Latest News and Resources Archives - Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society

NEW! CCAS Quality & Safety Committee Cognitive Aids

Cognitive aids are designed to prompt users to complete a series of tasks and can take many different forms. We have designed a series of cognitive aids for congenital cardiac anesthesia for common and uncommon scenarios to try to capture experience and wisdom not published elsewhere. Congenital cardiac anesthesia involves taking care of very complex patients in many rare and challenging scenarios. Each individual cardiac anesthesiologist may only experience one or two of these emergency situations in a career. And for individuals who are training, our colleagues starting out in practice, or for those who have a low patient volume of cardiac anesthesia this resource may be invaluable. However, for even the most experienced amongst us, it can be helpful to review these aids to ensure that nothing has been forgotten. These cognitive aids are meant as a supplement to good clinical decision making, existing knowledge, and local experience. We encourage you to use them and to help us grow this resource over time. We have tried to be as accurate and complete as possible. However, if you notice any omissions or inaccuracies, please let us know so we can update the cards accordingly.

Thank you for downloading these cards. We encourage you to print, laminate, and post these in your operating rooms, cardiac cath labs, and other areas where you take care of patients with congenital heart disease.

CLICK HERE to access the aids. Member login is required.

Call for Submissions – CCAS 2023 Annual Meeting

Do you have an idea for a Workshop, Problem-Based Learning Discussion (PBLD) or Expert Round Table Discussion that would benefit the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society (CCAS) membership? If so, please see the requirements and submission information below for the CCAS 2023 Annual Meeting.

WORKSHOPS – Submission deadline is July 22, 2022

We are looking for workshops topics that will be of interest to those who provide anesthesia, sedation, pain management, and critical care services to patients with Congenital Heart Disease.

Requirements:

If your workshop will require equipment provided in-kind by vendors/commercial supporters such as ultrasound machines, VAD devices, etc. – please confirm with vendors that they are willing to provide/ship the equipment prior to submitting your proposal or make alternative arrangements to provide the equipment.
Please list all proposed faculty on your submission; confirm that they are willing to participate prior to submitting your proposal.
Only CCAS/SPA members may participate as workshop faculty – CCAS will not provide any compensation or reimbursement to non-member faculty for workshops and will not pay for transportation of any equipment.

Please click here for the workshop proposal form. We will also accept proposals for workshops that have been presented at past meetings or submitted previously (and not selected for presentation). If there are any specific barriers to address or resources we can help with please include those in your application. Submissions will be closely reviewed by the meeting planning committee.

Please complete and submit the form to [email protected] no later than July 22, 2022.

PBLDs – Submission deadline is July 22, 2022

Submissions may be a case or problem that is real or fictitious, and could focus on topics of interest to those who provide anesthesia, sedation, pain management, and critical care services to patients with congenital heart disease, as well as resident education, medical ethics, or professionalism related to our sub-specialty. The ‘Guidelines for PBLD Submission‘ document describes the format for submission in more detail. Reviewers will score submissions for interest, scientific accuracy, and clarity of thought and expression.

Two moderators must be named for each submission, and if accepted, both must agree to participate as moderators for the group discussion at the meeting. One moderator should be an experienced educator, and the other a junior faculty member or a fellow in-training. Senior moderators may not be included on more than TWO PBLD submissions. Institutions/hospitals may submit multiple PBLDs, however, no more than TWO PBLD submissions from an institution/hospital will be accepted for presentation at the meeting.

Please remember that the goal of the PBLD is for the LEARNER to participate in discussing the management options, not for the MODERATOR to tell participants how they actually did the case.

An effective PBLD:

is relevant to the practice of our subspecialty (i.e. not an extremely rare case)
has controversy and/or decision making that should be discussed/debated
has some surprises, “twists or turns”
has well-written objectives that are covered by the discussion
has well selected references

Many unusual cases are better suited to a Medically Challenging Case or Case Report/Scientific Abstract instead of a PBLD. Therefore, it is important for the author to demonstrate to the reviewers that the PBLD contains areas for discussion, such as different ways of managing clinical issues, among others.

It is crucial that submissions are carefully proofed for grammatical errors and typos, as carelessly written PBLDs are often automatically rejected. It is also required that authors disguise or redact any identifying information by changing demographic details and circumstances of the clinical scenario to avoid potential HIPAA violations.

