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New COVID-19-focused vascular registry gains IRB approval
A new vascular surgery registry launched to leverage key data gathered in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic—and aimed at helping prepare for the fallout from future outbreaks—has acquired Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. With members spread across 30 different…
Leadership figures ruminate on redeployment of vascular surgeons as COVID-19 surges
It’s an issue increasingly knocking on the door of program directors and section chiefs in hospitals across the country as COVID-19 cases escalate in their areas: the redeployment of vascular surgeons and trainees to other areas of care. It formed…
Vascular surgeons discuss COVID-19 impact on pregnancy, family, career
The devastating effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic are multifarious and far-reaching, touching both life and limb themselves as well as less tangible aspects of daily life like economic vitality and job function. Each applies unequivocally to vascular surgeons, not…
Call for older physicians to be protected from COVID-19
Hospitals and government health departments should give careful consideration to the protection of older physicians and nurses in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a viewpoint published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Peter I.…
Future is now: Surgical simulation utilizing 3D printing has potential to help cut medical errors, according to surgeon-innovator
HOUSTON—The picture as Jonathan Stone, MD, describes it couldn’t be more stark. Medical error, according to recent publications, he says, now sits at third place among the leading causes of death. “Right behind heart disease and cancer there is medical…
COVID-19 special: How to be a doctor at the end of the world
Vascular Specialist medical editor Malachi Sheahan III, MD, is no stranger to national and international emergencies—from New York City during both the 1990s AIDS crisis and the terrorist attack on 9/11, to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Here,…
Prominent Seattle hospital issues COVID-19 clinical practice guidelines for vascular surgery
A prominent hospital operating on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington state has released a set of clinical practice guidelines for vascular surgery. They were put together by Benjamin W. Starnes, MD, professor and chief in the division…
Physician-developed respirator device offers one possible solution to PPE shortages
Surgeons and other healthcare professionals aren’t hanging around waiting for depleted personal protective equipment (PPE) to be replenished. Amid COVID-19-related shortages, ingenuity, creativity and craftsmanship have come to the fore. Social media swirl with tales of healthcare professionals fashioning and…
American College of Surgeons releases new clinical guidance document for elective surgical case triage during COVID-19
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has issued guidance for surgeons to curtail recommendations for elective surgical procedures to preserve the necessary resources for care of critically ill patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. To assist in surgical decision-making in curtailing…
Letter from Seattle: Amid COVID-19 pandemic, time to act is long past due
SEATTLE—We live in unprecedented times. On Jan. 19, patient zero arrived in the United States at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after returning from a visit to his family in Wuhan, China. He tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 20. Fast forward…