PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Web-based lecture series under development

Drug & Innovation Update

Is Minimally Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring Ready for Cardiac Surgery?

Literature Reviews

Association of Cytochrome P450 2C19 Genotype With the Antiplatelet Effect and Clinical Efficacy of Clopidogrel Therapy

Emerging Role of Candida in Deep Sternal Wound Infection

Outcomes following endovascular vs open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm: a randomized trial

Drug-Eluting Stents vs. Coronary-Artery Bypass Grafting in Multivessel Coronary Disease

Ketamine attenuates delirium after cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass

Are Changes in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Midlife Women Due to Chronological Aging or to Menopausal Transition?

Foundation Update

New FOCUS sites sought; SCA Foundation Reception

SCA Bulletin - Printable Version

The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) publishes the SCA Bulletin bimonthly. The information presented in the SCA Bulletin has been obtained by the editors. Validity of opinions presented, drug dosages, accuracy and completeness of content are not guaranteed by SCA.

SCA NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE

Get Involved in FOCUS: New sites being requested

By James Abernathy, III, MD

There is much we have learned from Phase I of the FOCUS research project.  As with all great research, more questions were asked than answered.  What is the best method to improve patient safety in cardiac operating rooms?  Can we help our colleagues evaluate and improve safety performance?  How do we design and build better operating room equipment and machines to help us deliver safer patient care?  These questions will drive the research, divided into three projects, for Phase II:

1. Develop a learning collaborative within the cardiac surgical teams to enhance patient safety.  This process will use the Michigan Keystone model developed by Dr. Pronovost and the QSRG team that has been so successful in eliminating catheter based infections in the ICU setting.  The FOCUS learning collaborative will use reduction in wound infections as the metric that will inform us of how we are doing. 
2. Develop a peer-to-peer assessment tool that can be used by operating room teams to assess their own safety performance, or be used by an invited visiting team to provide feedback regarding areas for improvement in safety.  This non-judgmental, for-internal-use-only peer-to-peer assessment tool will be based on the highly successful WANO (World Association of Nuclear Operators) process that has made the nuclear industry a “highly reliable” industry.
3.  Design the operating room of the future.  Tackle the issues of equipment and OR design to improve the interfaces between humans and the machines they use to deliver patient care in the operating room. 

We often read studies that are underpowered and poorly represent reality.  The applicability of the conclusions outside of the narrow confines of the study population is therefore suspect.  Cardiac anesthesiology is practiced in many different environments, from large private practices to small academic groups and everywhere in between.  As the FOCUS project embarks on its next steps we must ensure that conclusions drawn from the research translate into all of our practices.

Whether you work in a large academic center or an agile, efficient private practice, we ask that you consider participating as a research FOCUS site.  The FOCUS Committee is soliciting sites willing to participate in Phase II of FOCUS.  If your institution is interested in participating, please complete the site application form found on the SCA Foundation’s website in the FOCUS Section.  The deadline for submission is June 15, 2010.  Those institutions that applied and or participated in Phase I are asked to complete the new application for Phase II. There was a great response for Phase I and we are confident Phase II will garner the same amount of support from the SCA membership.  Decisions will be made by the Site Selection Committee based upon the needs of each research project.  For more information, you can contact me with the Site Selection committee or John Melleky with the SCA Foundation.

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Support the SCA Foundation

Donate to the SCA Foundation and support our research grants, education programs such as the upcoming Fellows Leadership program, the FOCUS Initiative, and the creation of a cardiovascular anesthesiology module for the STS database. 

Donations to the SCA Foundation can be made directly to the SCA Foundation, 2209 Dickens Road, Richmond, VA 23230 or via online at our website, www.scahqgive.org.