Michelle Demetres

Totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass surgery: A meta-analysis of the current evidence

BACKGROUND Totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass (TECAB) has emerged as an alternative to other minimally invasive techniques. However, limited TECAB results are available to date. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine the existing literature to give an objective estimate of the outcomes of TECAB using a meta-analytical approach. METHODS A comprehensive online review was performed in Ovid MEDLINE®, Ovid EMBASE and The Cochrane Library from 2000 to July 2017. Eligible studies included single arm TECAB studies as well as comparative studies (TECAB vs minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB)). Pooled event rates and odds ratios (ORs) for operative mortality, perioperative myocardial infarction (MI), perioperative stroke, graft patency and repeat revascularization were estimated. Single arm and pairwise comparisons were performed. RESULTS Seventeen single arm TECAB articles (3721 patients, weighted mean follow-up 3.3years) were included. The pooled event rate was 0.80% (95%CI: 0.60-1.2%) for operative mortality, 2.28% (95%CI: 1.7-3%) for perioperative MI, 1.50% (95%CI: 1.1-2.0%) for perioperative stroke, 2.99% (95%CI: 1.6-5.4%) for repeat revascularization and 94.8% (95%CI: 89.3-97.5%) for early graft patency (weighted mean follow-up 10.1months). On pairwise meta-analysis 376 patients (263 TECAB and 113 MIDCAB) were included. No difference in operative mortality (OR=0.25, 95%CI: 0.02-2.83), perioperative MI (OR=3.09, 95%CI: 0.37-26.12) or perioperative stroke (OR=1.33, 95%CI: 0.17-10.26) was found between the two techniques. CONCLUSIONS TECAB has an acceptably low operative risk and a good early patency rate. The incidence of perioperative MI requires further investigation. The dearth of data comparing TECAB to open approaches compels the need for future comparative trials.

Providing meaningful information: Part A—Beyond the search

Abstract This chapter introduces scholarly publication and the informationsts role in supporting researchers embarking on this journey. It breaks down the scholarly communications lifecycle into three sections and illustrates techniques on how the informationist may assist in each stage. The Pre-Pre-Publishing section covers establishing a good research project, focusing the question, appropriate format for topic, reaching the target audience, authorship, and filing for patents. Pre-Publishing covers topics such as literature review, trustworthiness, determining publisher/sponsor longevity, pros and cons of impact factors, visibility/reach, open access considerations, and acceptance rate/time to publication. The Publishing: Navigating the submission process section, focuses on assisting the researcher with the “Instructions for authors,” choosing Keywords/subject headings, Copyright, and Open researcher and contributor ID (ORCID). The last section is a case study where assistance by an informationist is provided to a researcher whose manuscript has been returned by reviewers with a request for extensive edits.

EndNote for iPad (version 2.4)

EndNote for iPad is the tablet companion to the EndNote citation manager from Clarivate Analytics (formerly produced by Thomson Reuters).