
Eugene H BlackstoneCleveland Clinic · Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Eugene H Blackstone
MD
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Publications (1,021)
Background:
Age has been implicated as a factor in the plateau of long-term survival after lung transplant.
Methods:
We used data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients to identify all recipients of lung transplant aged ≥18 years of age between January 1, 2006, and February 19, 2015. A total of 14,253 patients were included in the...
Aims
The risk of HeartMate II (HMII) left ventricular assist device (LVAD) thrombosis has been reported, and serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), a biomarker of haemolysis, increases secondary to LVAD thrombosis. This study evaluated longitudinal measurements of LDH post‐LVAD implantation, hypothesizing that LDH trends could timely predict future LVA...
Background:
Abnormal red cell distribution width (RDW), reflecting heterogeneity of red blood cell (RBC) size, is associated with cardiovascular disease outcomes. However, whether RBC size itself, expressed as mean corpuscular volume (MCV), provides additional prognostic value is unclear. We therefore investigated the relationship between outcomes...
Objectives:
Multisite procedure-based randomized trials may be confounded by performance variability and variability among sites. Therefore, we studied variability in mortality and stroke after patients were randomized to surgical (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in the Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valves-2A (PARTNER-2A...
Eric Roselli and Eugene Blackstone again attempted to steal First Authorship from Dr.Idrees and tried to harass, but did not succeed. This paper is cited by AHA Aortic guidelines
Objective:
The study objective was to determine whether adding prophylactic aorta replacement increases the risk of a cardiac operation when cardiac rather than aortic di...
Objectives:
Improved survival after congenital heart surgery has led to interest in functional health status. We sought to identify factors associated with self-reported functional health status in adolescents and young adults with repaired interrupted aortic arch.
Methods:
Follow-up of survivors (aged 13-24 years) from a 1987 to 1997 inception...
Background:
Damage to the cardiac conduction system requiring permanent pacemaker implantation is a complication of aortic valve replacement (AVR) that may importantly affect quality of life. We investigated the prevalence of and preprocedure risk factors for new permanent pacemakers after surgical (SAVR) and transcatheter AVR (TAVR) at a single i...
Objective: We sought to characterize microbiomes of thoracic aortas from patients with non-infectious aortitis due to giant cell arteritis (GCA) and clinically isolated aortitis (CIA) and to compare them to non-inflammatory aorta aneurysm controls. We also compared microbiomes from concurrently processed and separately reported temporal arteries (T...
Introduction: Aortic dissection (AD) classically presents with abrupt onset of symptoms immediately followed by major emergency surgery. This can be physically and mentally traumatic. Little is known about the post-repair Quality of Life (QOL) of patients and its association with exercise, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and sexual activity....
Objective
Noninfectious aortitis may occur in the context of a recognized systemic disease or as a topographically limited lesion without systemic features, which is called clinically isolated aortitis (CIA). This study was undertaken to better define and stress the limitations of this diagnostic category in a large population of patients in a sing...
We observed different temporal patterns of HeartMate II left ventricular assist device (LVAD) thrombosis regarding clinical manifestations and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) trends. We propose nomenclature for classification of LVAD thrombosis and compare patient characteristics and outcomes in each pattern of LVAD thrombosis. We reviewed electronic m...
The pre‐listing variables essential for creating an accurate heart transplant allocation score based on survival are unknown. To identify these we studied mortality of adults on the active heart transplant waiting list in the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database from January 1, 2004‐August 31, 2015. There were 33,069 candidates awa...
Importance
Although several studies have reported data on surgical aortic valve durability, variability in study methodologies and definitions as well as inadequate follow-up make the interpretation of data from these studies difficult to interpret.
Objective
To review available data on structural valve deterioration (SVD) of surgical bioprostheti...
Dr.Idrees and Dr.Rosinski Contributed Equally to this work. Eric Roselli Tried to Steal authorship
Objectives:
Consensus regarding initial cannulation site for acute type A dissection repair is lacking. Objectives were to review our experience with systematic initial axillary artery cannulation, characterize patients on the basis of cannulation s...
