Pushing the Boundaries of Conventional Surgery

With the myriad procedures and complications that thoracic surgeons are required to be familiar with, the Adult Cardiac Skills course, “100 Years of Training – More Skills Still Needed!” aims to shed some light on the more unconventional procedures that thoracic surgeons see less frequently.

Course chair Kenton J. Zehr, MD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, wanted the course to cover some of those situations outside the routine work of heart surgeons. “The course is about pushing to the edges of conventional surgery,” he said.

The course will consist of sessions that will each highlight a specific topic: mitral valve repairs. imaging, coronary surgery, and “complex case presentations,” which will feature demonstrations of groundbreaking techniques for challenging presentations a surgeon could encounter.

The mitral valve repair session will focus on bileaflet and endoscopic mitral valve repair, along with talks on right perfusion management, transapical artificial chordae implantation, and using aortic valve repair on a bicuspid aortic valve. These talks – given by Patrick Perier, MD, of the Herz und Gefaess Klinik, Andrea Colli, MD, of the University of Padova, and David Fitzgerald, MD, of the Medical Center of South Carolina, among others – will each last about 15 minutes and will culminate in a panel discussion.

The following hour will be spent discussing imaging in cardiac surgery, where speakers such as Eric E. Roselli, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, will discuss using imaging in TEVAR to facilitate aortic stenting. Wilson Y. Szeto, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, will give a talk on transfemoral TAVR, and Mary Beth Brady, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, will discuss the use of transesophageal echocardiogram in thoracic surgery.

After lunch, the coronary surgery session will feature presentations on internal thoracic artery grafts – presented by course chair Dr. Zehr – along with discussions on hybrid revascularization and minimal access off-pump coronary artery bypass. And finally, the last session will highlight the most unusual and rare cases surgeons are likely to come across, such as redoing a mitral valve repair and operating on an infected aortic root. Dr. Zehr hopes the session will address some needs and questions for attendees to improve their practice. “What extra skill sets are necessary to do a few more mitral repairs than you’re already doing and to be a little bit more successful in aortic dissections? Or to know some of the subtleties between doing an open aortic valve versus a minimally invasive transapical or transcathetic aortic valve.”

With the myriad procedures and complications that thoracic surgeons are required to be familiar with, the Adult Cardiac Skills course, “100 Years of Training – More Skills Still Needed!” aims to shed some light on the more unconventional procedures that thoracic surgeons see less frequently.

Course chair Kenton J. Zehr, MD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, wanted the course to cover some of those situations outside the routine work of heart surgeons. “The course is about pushing to the edges of conventional surgery,” he said.

The course will consist of sessions that will each highlight a specific topic: mitral valve repairs. imaging, coronary surgery, and “complex case presentations,” which will feature demonstrations of groundbreaking techniques for challenging presentations a surgeon could encounter.

The mitral valve repair session will focus on bileaflet and endoscopic mitral valve repair, along with talks on right perfusion management, transapical artificial chordae implantation, and using aortic valve repair on a bicuspid aortic valve. These talks – given by Patrick Perier, MD, of the Herz und Gefaess Klinik, Andrea Colli, MD, of the University of Padova, and David Fitzgerald, MD, of the Medical Center of South Carolina, among others – will each last about 15 minutes and will culminate in a panel discussion.

The following hour will be spent discussing imaging in cardiac surgery, where speakers such as Eric E. Roselli, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, will discuss using imaging in TEVAR to facilitate aortic stenting. Wilson Y. Szeto, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, will give a talk on transfemoral TAVR, and Mary Beth Brady, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, will discuss the use of transesophageal echocardiogram in thoracic surgery.

After lunch, the coronary surgery session will feature presentations on internal thoracic artery grafts – presented by course chair Dr. Zehr – along with discussions on hybrid revascularization and minimal access off-pump coronary artery bypass. And finally, the last session will highlight the most unusual and rare cases surgeons are likely to come across, such as redoing a mitral valve repair and operating on an infected aortic root. Dr. Zehr hopes the session will address some needs and questions for attendees to improve their practice. “What extra skill sets are necessary to do a few more mitral repairs than you’re already doing and to be a little bit more successful in aortic dissections? Or to know some of the subtleties between doing an open aortic valve versus a minimally invasive transapical or transcathetic aortic valve.”

With the myriad procedures and complications that thoracic surgeons are required to be familiar with, the Adult Cardiac Skills course, “100 Years of Training – More Skills Still Needed!” aims to shed some light on the more unconventional procedures that thoracic surgeons see less frequently.

Course chair Kenton J. Zehr, MD, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, wanted the course to cover some of those situations outside the routine work of heart surgeons. “The course is about pushing to the edges of conventional surgery,” he said.

The course will consist of sessions that will each highlight a specific topic: mitral valve repairs. imaging, coronary surgery, and “complex case presentations,” which will feature demonstrations of groundbreaking techniques for challenging presentations a surgeon could encounter.

The mitral valve repair session will focus on bileaflet and endoscopic mitral valve repair, along with talks on right perfusion management, transapical artificial chordae implantation, and using aortic valve repair on a bicuspid aortic valve. These talks – given by Patrick Perier, MD, of the Herz und Gefaess Klinik, Andrea Colli, MD, of the University of Padova, and David Fitzgerald, MD, of the Medical Center of South Carolina, among others – will each last about 15 minutes and will culminate in a panel discussion.

The following hour will be spent discussing imaging in cardiac surgery, where speakers such as Eric E. Roselli, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, will discuss using imaging in TEVAR to facilitate aortic stenting. Wilson Y. Szeto, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, will give a talk on transfemoral TAVR, and Mary Beth Brady, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, will discuss the use of transesophageal echocardiogram in thoracic surgery.

After lunch, the coronary surgery session will feature presentations on internal thoracic artery grafts – presented by course chair Dr. Zehr – along with discussions on hybrid revascularization and minimal access off-pump coronary artery bypass. And finally, the last session will highlight the most unusual and rare cases surgeons are likely to come across, such as redoing a mitral valve repair and operating on an infected aortic root. Dr. Zehr hopes the session will address some needs and questions for attendees to improve their practice. “What extra skill sets are necessary to do a few more mitral repairs than you’re already doing and to be a little bit more successful in aortic dissections? Or to know some of the subtleties between doing an open aortic valve versus a minimally invasive transapical or transcathetic aortic valve.”