Exercise Performance in Transplant Recipients of Hearts From Donation After Circulatory Death and Donation After Brain Death.

Background: Heart transplantation (HT) following donation after circulatory death (DCD) has grown substantially in recent years. However, the effects of functional ischemic injury during procurement on exercise capacity remain unknown. We compared exercise performance parameters between DCD and donation after brain death (DBD) recipients.

Association Between COVID-19 Infection and Postoperative Outcomes Following Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: To investigate the association between preoperative Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and complications in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), focusing on the timing of infection.

Design: A retrospective cohort study using the National Covid Cohort Collaborative (N3C) database SETTING: Multi-institutional data from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative, representing diverse US healthcare settings PARTICIPANTS: Adult patients undergoing CABG during the COVID-19 pandemic, identified through CPT codes. COVID-19 infection timing was stratified into 3 groups: 0 to 2 weeks, 2 to 6 weeks, and 6 to 12 weeks before surgery.

Cardiac Transplantation for Peripartum Cardiomyopathy in a Patient With Sickle Cell Disease.

Background: Cardiac surgery, particularly cardiac transplantation, is considered high risk in patients with sickle cell hemoglobinopathies and rarely reported in the literature.

Case Summary: We present a case of a 33-year-old woman with sickle cell β+ thalassemia and peripartum cardiomyopathy, who presented with sickling crisis and cardiogenic shock requiring temporary mechanical support. The patient ultimately successfully underwent heart transplantation.

Sociodemographic and Systems Risk Factors Associated With Nil by Mouth Noncompliance and Day-of-Procedure Cancellations: A Retrospective Multicenter Case-Control Study.

Background: Day-of-procedure cancelations are a hardship, affecting patients, families, and health care systems. One major cause of cancelations is nil by mouth (nil per os [NPO]) noncompliance. Previous single-center studies show conflicting results regarding risk factors for cancelations.

Changes in Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio During Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

Mortality remains elevated during venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support (VA-ECMO) for cardiogenic shock and the role of inflammation is uncertain. By using the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), we investigated inflammatory dynamics during VA-ECMO and their relation to clinical outcomes. A single-center, retrospective cohort study was conducted.

Left Ventricular Dimensions and Clinical Outcomes With a Fully Magnetically Levitated Left Ventricular Assist Device.

Background: Prior analyses have suggested that a smaller left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) is associated with reduced survival following HeartMate 3 left ventricular assist device implantation.

Objectives: In this trial-based comprehensive analysis, the authors sought to examine clinical characteristics and association with the outcome of this specific relationship.

Methods: The authors analyzed the presence of LVEDD <55 mm among 1,921 analyzable HeartMate 3 patients within the MOMENTUM 3 (Multicenter Study of MagLev Technology in Patients Undergoing Mechanical Circulatory Support Therapy With HeartMate 3) trial portfolio, on endpoints of overall survival and adverse events at 2 years.

Intraoperative Epoprostenol in Type II Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia During Left-Ventricular Assist Device Implantation: A Case Series and Review of Literature.

Type II heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (type II HITT) is a rare but serious complication in patients receiving heparin for anticoagulation. In type II HITT, an immune-mediated reaction against platelet factor four-heparin complexes results in thrombocytopenia and an elevated risk of thrombosis. This poses significant challenges for patients with advanced heart failure requiring urgent left-ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation.

Utilization rates and heart transplantation outcomes of donation after circulatory death donors with prior cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Background: Heart donation after circulatory death (DCD) involves mandatory exposure to warm ischemic injury (WII) due to donor cardiac arrest resulting from withdrawal of life-support (WLS). However, potential DCD donors may also experience a cardiac arrest and undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and associated WII before WLS. We sought to investigate the effect of previous donor-CPR in DCD heart-transplantation (HT).

Increasing Multiorgan Heart Transplantations From Donation After Circulatory Death Donors in the United States.

Introduction: Donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors are becoming an important source of organs for heart-transplantation (HT), but there are limited data regarding their use in multiorgan-HT.

Methods: Between January 2020 and June 2023, we identified 87 adult multiorgan-HTs performed using DCD-donors [77 heart-kidney, 6 heart-lung, 4 heart-liver] and 1494 multiorgan-HTs using donation after brain death (DBD) donors (1141 heart-kidney, 165 heart-lung, 188 heart-liver) in UNOS. For heart-kidney transplantations (the most common multiorgan-HT combination from DCD-donors), we also compared donor/recipient characteristics, and early outcomes, including 6-month mortality using Kaplan-Meier (KM) and Cox hazards-ratio (Cox-HR).

Extrinsic outflow graft obstruction of the HeartMate 3 LVAD: A state-of-the-art review.

