When hosts of the two most prominent perfusion education conferences join forces to create a single premier event, you can count on a four-day learning experience like you’ve never attended before—and that’s what SpecialtyCare and Perfusion.com have planned in 2018. For 30 years, SpecialtyCare hosted Mechanisms of Perfusion, one of the industry’s most highly regarded advanced learning forums. The Sanibel Symposium, hosted by Perfusion.com, has also earned a reputation as an elite, highly attended meeting, both in person and via their live webcasts. So, we are thrilled to now combine our expertise and resources to present The 2018 Sanibel Symposium, an unparalleled cardiac perfusion learning event at the Sanibel Marriott Resort and Spa in Ft. Myers, Florida, April 4-7, 2018.
Collaborating and sharing research findings and best practices with other medical professionals is one of the great pleasures of working in healthcare. Recently, the American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion’s 38th International Meeting gave SpecialtyCare’s Medical Office team members the opportunity to present two new papers to the perfusion community. One of the studies examines “The Effect of Ultrafiltration on End-Cardiopulmonary Bypass Hematocrit during Cardiac Surgery.” The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of ultrafiltration on end-cardiopulmonary bypass hematocrit by cardiac surgical procedure type. The findings are summarized in today’s blog.
Historically, there has not been a great understanding about the “obesity paradox,” which suggests that overweight and obese patients may have better outcomes than normal weight patients. Our newly published research confirms that while overweight and mildly obese patients do experience less blood transfusion and post-surgical bleeding than patients of normal weight, much of the observed reduction in transfusion rates in obese patients can be accounted for by other known confounds.
One of the most significant trends facing our industry today is the severe shortage of perfusionists. A current sample of 10% of active perfusionists found that nearly 50% are over 50 years old, and in 2015 there were almost 30% fewer new graduates entering the field than professionals leaving the field. This rate of decline cannot be sustained for long before the deficit poses serious risks to the 350,000 patients who need heart surgeries and perfusion services each year.