The Year 2020 in Review: Noteworthy Literature for Thoracic Transplant Anesthesiologists

Abstract

The year 2020 was a monumental year in medicine, and this review focuses on selected articles for cardiothoracic anesthesiologists and perioperative physicians involved in the care of heart and lung transplant patients. In the field of lung transplantation, significant strides were made in our knowledge of risk stratification during the preoperative assessment of potential recipients, perioperative transfusion medicine, and the administration of coagulation factor concentrates. In addition, variations in perioperative management and outcomes between institutions were studied across an assortment of metrics regarding lung transplantation, including case volumes and anesthetic practices. Transitioning to topics in the field of heart transplantation, consideration was given to recipients with adult congenital heart disease, and separately, approaches to expanding the donor pool through donation after circulatory death. With regard to preoperative support, outcomes for the total artificial heart as well as the MitraClip as bridges to transplantation were published.

The Year 2020 in Review: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Cloud and Its Impact Excelling the Clinical Practice

“…Abrams and Wilkey 42 summarize the literature on thoracic organ transplant in the past year. Once again, preoperative optimization takes a central role as authors present a retrospective study looking at preoperative anemia as a potential prognostic marker for poor outcomes after LTx, making erythropoietin and iron supplement as an option for treatment.…”