Objectives:
This study evaluates operative approach and contemporary surgical outcomes in the management of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction by a single surgeon at a high-volume, specialized hypertrophic cardiomyopathy center.
Methods:
This is a retrospective review of 1559 consecutive operations for left ventricular outflow tract obst...
Background
Readmission after myocardial infarction (MI) is a publicly reported quality metric with hospital reimbursement linked to readmission rates. We describe the timing and pattern of readmission by cause within the first year after MI in consecutive patients, regardless of revascularization strategy, payer status, or age.
Methods and Results...
Background:
Internal thoracic artery (ITA) grafts are the most durable conduits available for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). However, little is known about long-term angiographic outcomes of ITA grafts used in different configurations and whether sequential or Y grafting compromises patency of the inflow ITA graft.
Methods:
From January...
Background:
Few studies of reintervention after Heller myotomy for achalasia set patients' expectations, assist therapeutic decision making, and direct follow-up. Therefore, we investigated the frequency and type of symptoms and reinterventions after myotomy based on achalasia type.
Methods:
From January 2006 to March 2013, 248 patients who had...
Background
Transfemoral-transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TF-TAVR) is increasingly used to treat aortic stenosis, but risk of post-procedure stroke is uncertain.
Objectives
The purpose of this study was to assess stroke risk and its association with quality of life after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) versus TF-TAVR.
Methods
The a...
Objective:
Arch obstruction after the Norwood procedure is common and contributes to mortality. We determined the prevalence, associated factors, and practice variability of arch reintervention and assessed whether arch reintervention is associated with mortality.
Methods:
From 2005 to 2017, 593 neonates in the Congenital Heart Surgeons' Society...
Objective:
The objective of this study was to compare safety and clinical effectiveness of negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) with traditional wound therapy for managing noninfected open chests with delayed sternal closure after cardiac surgery.
Methods:
From January 2000 to July 2015, 452 of 47,325 patients who underwent full sternotomy lef...
Background
The CTSN (Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network) recently reported no difference in left ventricular end-systolic volume index or in survival at 2 years between patients with severe ischemic mitral regurgitation (MR) randomized to mitral valve repair or replacement. However, replacement provided more durable correction of MR and fewer c...
Table S1. Categorical Assignment of Principal Diagnosis Billing Codes
Figure S1. Twelve‐month instantaneous risk (hazard function phases) of readmission after myocardial infarction.
Figure S2. A, Twelve‐month instantaneous risk (hazard function phases) of readmission after myocardial infarction for myocardial infarction related readmissions. B, T...
In many clinical studies that involve follow-up, it is common to observe one or more sequences of longitudinal measurements, as well as one or more time to event outcomes. A competing risks situation arises when the probability of occurrence of one event is altered/hindered by another time to event. Recently, there has been much attention paid to t...
Objectives
We investigated the hemodynamic durability of the transcatheter aortic valves (TAVs) using the updated Valve Academic Research Consortium‐2 (VARC‐2) criteria.
Background
The updated VARC‐2 consensus criteria combine flow‐dependent and flow‐independent echocardiographic parameters for hemodynamic assessment of TAVR. Data on the hemodynam...
Background:
Anomalous aortic origin of the coronary arteries (AAOCA) is associated with sudden cardiac death and frequently treated with unroofing of an intramural segment. Most reports on AAOCA are of patients less than 30 years of age. We have reviewed our "older" patients who have undergone surgical repair and report a novel unroofing technique...
Background:
During cold storage, some red blood cell (RBC) units age more rapidly than others. Yet, the Food and Drug Administration has set a uniform storage limit of 42 days. Objectives of this review are to present evidence for an RBC storage lesion and suggest that functional measures of stored RBC quality-which we call real age-may be more ap...
Objective:
Right-sided infective endocarditis is increasing because of increasing prevalence of predisposing conditions, and the role and outcomes of surgery are unclear. We therefore investigated the surgical outcomes for right-sided infective endocarditis.
Methods:
From January 2002 to January 2015, 134 adults underwent surgery for right-sided...