For more information on how to create a great PBLD:

https://pedsanesthesia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/How-to-Design-and-Lead-a-PBLD.pdf

https://www.mededportal.org/publication/9371

The final deadline for receipt of submissions will be 3:00pm Eastern Time on Friday, July 22, 2022. No late submissions will be entertained. If accepted, you will be notified by email in late August. Submissions should be sent as a Word document to Jenny Patterson via e-mail at [email protected].

EXPERT ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION – Submission deadline is July 22, 2022

If you have a suggestion for an Expert Round Table Discussion, please send the topic information, as well as suggested moderators/presenters to [email protected] by July 22, 2022.

We look forward to receiving your submissions! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions by emailing Jenny Patterson at the above email address.

Thank you.

David F. Vener, MD
Program Chair

Jamie McElrath Schwartz, MD
Program Co-Chair

Nischal K. Gautam, MD
Program Co-Chair

Rania K. Abbasi, MD
Program Shadow

In Memoriam : Kelly Ann Machovec, MD

Dear Colleagues,

It is with profound sadness that we inform you of the passing of our dear friend and a beloved member of our Pediatric Anesthesiology family, Kelly Ann Machovec, MD, MPH. She passed away on March 30th, at the age of 43. Her untimely death has left a huge hole in our lives where this amazing, impactful and dedicated pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist used to stand.

Kelly will be remembered as an exceptional academician and physician who dedicated her career to improving the lives of children undergoing cardiothoracic or vascular surgery, and for her special impact that was palpable to her colleagues and patients throughout the Duke Children’s Heart Center and larger Congenital Cardiac Anesthesiology Society.

Kelly was originally from Baltimore, Maryland. She received her Master of Public Health degree in 2005 and her Doctor of Medicine degree in 2006, both at the University of North Carolina. She went on to complete a residency in Anesthesiology at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia and a fellowship in Pediatric Anesthesiology here at Duke University School of Medicine. In 2013, we were thrilled when we convinced Kelly to stay on as faculty at Duke Children’s and she joined our Duke Anesthesiology faculty as an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology; she was appointed an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology in 2019.

Dr Kelly Machovec was an accomplished Pediatric Anesthesiologist whose research primarily focused on the hemostasis management of children following open heart surgery performed on cardiopulmonary bypass. Earlier this year she received the Duke Pediatric and Congenital Heart Center Impact Award, recognizing her exceptional impact on the clinical practice around hemostasis, on both local and national levels. She was a fierce advocate for child-centered health care policies and always questioned the status quo. For example, she led the charge to discontinue preoperative blood testing in children to prevent them from having unnecessary painful blood draws in the preoperative clinic. Dr. Machovec’s excellence and research led to her invitation to write the book chapter on “Anesthesia for Pediatric Cardiac Surgery” in Miller’s Anesthesia textbook. In 2015, she co-founded the Hemostasis Interest Group, a committee within the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society which she served on for six years as committee chair, member and mentor; she also served as an at-large member on the Board of Directors of the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society. Kelly was a passionate educator, serving as chair of the Clinical Competency Committee for Duke’s Pediatric Anesthesiology Fellowship and as a question writer and committee member for the American Board of Anesthesiology’s Pediatric Maintenance of Certification. Residents and fellows loved working with her as she always brought her passion and sharp sense of humor to every encounter. Kelly was not one to leave her opinion unheard. In addition to being an outstanding clinician and a dedicated educator, she was recognized with the high honor of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award at the Duke University School of Medicine in March of this year. Recipients of this distinguished award are recognized as exemplars of humanism in the care of their patients, their compassionate delivery of care and respectfulness given to their patients and health care colleagues, as well as for their clinical excellence.

Kelly did not let her illness define her – if anything, it brought a renewed focus and intensity. She became an advocate for basic science cancer research and raised more than $63,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as part of her anticipated participation on their team in the 126th Boston Marathon this April. All of the money she raised will go to the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. She said she was “running this race to raise money for the future, for the next generation of people diagnosed with cancer who need good treatments.”

Kelly was also a citizen of the world and had many passions. From 2013-2017, she advocated for pediatric health care on a global scale by taking part in medical missions in India, the Philippines and Haiti for Operation Smile and Gift of Life International.

At a recent grand rounds she gave, I introduced Kelly as having “the determination of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the curiosity of Marie Curie and the fierceness of Wonder Woman” and these are the qualities that we all loved and admired in her. Kelly was also super funny, strong-willed and energetic, and a dedicated team member. We are going to miss her desperately.

