from the editor

Summer Updates

By Stephanie Grant, MD
Emory University
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Dr. Grant

Stephanie Grant, MD

Welcome to the Summer 2021 Newsletter!  I am excited and honored to begin my two-year term as Editor of the Newsletter and Chair of the CCAS Communications Committee.  As Dr. Mark Twite mentioned in the President’s Message, CCAS has adapted during the pandemic and is stronger than ever before.  This is in part the responsibility of the leadership team but also all of the CCAS members. 

I would like to recognize the leadership team of the Communications Committee for their dedication and commitment to providing educational content to CCAS members.  Thank you to Dr. Annelisa Cossu (Associate Editor) for her help with the Newsletter and overseeing the Questions of the Week and Poll of the Month.  The Education Initiatives Team Members – Drs. Destiny Chau, Michael Evans, Sana Ullah, and Chinwe Unegbu – continue to write challenging Questions of the Week.  The Social Media Ambassador, Dr. Rajeev Wadia, does a fantastic job reaching out to Members through Twitter.  Dr. Rania Abbasi continues in her role as Echo Tutorial Editor.  As CHiP Network Editors and Liaisons, Drs. Rania Abbasi and Nischal Gautam have done an excellent job selecting key articles for review by members of the Communications Committee.  Also, welcome to Dr. Chris Denny who serves in the new role of Fellow Liaison. 

The contributions and articles in this newsletter include:

  • Committee Updates: Updates from the Communications Committee and the Trainee Interest Group. 
  • Review of the CCAS Annual Meeting:  Many of us were able to attend the outstanding virtual CCAS Annual Meeting in March 2021 that was organized by the Program Chair Dr. Susan Nicolson, and the Program Committee, Drs. Greg Latham, David Vener, and Jamie Schwartz.  If you were unable to attend or need a refresher, check out the detailed meeting reviews by several Communications Committee members.
  • CHiP Network Article Reviews:  Three articles summarized by Drs. Felipe Medeiros, Destiny Chau, Lori Riegger, David McMann, and Richard Hubbard.  The topics include the role of steroids in neonates undergoing cardiac surgery, predictors of increased lactate in neonates undergoing cardiac surgery, and the role of POCUS in post-extubation diaphragm examination.  If you wish to contribute to the next series of article reviews, please contact Dr. Nischal Gautam.
  • Interesting Case:  A fantastic case presentation by Elyse Parchmont, DNP, CRNA and Sally Vender, MD on a patient with Muscular Dystrophy presenting for non-cardiac surgery.
  • Image of Interest: A brand new section to the Newsletter!  Drs. Chris Denny and Pablo Motta discuss diagnostic images of a port-a-cath related thrombus that extended from the right internal jugular vein into the right atrium.      

Enjoy the newsletter!  Please contact me if you would like to contribute to future newsletters or have ideas for additional educational content. 

Enjoy the summer and stay safe!    

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