Euroanaesthesia 2026: Breaking Trials about Perioperative Blood Pressure Targets
TopMedTalk
At Euroanaesthesia in Rotterdam, TopMedTalk hosts Andy Cumpsty and Kate Leslie speak with Denise Veelo Professor of Anesthesiology at the Amsterdam University Medical Center and Bernd Saugel Professor of Anesthesiology and Vice Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology in the Center of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, about two JAMA blood-pressure trials published on the same day. Veelo describes a 3,500-patient, two-center randomized trial comparing usual care (MAP 65) with more intensive, risk-stratified higher MAP thresholds...
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Euroanaesthesia 2026: ESAIC’s White Paper on the Future of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care
TopMedTalk
At this year’s Euroanaesthesia meeting in Rotterdam, TopMedTalk host Andy Cumpsty interviews Wolfgang Buhre, Professor of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at Utrecht University Medical Center and past president of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC). The discussion starts with a focus upon the annual ESAIC congress and its international reach, with next year’s meeting planned for Copenhagen. Buhre explains ESAIC’s White Paper, developed over two years using interviews and desk research with clinicians, stakeholders, and patient perspectives, to clarify...
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Breaking Trials: SNaPP Trial of Sugammadex, Neostigmine and Postoperative Pulmonary Complications
TopMedTalk
Andy Cumpstey and Mike Grocott interview Kate Leslie about the SNaPP study (Sugammadex, Neostigmine, and Postoperative Pulmonary Complications). SNaPP is a pragmatic randomized study run from the University of Melbourne with the ANZCA Clinical Trials Network across 45 sites in Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. Patients aged 40+ having major abdominal or thoracic surgery (≥2 hours, overnight stay) were randomized after induction to reversal with sugammadex or neostigmine, with anesthetists unblinded and encouraged to use quantitative neuromuscular monitoring. In this podcast Andy, Mike...
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ANZCA meeting convenor and cultural advisor
TopMedTalk
At the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) and Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) held in Auckland, New Zealand, Kate Leslie and Andy Cumpstey interview the annual scientific meeting convenor Kerry Benson-Cooper and conference cultural advisor Tui Blair about planning the meeting and how Māori traditions and culture have informed not only the conference but also patient care and education in New Zealand. Dr Kerry Benson-Cooper is a specialist anaesthetist and intensive care physician at Te Toka Tumai Auckland Hospital, New Zealand. Tui...
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Cardio-Obstetric Anesthesia at SOAP: Hemodynamics, Monitoring, and Preeclampsia
TopMedTalk
At the SOAP meeting in Montreal, Desiree Chappell and Monty Mythen interview Dr. Marie Louise Meng, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Duke University Department of Anesthesiology and her former cardio-obstetric fellow Liliane Ernst, assistant professor in the Obstetric and Gynecologic Anesthesia section Wake Forest University. The conversation focuses on cardio-obstetric anesthesia, hemodynamics, monitoring, and patient-centered care. Meng describes building multidisciplinary “pregnancy heart teams” to plan management for complex cardiac disease in pregnancy and reduce birth trauma....
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Sir Bruce Keogh on the NHS at 70, TopMedTalk Classics
TopMedTalk
TopMedTalk introduces our new “TopMedTalk Classics” series with a classic TopMedTalk episode from 2018 that is still prescient today. This lecture, given by Sir Bruce Keogh marked the NHS’s 70th birthday, a time framed by political volatility, financial constraint, rising demand, and shifting public expectations. Keogh argues healthcare systems must adapt, highlighting the UK’s strengths in medical science, innovation, life sciences, and the scale and complexity of the NHS. He describes quality improvement efforts since 2008, including defining quality as effectiveness, safety, and...
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AOA Meeting: Shaping AI for Anaesthesia
TopMedTalk
The Association of Anaesthetists meeting in London was the perfect spot for us to launch our new series on Artificial Intelligence. Here, Andy Cumpstey and James Bowness discuss the new monthly series and the UK-Ireland “demand signaling” project on AI in anaesthesia, perioperative medicine and acute pain, supported by The Association. They are joined by their guest Nicky De Beer, The Association’s chief executive. She explains that their members want problems defined in advance before technology solutions are imposed from above. She highlights key clinical themes—enhanced monitoring...
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Perioperative Profile: Vanessa Beavis
TopMedTalk
Settle yourself in for another fascinating glimpse behind the curtain as TopMedTalk’s perioperative profiles focus upon the incredible journey of Vanessa Beavis. Recorded at ANZCA’s recent annual scientific meeting in Auckland, TopMedTalk host Andy Cumpsty interviews anesthetist and former ANZCA President Vanessa Beavis about her path from growing up in South Africa to moving to Auckland in 1993. We discuss her early work in obstetrics, solo general practice, and training in anesthesia before emigrating. She describes becoming involved in departmental leadership, navigating hospital...
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Cardiac Biomarkers and Perioperative Management of Right Ventricular Failure
TopMedTalk
From the World Congress of Anesthesiologists in Marrakech, TopMedTalk hosts Mike Grocott and Kate Leslie discuss perioperative cardiac risk assessment with Hilary Grocott, Professor and Head of, The Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics (University of British Columbia) and Michelle Chew Professor of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and editor for the British Journal of Anaesthesia. The conversation reviews perioperative cardiac biomarkers, noting abundant prognostic data but limited evidence for biomarker-led...
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SOAP: Research Frontiers and Translating Obstetric Anesthesia Evidence to Bedside
TopMedTalk
At the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) meeting in Montreal, TopMedTalk hosts Desiree Chappell and Mike Grocott interview SOAP board member Dr. Dan Katz, an obstetric anesthesiologist at Mount Sinai, outgoing annual meeting chair and incoming vice president. Katz reports record attendance—over 900 preregistrations and nearly 1,100 total—plus standing-room sessions and review of 600+ abstracts. He highlights opening with research presentations (magnesium and postpartum hemorrhage, gestational thrombocytopenia and hemorrhage, and potential immunotherapies tied to...
info_outlineWhat is a 'clinical trials network' and why is it important? This piece explores one of ANZCA’s Annual Scientific Meeting’s big talking points with two of the key opinion leaders in the field.
Desiree Chappell and Monty Mythen speak with Stefan Dieleman, Cardiac Anaesthetist at Westmead Hospital, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Sydney and Andrew Davidson, Senior Staff Anaesthetist at the Royal Children's Hospital, head of Anaesthesia Research at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne.