to travel to much farther destinations to procure transplant hearts by acting as a miniature intensive care unit that keeps the heart alive.

University of Minnesota researchers used a hybrid of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine to create heart valves that can grow with the recipient. When implanted in lambs, researchers showed that the tri-tube valves worked better than current animal-derived valves with almost none of the calcification or blood clotting that the other valves showed. Photo from Syedain, et al., Tranquillo Lab, University of Minnesota

A coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedure where blockages in the coronaries are bypassed using a blood vessel harvested from elsewhere in the body and connected to the vessel past the blockage to supply blood to the heart. A new study shows better outcomes seen in multiple vs. single coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) in men and sex appears to play a role in mortality. Getty Images

CMS coverage changes effective as of Dec. 2, 2020 will open up the use of LVADs to more Medicare patients, including use of the HeartWare and HeartMate ventricular assist devices.