Background:
Heart transplant allocation in the United States is made on the basis of coarse tiers, defined by mechanical circulatory devices and therapy for advanced heart failure, updated infrequently as a patient's condition deteriorates. Thus, many patients die awaiting heart transplantation. What is needed is a tool that continuously updates r...
Background
Qualitative features of aortic and mitral valvar pathology have traditionally been used to classify congenital cardiac anomalies for which the left heart structures are unable to sustain adequate systemic cardiac output. We aimed to determine if novel groups of patients with greater clinical relevance could be defined within this populat...
Objective:
To use novel statistical methods for analyzing the effect of lesion set on (long-standing) persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) in the Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network trial of surgical ablation during mitral valve surgery (MVS).
Methods:
Two hundred sixty such patients were randomized to MVS + surgical ablation or MVS alone. Abl...
Background: It is unclear whether moderate or less functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) should be repaired during surgery for degenerative mitral valve (MV) disease. We studied the natural course of unaddressed moderate or less TR and identified risk factors for TR progression after surgery for degenerative MV disease.
Methods: From 2001 to 2011...
Background: Readmission for acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is common and linked with mortality. However, time course of ADHF readmissions, their risk factors, and their association with long-term outcomes are not well understood. Our objectives were to identify the temporal pattern o...
Propensity score (PS) methods offer certain advantages over more traditional regression methods to control for confounding by indication in observational studies. Although multivariable regression models adjust for confounders by modelling the relationship between covariates and outcome, the PS methods estimate the treatment effect by modelling the...
Objectives:
At a center where surgeons favor mitral valve (MV) repair for all subsets of leaflet prolapse, we compared results of patients undergoing repair for simple versus complex degenerative MV disease.
Methods:
From January 1985 to January 2016, 6153 patients underwent primary isolated MV repair for degenerative disease, 3101 patients unde...
Objectives
Infection is an important cause of morbidity and mortality after lung transplantation. Immunoglobulins are part of both seromucous (IgA) and serum (IgG) infection defense mechanisms. We therefore hypothesized that lower pre-transplant IgA levels would be associated with more early post–lung-transplant seromucous infections and higher mor...
Proteoglycan accumulation is a hallmark of medial degeneration in thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection (TAAD). Here, we defined the aortic proteoglycanome using mass spectrometry, and based on the findings, investigated the large aggregating proteoglycans aggrecan and versican in human ascending TAAD and a mouse model of severe Marfan syndrome....
Objectives
The value of routine timed barium esophagram (TBE) in longitudinal follow-up of achalasia after Heller myotomy is unknown. We prospectively prescribed a yearly follow-up TBE. Purposes were to characterize esophageal emptying over time after myotomy, identify preoperative TBE measures associated with follow-up TBE, and characterize follow...
Background:
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), when used as bridge to lung transplantation (BTT) identifies high-risk candidates. Recent advances in cannula design and patient selection fosters "awake ambulatory ECMO" as a viable option for critically ill candidates in an attempt to retard deconditioning while awaiting allografts.
Method...
A variety of cardioplegic solutions are being used widely today to arrest the heart during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and other cardiac operations. To minimize interruptions during the surgery for intermittent dosing of the cardioplegia and to facilitate less invasive cardiac procedures, single-shot solutions, including Bretschneider an...
Background:
Surgical outcomes of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) undergoing cardiac surgery are limited. Our objectives were to investigate hospital morbidity and mortality after open cardiac surgery in CLL versus non-CLL patients.
Methods:
From May 1995 to May 2015, 157 patients with CLL and 55,917 without and older than 47 yea...
Objectives:
This study sought to determine the accuracy of the pre-transplantation clinical diagnosis of heart disease in the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database.
Background:
Because survival on the heart transplantation waitlist depends on underlying heart disease, a new allocation system will include the type of heart disease. Acc...
Background:
Mediastinal infections are a potentially devastating complication of cardiac operations. This study analyzed the frequency, risk factors, and perioperative outcomes of mediastinal infections after cardiac operations.
Methods:
In 2010, 5,158 patients enrolled in a prospective study evaluating infections after cardiac operations and th...
Objective:
Adoption of robotic mitral valve surgery has been slow, likely in part because of its perceived technical complexity and a poorly understood learning curve. We sought to correlate changes in technical performance and outcome with surgeon experience in the "learning curve" part of our series.