To preserve Kelly’s legacy at Duke, our department has formally established the Kelly Machovec Humanism Award. The recipient of this annual departmental award will exemplify grace and compassion in their delivery of patient-centered care, reverence for patients, their loved ones and colleagues, ethical principles, and a continuous commitment to clinical excellence. Most importantly, her legacy will live on through her family. She was a dedicated and loving wife to her husband, Scott Matthews, and proud mother to her three young daughters, Vivienne, Eva and Caroline. Her loved ones will remember her as an engaged, talented and powerful woman with unwavering passion and optimism, who loved spending time with her family and friends, running, practicing yoga, reading, and baking.

She will be deeply missed by so many; her legacy and work will continue to inspire us all.

In honor and remembrance of Dr Kelly Machovec.

Eddie Jooste and the Pediatric Anesthesia Team at Duke.

In Memoriam: Lisa Wise-Faberowski, MD, MS

Written By: Rita Agarwal MD, Chandra Ramamoorthy MD, and James Fehr MD

It is with a heavy heart that we share the untimely death of our dear friend and colleague Lisa Wise-Faberowski MD, MS. Lisa was a faculty member in the Department of Anesthesiology, Division of Pediatric Anesthesiology at Stanford University School of Medicine. She was a dedicated clinical pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist, scientific researcher, gentle, kind teacher, and mentor.

After a residency in pediatrics, pediatric critical care and anesthesiology, Lisa made pediatric cardiac anesthesia and critical care her calling. Her bench to bedside investigation into the effects of anesthesia on the developing brain won her several prestigious awards and honors. She was the recipient of more than several awards including the John J. Downes Award and the young investigator award from both the Society of Neuro-Anesthesia-Critical Care and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia. In addition to other departmental awards, Lisa had a scientist development award from the American Heart Association. Additionally, Lisa had several grants to support her research on neuronal apoptosis in animals and children with heart disease.

Dr. Wise-Faberowski’s career took her from Duke University to the University of Florida in Gainesville, to the Children’s Hospital in Denver, University of Colorado. I (RA) had the opportunity to get to know Lisa well both professionally and personally and admired her greatly. In 2010, Lisa was recruited to join the pediatric cardiac division at Stanford University where she continued her laboratory studies on neuroapotosis in the developing brain. At Stanford, Lisa went on to obtain a Masters in Health research and outcomes. Lisa could explain findings of her research to the uninitiated in an easily understandable manner and break down really complex issues into clear and easy to follow concepts. She was a patient teacher and allowed her trainees autonomy.

Lisa was involved with several national societies including the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society (CCAS), the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Association of University Anesthesiologists (AUA). She was on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine (AAP SOA), and was on the Education Planning Committee for the upcoming SPA/AAP Annual Pediatric Anesthesiology Meeting in Tampa, Florida. She was the Chair of the AUA Communication Committee and a member of the Executive Council. Lisa served on the SPA Education and Communications Committee and several ASA Committees. She has spoken nationally and internationally on a variety of topics primarily related to neuroanesthesia, neurotoxicity, and congenital cardiac anesthesia.

While Lisa appeared fragile, as if a strong wind would blow her away, beneath lay a tenacious, stoic, and strong- willed individual. Lisa was soft spoken, unfailingly gentle and kind to her trainees and laboratory assistants and was inclusive of them in her publications, of which she has many. She was a mentor and role model to multiple aspiring physicians, trainees, faculty, and clinician scientists. All who knew her recall her gentle demeanor and unfailing kindness. We have had messages from several of her trainees and colleagues expressing surprise and sadness at her untimely demise.

In reviewing her CV, I (CR) was awestruck on how much Lisa had accomplished both academically and outside of work. I have not met many individuals who could push themselves as much as Lisa did. Despite a busy clinical and research career, Lisa found time to be the team captain of her children’s basketball team, team manager of soccer teams, be a foster parent to animals and, periodically, Lisa would send me (CR) a picture of her latest fluffy friend.

Dr. Lisa Wise-Faberowski was a compassionate and dedicated physician caring for some of the sickest children. She was an amazing woman, a devoted wife, and a mother of four. She was brave in her long fight against breast cancer but never allowed her illness to define her. She will be missed by her family and many friends at Stanford and elsewhere. We mourn her untimely loss.

CCAS Call for Surveys

CCAS members interested in conducting survey research:

The submission site for proposed surveys will be open twice a year from:

January 1 – February 28
July 1 – August 31

The CCAS Research Committee will select the 2 best surveys per cycle to be distributed to the membership later in the year. All surveys must also be approved by the CCAS Executive Committee.

Click here for eligibility reqquirements and additional information.

Upcoming Meeting Information