Frail Patients Have Worse Outcomes After Mitral Valve Disease Surgery

Posessing nearly three decades of experience as a leading cardiothoracic surgeon in Florida, Dr. Hartmuth Bittner is the founder of the Gulf Coast Cardiothoracic Surgery Institute in Tampa, Florida, where he specializes in minimally invasive techniques. Additionally, Dr. Hartmuth Bittner is a longtime member of the Society for Thoracic Surgeons (STS).

A recent study highlighted by the STS shows that frailty is an important factor in determining the overall risk for patients undergoing surgical procedures to address mitral valve disease. For the purposes of the study, researchers followed more than 50,000 patients who had procedures, nearly 8 percent of which were identified as being frail.

The study revealed that frail patients had postsurgical complications more than 30 percent more often when compared to those who weren’t frail. Additionally, they were more than twice as likely to be discharged to a location other than their home, and more than 9 percent more likely to be readmitted for complications within a month of the procedure. Frail patients also had to stay an average of 2 weeks longer in the hospital after mitral valve disease surgery.

Researchers say that frailty should be a strong consideration in determining the overall risk to patients who may be candidates for the surgery, though there isn’t a universal set of criteria by which to attribute frailty across a wide spectrum of patients. Some typical indicators, however, are weak grip strength, low weight, decreased activity, and trouble walking.

 

Florida Hospital Achieves Lung Transplant Status

A cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon with more than 28 years of experience, Dr. Hartmuth Bittner recently founded the Gulf Coast Cardiothoracic Surgery Institute in Tampa, Florida, where he performs minimally invasive procedures with a focus on advanced-stage and high-risk patients. Previously, Dr. Hartmuth Bittner helped Florida Hospital achieve its status as the first lung transplant center in central Florida.

In 2012, Florida Hospital achieved the designation from the United Network for Organ Sharing, which governs and oversees transplant programs around the country. The designation marked an important step in becoming a comprehensive transplant center. The facility achieved lung transplant status more than 35 years after it performed its first organ transplant, which was a kidney transplant. By 2012, the hospital had performed nearly 3,000 organ transplants, including pancreas and liver transplants.

The 2012 designation as a lung transplant center expanded the hospital’s capacity to serve local patients who previously had to travel to other parts of the state. Each year, the hospital sees up to 20 patients who need lung transplants, most of them due to pulmonary fibrosis. 

Florida Hospital Receives Lung Transplant Designation

A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Heidelberg Medical School, Dr. Hartmuth Bittner is the founder and president of Gulf Coast Cardiothoracic Surgery Institute in Tampa, Florida. Dr. Hartmuth Bittner recently joined Florida Hospital as a heart and lung transplant surgeon, allowing the hospital to launch its first lung transplant program.

The hospital received program approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing, establishing Florida Hospital as the first medical facility in Central Florida capable of offering lung transplants. With Dr. Bittner functioning as surgical director of heart and lung transplants, Florida Hospital has completed its longstanding mission of becoming a fully functional transplant center. The facility will now be able to serve the more than 1,600 patients on the national lung transplant waiting list. Studies suggest that, prior to the new transplant designation, between 10 and 20 patients left Central Florida each year to receive lung transplant support.

Surgeons at Florida Hospital performed their first organ transplant, a kidney transplant, nearly four decades ago. Since that time, the hospital’s transplant team has successfully completed close to 3,000 organ transplants. Early in 2020, the transplant team expanded operations by performing its first heart transplant.