Methods:
From 2006 to 2011, two surgeons un...
Background:
The PARTNER-2A randomized trial compared outcomes of transfemoral transcatheter (TAVR) and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in intermediate-risk patients with severe aortic stenosis. The purpose of the current study was to perform an in-depth analysis of outcomes after SAVR in PARTNER-2A.
Methods:
From 1/2012-1/2014, 937 pati...
Background:
To determine the value of aortic valve repair rather than replacement for valve dysfunction, we assessed late outcomes of various repair techniques in the contemporary era.
Methods:
From January 2001 to January 2011, aortic valve repair was planned in 1,124 patients. Techniques involved commissural figure-of-8 suspension sutures (n =...
Background:
It remains controversial whether grafting moderately stenosed coronary arteries (MSCAs) influences native-vessel disease progression and whether grafting may protect against late myocardial ischemia.
Methods:
From 1972 to 2011, 55,567 patients underwent primary isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG); 1,902 had a single coron...
Introduction
A 2015 Institute Of Medicine statement “Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access: Getting to Now”, has increased concerns regarding patient wait times. Although waiting times have been widely studied, little attention has been paid to the role of patient arrival times as a component of this phenomenon. To this end, we investigate...
Linear regression models.
(DOCX)
Ambulatory HF clinic schedule templates.
(DOCX)
Background:
Preoperative anemia, defined by hemoglobin level, is associated with elevated risk after cardiac operation. Better understanding of anemia requires characterization beyond this. This investigation focuses on red cell size and its association with patient characteristics and outcomes after cardiac operation.
Methods:
From January 2010...
Objective:
To analyze patient risk factors and processes of care associated with secondary surgical-site infection (SSI) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
Methods:
Data were collected prospectively between February and October 2010 for consenting adult patients undergoing CABG with saphenous vein graft (SVG) conduits. Patients who de...
Adoption of robotic mitral valve surgery has been slow, likely in part because of its perceived technical complexity and a poorly understood learning curve. We sought to correlate changes in technical performance and outcome with surgeon experience in the “learning curve” part of our series.
Objectives
Risk of reoperation and loss of a second native valve are major drawbacks of the Ross operation. Rather than discarding the failed autograft, it can be placed back into the native pulmonary position by “Ross reversal.” We review our early and mid-term results with this operation.
Methods
From 2006 to 2017, 39 patients underwent reoperat...
Importance
Use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) for severe aortic stenosis is growing rapidly. However, to our knowledge, the durability of these prostheses is incompletely defined.
Objective
To determine the midterm hemodynamic performance of balloon-expandable transcatheter heart valves.
Design, Setting, and Participants
In this...
Background:
Bicuspid aortic valves (BAV) are associated with incompletely characterized aortopathy. Our objectives were to identify distinct patterns of aortopathy using machine-learning methods and characterize their association with valve morphology and patient characteristics.
Methods:
We analyzed preoperative 3-dimensional computed tomograph...
Objective:
Repair options for complex abdominal and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAAs) are evolving with increased experience and availability of less invasive endovascular techniques. Identifying risk factors for mortality after fenestrated and branched endovascular aortic repair (F/B-EVAR) could improve patient selection and facilitate de...
Objectives:
The incidence and severity of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) have increased rapidly over the past 2 decades, particularly in elderly patients with multiple comorbidities. This study sought to characterize the incidence and risks of these infections in cardiac surgery patients.
Methods:
A total of 5158 patients at 10 Cardiothor...
Background:
Nearly 50% of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting have diabetes. However, little is known about the influence of diabetes on long-term patency of bypass grafts. Because patients with diabetes have more severe coronary artery stenosis, we hypothesized that graft patency is worse in patients with than without diabetes.
O...
Objective:
The study objective was to assess the technical and process improvement and clinical outcomes of robotic mitral valve surgery by examining the first 1000 cases performed in a tertiary care center.
Methods:
We reviewed the first 1000 patients (mean age, 56 ± 10 years) undergoing robotic primary mitral valve surgery, including concomita...