While notable improvements in survival, the incidence of hemocompatibility-related adverse events, hospitalizations, and cost have been demonstrated with the only commercially available durable left ventricular assist device, a category of pump malfunctions characterized by outflow graft obstruction has been noted with broader use and clinical follow-up of recipients of this technology. Of particular concern is the accumulation of acellular biodebris between the outflow graft and bend relief covering the outflow graft at its origin with the pump (which we term extrinsic outflow graft obstruction at the bend relief). This process tends to be insidious, occurs late in the postoperative course, can be challenging to diagnose, and can result in significant morbidity and mortality.

Donation After Circulatory Death Heart Transplant: Current State and Future Directions.

Orthotopic heart transplant is the gold standard therapeutic intervention for patients with end-stage heart failure. Conventionally, heart transplant has relied on donation after brain death for organ recovery. Donation after circulatory death (DCD) is the donation of the heart after confirming that circulatory function has irreversibly ceased.

Aspirin and Hemocompatibility Events With a Left Ventricular Assist Device in Advanced Heart Failure: The ARIES-HM3 Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) enhance quality and duration of life in advanced heart failure. The burden of nonsurgical bleeding events is a leading morbidity. Aspirin as an antiplatelet agent is mandated along with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) with continuous-flow LVADs without conclusive evidence of efficacy and safety.

Use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Primary Graft Dysfunction After Cardiac Transplantation: Results of an A Priori Ventless Approach.

Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) after cardiac transplantation is a devastating complication with increasing frequency lately in the setting of donation after circulatory death (DCD). Severe PGD is commonly treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) using central or peripheral cannulation. We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of PGD after cardiac transplantation requiring ECMO support at our center from 2015 to 2020, focused on our now preferential approach using peripheral cannulation without a priori venting.

Predictors of 5-Year Mortality in Patients Managed With a Magnetically Levitated Left Ventricular Assist Device.

Background: In advanced heart failure patients implanted with a fully magnetically levitated HeartMate 3 (HM3, Abbott) left ventricular assist device (LVAD), it is unknown how preimplant factors and postimplant index hospitalization events influence 5-year mortality in those able to be discharged.

Objectives: The goal was to identify risk predictors of mortality through 5 years among HM3 LVAD recipients conditional on discharge from index hospitalization in the MOMENTUM 3 pivotal trial.

Methods: This analysis evaluated 485 of 515 (94%) patients discharged after implantation of the HM3 LVAD.

Transplantation Outcomes with Donor Hearts after Circulatory Death.

Background: Data showing the efficacy and safety of the transplantation of hearts obtained from donors after circulatory death as compared with hearts obtained from donors after brain death are limited.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, noninferiority trial in which adult candidates for heart transplantation were assigned in a 3:1 ratio to receive a heart after the circulatory death of the donor or a heart from a donor after brain death if that heart was available first (circulatory-death group) or to receive only a heart that had been preserved with the use of traditional cold storage after the brain death of the donor (brain-death group). The primary end point was the risk-adjusted survival at 6 months in the as-treated circulatory-death group as compared with the brain-death group.

Early Outcomes of Adult Heart Transplantation From COVID-19 Infected Donors.

Background: There is a paucity of data on heart transplantation (HT) using COVID-19 donors.

Objectives: This study investigated COVID-19 donor use, donor and recipient characteristics, and early post-HT outcomes.

Methods: Between May 2020 and June 2022, study investigators identified 27,862 donors in the United Network for Organ Sharing, with 60,699 COVID-19 nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) performed before procurement and with available organ disposition.

Cystic Tumor of the Atrioventricular Node Causing Rapid-Onset and Reversible Complete Heart Block.

Cystic tumors of the atrioventricular node are rare primary cardiac neoplasms, frequently reported as a postmortem diagnosis during autopsy. Despite their small size, they can present with complete heart block or sudden cardiac death. Herein, we present a case of rapidly progressing high-grade atrioventricular block that improved after surgery.

Intimal hyperplasia, saphenous vein graft disease, and clinical outcomes: Insights from the CTSN VEST randomized trial.

Background: Diffuse intimal hyperplasia and graft irregularity adversely affect the long-term patency of saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) and clinical outcomes of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The VEST trial evaluated the efficacy of external graft support in limiting the development of intimal hyperplasia (IH) at 1 year postsurgery. In the present secondary analysis, we explored the associations between graft disease and IH and clinical events.

Prediction of Survival After Implantation of a Fully Magnetically Levitated Left Ventricular Assist Device.

Background: Clinical trials inform on average efficacy, but individualized risk assessments for outcome prediction are important in guiding treatment implementation.

Objectives: The authors developed and validated a patient-specific risk score to predict survival at 1 and 2 years after HeartMate 3 (HM3) left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation.

Methods: The MOMENTUM 3 (Multicenter Study of MagLev Technology in Patients Undergoing Mechanical Circulatory Support Therapy with HeartMate 3) trial includes 2,200 HM3 LVAD patients in the pivotal trial and Continued Access Protocol study (2014-2018).