Sam Heuts

Sam studied medicine at Maastricht University, after which he pursued a PhD at the department of Cardiothoracic Surgery in preoperative planning of surgical procedures. He gained a special interest in coronary surgery, imaging, and periprocedural myocardial injury. In line of this work, he received a Dekker grant (Dutch Heart Foundation, Clinical Scientist) in 2023.

Sam is the principal investigator of the PRIMARY trial (Dekker grant, Dutch Heart Foundation), evaluating the extent and impact of periprocedural myocardial injury. Also, together with colleagues, he developed a new method for the evaluation of the association between surgical volume and clinical outcomes, and he takes a special interest in Bayesian statistical inference.

Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
P. Debeyeplein 25, 6229 HX Maastricht
P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht

2026
- Slegers, D. P. J., Bova, R., Heuts, S. F. M., Betti, M., Theunissen, R., Veenstra, L., Vainer, J., Ilhan, M., Ijsselmuiden, A. J. J., Rasoul, S., Vriesendorp, P. A., Van't Hof, A. W. J., Lux, A., & South Limburg Interventional Cardiology Group (2026). Diffuse coronary artery disease leads to deferral of both surgical and percutaneous coronary artery revascularisation. International Journal of Cardiology, 445, Article 134049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2025.134049
- Swinnen, B., Gollman-Tepeköylü, C., & Heuts, S. (2026). Beyond biomarkers: the relevance of supporting evidence in the diagnosis of periprocedural myocardial infarction. European heart journal - Quality of care & clinical outcomes, 12(1), 119. Article qcaf111. https://doi.org/10.1093/ehjqcco/qcaf111
- Aerts, L., Kawczynski, M. J., Luermans, J., Bidar, E., Linz, D., Kowalewski, M., Lorusso, R., Pison, L., La Meir, M., Maesen, B., & Heuts, S. (2026). Effectiveness of Catheter and Standalone Surgical Ablation Procedures for Atrial Fibrillation: A Bayesian-Network Meta-analysis. Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 42(1), 136-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cjca.2025.10.018
2025
- Heuts, S., Kawczynski, M. J., Lemmens, M. J., Vernooy, K., Bidar, E., Flohr, T., Wildberger, J. E., Smulders, M. W., & Mihl, C. (2025). Accuracy of Photon-counting Detector CT Angiography for the Diagnosis of Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease: A Bayesian Diagnostic Test Accuracy Meta-Analysis. Radiology. Cardiothoracic imaging, 7(6), Article e250313. https://doi.org/10.1148/ryct.250313
- Heuts, S., van der Harst, P., Nodin, E., Frederiksen, J. G., Segers, P., Rosati, F., Bennett, J., Lux, A., Jacobs, S., Gianoli, M., Jakobsen, J. C., Carranza, C. L., & Oosterlinck, W. (2025). Combining Surgical and Percutaneous Revascularization for Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease: The Case for a Hybrid Approach. European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, 67(12), Article ezaf406. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejcts/ezaf406
- Sartipy, U., Heuts, S., & James, S. K. (2025). Evidence for a Clinically Meaningful Effect of no-Touch Harvesting Technique on Vein Graft Patency-A Bayesian Reanalysis of the SWEDEGRAFT Trial. European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, 67(12), Article ezaf407. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejcts/ezaf407
- Ko, K., Heuts, S., Tjon Joek Tjien, A., Sardari Nia, P., Maessen, J. G., Houterman, S., Singh, S. K., Boon, R., Tonino, P., Verberkmoes, N., Olsthoorn, J. R., & Cardiothoracic Surgery Registration Committee of the Netherlands Heart Registration (2025). Textbook Outcome in Mitral Valve Surgery-Results from the Netherlands Heart Registration. European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, 67(12), Article ezaf422. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejcts/ezaf422
- Husen, T. F., Vidya, A. P., Heuts, S., Prasetyo, A., Nugroho, A. K. Z., Lorusso, R., Bidar, E., Maesen, B., & Sardari Nia, P. (2025). Comparative Study of Different Minimally Invasive Aortic Valve Replacement Techniques: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. Interdisciplinary CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery, 40(11), Article ivaf244. https://doi.org/10.1093/icvts/ivaf244
- Pölzl, L., Kletzer, J., Lohmann, R., Sutter, C., Ioannou-Nikolaidou, M., Engler, C., Graber, M., Nägele, F., Hirsch, J., Heuts, S., Czerny, M., Reinstadler, S. J., Holfeld, J., Grimm, M., Fagu, A., Kreibich, M., Hartikainen, T., Bonaros, N., Berger, T., & Gollmann-Tepeköylü, C. (2025). Prognostic Implications of Preoperative hs-cTnT in Elective Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting. JACC: Advances, 4(11P1), Article 102180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacadv.2025.102180
- Husen, T. F., Genechten, S. V., Claessens, J., Packle, L., Heuts, S., Maessen, J. G., & Yilmaz, A. (2025). Y-Graft Versus In Situ Bilateral Internal Mammary Arteries in Endoscopic Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting. Innovations: Technology and Techniques in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, 20(6), 547-554. https://doi.org/10.1177/15569845251377059

Overview

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Sam Heuts