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Enlarging or "cracking" a surgical stented bioprosthetic valve during valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) increases orifice area, reducing transvalvular energy losses. We demonstrate that TAVI with valve cracking can be used to treat paravalvular leak (PVL) while providing optimal aortic valve physiology. A 61-year-old woman with a history of aortic valve replacement with a stented bioprosthesis presented with heart failure. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed severe prosthetic aortic valve stenosis with PVL and severe regurgitation. The patient underwent valve-in-valve TAVI with valve cracking. This successfully treated both the stenosis and the PVL with regurgitation.

BACKGROUND:Low-titer group O whole blood (LTO-WB) has recently gained popularity in trauma centers for the acute resuscitation of hemorrhagic shock. However, limited supplies of Rh− product prevent implementation and strain sustainability at many trauma centers.We set out to identify whether Rh+ LTO-WB could be safely substituted for RH− product, regardless of patient's Rh status. METHODS:Following Institutional Review Board approval, information on all trauma patients receiving prehospital or emergency department transfusion of uncrossed, emergency release LTO-WB (11/17-10/19) were evaluated. Patients were first divided into those who received Rh− versus Rh+ product, the assessed by Rh of the recipient. Serial hemolysis panels, transfusion reactions, and outcomes were compared. RESULTS:Six hundred thirty-seven consecutive trauma patients received emergency release LTO-WB. Of these, 448 received Rh+ product, while 189 received Rh− LTO-WB. Patients receiving Rh+ product were more likely to be men (81 vs. 70%) and have lower field blood pressure (median 99 vs. 109) and GCS (median 7 vs. 12); all p < 0.05. There were no differences in blood product volume, hemolysis laboratories, transfusion reactions, complications, or survival. We then separated patients by Rh status (577 were Rh+, 70 were Rh−). Rh− patients were older (median age 54 vs. 39), more likely to be women (57 vs. 26%), and more likely to have sustained blunt trauma than their Rh+ counterparts (92 vs. 70%); all p < 0.05. There were no differences in hemolysis laboratories, transfusion reactions, complications, or survival between Rh+ and Rh− patients, regardless of Rh product received. CONCLUSION:When Rh− whole blood is unavailable or in short supply, Rh+ LTO-WB appears to be a safe alternative for the resuscitation of hemorrhagic shock in both Rh+ and Rh− patients. Use of Rh+ product may help trauma centers incorporate LTO-WB into their hospital and improve sustainability of such programs.

Objective: To examine differences in resident operative experience between male and female general surgery residents. Background: Despite increasing female representation in surgery, sex and gender disparities in residency experience continue to exist. The operative volume of male and female general surgery residents has not been compared on a multi-institutional level. Methods: Demographic characteristics and case logs were obtained for categorical general surgery graduates between 2010 and 2020 from the US Resident OPerative Experience Consortium database. Univariable, multivariable, and linear regression analyses were performed to compare differences in operative experience between male and female residents. Results: There were 1343 graduates from 20 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited programs, and 476 (35%) were females. There were no differences in age, race/ethnicity, or proportion pursuing fellowship between groups. Female graduates were less likely to be high-volume residents (27% vs 36%, P < 0.01). On univariable analysis, female graduates performed fewer total cases than male graduates (1140 vs 1177, P < 0.01), largely due to a diminished surgeon junior experience (829 vs 863, P < 0.01). On adjusted multivariable analysis, female sex was negatively associated with being a high-volume resident (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.56 to 0.98, P = 0.03). Over the 11-year study period, the annual total number of cases increased significantly for both groups, but female graduates (+16 cases/year) outpaced male graduates (+13 cases/year, P = 0.02). Conclusions: Female general surgery graduates performed significantly fewer cases than male graduates. Reassuringly, this gap in operative experience may be narrowing. Further interventions are warranted to promote equitable training opportunities that support and engage female residents.

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In 2013, U.S. general surgery residency programs implemented a milestones assessment framework in an effort to incorporate more competency-focused evaluation methods. Developed by a group of surgical education leaders and other stakeholders working with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and recently updated in a version 2.0, the surgery milestones framework is centered around 6 “core competencies”: patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice. While prior work has focused on the validity of milestones as a measure of resident performance, associations between general surgery resident milestone ratings and their post-training patient outcomes have only recently been explored in an analysis in this issue of Academic Medicine by Kendrick et al. Despite their well-designed efforts to tackle this complex problem, no relationships were identified. This accompanying commentary discusses the broader implications for the use of milestone ratings beyond their intended application, alternative assessment methods, and the challenges of developing predictive assessments in the complex setting of surgical care. Although milestone ratings have not been shown to provide the specificity needed to predict clinical outcomes in the complex settings studied by Kendrick et al, hope remains that utilization of other outcomes, assessment frameworks, and data analytic tools could augment these models and further our progress toward a predictive assessment in surgical education. Evaluation of residents in general surgery residency programs has grown both more sophisticated and complicated in the setting of increasing patient and case complexity, constraints on time, and regulation of resident supervision in the operating room. Over the last decade, surgical education research efforts related to resident assessment have focused on measuring performance through accurate and reproducible methods with evidence for their validity, as well as on attempting to refine decision making about resident preparedness for unsupervised practice.

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