{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,27]],"date-time":"2025-06-27T04:15:33Z","timestamp":1750997733889,"version":"3.41.0"},"reference-count":8,"publisher":"Georg Thieme Verlag KG","issue":"01","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,29]],"date-time":"2025-05-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748476800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":117,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Aorta (Stamford)"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>The Western Aortic Collaborative (WAC) is a new, hybrid, multi-institutional academic model that seeks to perform aortic surgery research and education.<\/jats:p><jats:p>The WAC has three fundamental thoracic aortic surgery goals: (1) advancing surgical techniques, (2) furthering education and development of aortic surgeons, and (3) performing multi-institutional clinical research. The WAC utilizes a hybrid model of annual in-person meetings at the Western Thoracic Surgical Association (WTSA) combined with videoconferencing platforms that regularly connect surgeons dispersed throughout the Western region. The structure of WAC is intentionally horizontal. The goal is to promote cross-pollination of ideas, techniques, and experiences between surgeons at different institutions.<\/jats:p><jats:p>For its research goals, the WAC first identified the principal areas of aortic surgery with the greatest knowledge gaps and which of those knowledge gaps could best be addressed by institutional practice differences within WAC. Using this natural experiment design, five high-priority research topics from the aortic root to the left subclavian artery were created. In order to perform this subspecialized, multi-institutional research, the WAC created a novel, cloud-based database that piggybacks on the Society for Thoracic Surgeon database. The combined database also preserves the ability to generate subspecialized variables and to link with each institution's medical record system for semi-automated functionality.<\/jats:p><jats:p>In its inaugural year, the WAC succeeded in its primary goals of utilizing remote technology platforms and the annual WTSA meeting to create a regional community of aortic surgeons with shared research and educational goals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1055\/s-0045-1809344","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,29]],"date-time":"2025-05-29T22:36:52Z","timestamp":1748558212000},"page":"009-013","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Western Aortic Collaborative: Multi-institutional Aortic Surgery, Education, and Research"],"prefix":"10.1055","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2129-6739","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fenton H.","family":"McCarthy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Providence Heart Institute, Sacred Heart Medical Center, Spokane, Washington"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Christopher R.","family":"Burke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jason P.","family":"Glotzbach","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michael P.","family":"Fischbein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford, Palo Alto, California"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anthony","family":"Caffarelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, International Heart Institute, St. Patrick's Hospital, Missoula, Montana"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fernando","family":"Fleischman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"T. Brett","family":"Reece","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"194","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,29]]},"reference":[{"issue":"04","key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"491","DOI":"10.1097\/00000658-199810000-00006","article-title":"The Department of Veterans Affairs' NSQIP: the first national, validated, outcome-based, risk-adjusted, and peer-controlled program for the measurement and enhancement of the quality of surgical care","volume":"228","author":"S F Khuri","year":"1998","journal-title":"Ann Surg"},{"issue":"01","key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"237","DOI":"10.1016\/j.athoracsur.2023.04.034","article-title":"Quality and impact of manuscripts using the Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Databases","volume":"117","author":"P W Brocklebank","year":"2024","journal-title":"Ann Thorac Surg"},{"issue":"11","key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1026","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jacc.2013.03.060","article-title":"The STS-ACC transcatheter valve therapy national registry: a new partnership and infrastructure for the introduction and surveillance of medical devices and therapies","volume":"62","author":"J D Carroll","year":"2013","journal-title":"J Am Coll Cardiol"},{"issue":"05","key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"855","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jamcollsurg.2010.01.013","article-title":"Elective thoracic aortic aneurysm surgery: better outcomes from high-volume centers","volume":"210","author":"L M Gazoni","year":"2010","journal-title":"J Am Coll Surg"},{"issue":"02","key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"319","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ahj.2008.10.005","article-title":"Rationale and design of the National Registry of genetically triggered thoracic aortic aneurysms and cardiovascular conditions (GenTAC)","volume":"157","author":"K A Eagle","year":"2009","journal-title":"Am Heart J"},{"issue":"06","key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"492","DOI":"10.1097\/HCO.0000000000000114","article-title":"Familial thoracic aortic aneurysms","volume":"29","author":"G Jondeau","year":"2014","journal-title":"Curr Opin Cardiol"},{"issue":"15","key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1610","DOI":"10.1161\/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.006421","article-title":"Standardizing clinical end points in aortic arch surgery: a consensus statement from the International Aortic Arch Surgery Study Group","volume":"129","author":"T D Yan","year":"2014","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"issue":"07","key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"897","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.283.7.897","article-title":"The International Registry of Acute Aortic Dissection (IRAD): new insights into an old disease","volume":"283","author":"P G Hagan","year":"2000","journal-title":"JAMA"}],"container-title":["AORTA"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/www.thieme-connect.de\/products\/ejournals\/pdf\/10.1055\/s-0045-1809344.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,26]],"date-time":"2025-06-26T22:41:59Z","timestamp":1750977719000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.thieme-connect.de\/DOI\/DOI?10.1055\/s-0045-1809344"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,2]]},"references-count":8,"journal-issue":{"issue":"01","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,26]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,2]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1055\/s-0045-1809344","archive":["Portico","CLOCKSS"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["2325-4637"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2325-4637"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,2]]}}}