Among patients undergoing cardiac surgery after thoracic radiation, radiation exposure is heterogeneous, and therefore these patients cannot be managed and assessed as a single uniform cohort. Extensively irradiated patients are more likely to develop radiation heart disease, which increases perioperative morbidity and decreases short- and long-term survival.

No statistically significant association was seen between ECG score and CT pulmonary angiographic clot burden at diagnosis and the 12-month all-cause mortality rate of patients diagnosed with pulmonary embolism.

4 Laryngoscope, 126:2764-2769, 2016.

BackgroundHeart rate (HR) is used to guide interventions during delivery room (DR) neonatal resuscitation. Dry electrode ECG (NeoBeat) may detect HR more rapidly than pulse oximetry (PO) and portable ECG, but real-time comparisons of these devices are lacking.Design/methodsPO, ECG and NeoBeat were placed sequentially on newborns in the DR. Time for device placement and time to accurate HR acquisition were noted.ResultsDR resuscitations of 28 preterm/term infants were observed. The NeoBeat was placed faster (ie, 3 s) than PO (20 s, p=<0.0001) and ECG (16 s, p=<0.0001). Total time from initiation of device placement to HR acquisition was fastest with NeoBeat (13 s) versus ECG (42 s, p<0.0001) and PO (105 s, p<0.0001) (duration values=median).ConclusionsThese observations in a small cohort of relatively well neonates demonstrate that the NeoBeat is significantly faster to place and consistently acquires HR faster than PO and ECG.