The Future of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9 Gene Therapy in Cardiomyopathies: A Review of Its Therapeutic Potential and Emerging Applications.

Cardiomyopathies, among the leading causes of heart failure and sudden cardiac death, are often driven by genetic mutations affecting the heart's structural proteins. Despite significant advancements in understanding the genetic basis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), effective long-term therapies remain limited. The advent of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) gene editing offers a promising therapeutic strategy to address these genetic disorders at their root.

Intraoperative Red Blood Cell Transfusion and Primary Graft Dysfunction After Lung Transplantation.

Background: In this international, multicenter study of patients undergoing lung transplantation (LT), we explored the association between the amount of intraoperative packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusion and occurrence of primary graft dysfunction (PGD) and associated outcomes.

Methods: The Extracorporeal Life Support in LT Registry includes data on LT recipients from 9 high-volume (>40 transplants/y) transplant centers (2 from Europe, 7 from the United States). Adult patients who underwent bilateral orthotopic lung transplant from January 2016 to January 2020 were included.

Plasma protein biomarkers for primary graft dysfunction after lung transplantation: a single-center cohort analysis.

The clinical use of circulating biomarkers for primary graft dysfunction (PGD) after lung transplantation has been limited. In a prospective single-center cohort, we examined the use of plasma protein biomarkers as indicators of PGD severity and duration after lung transplantation. The study comprised 40 consecutive lung transplant patients who consented to blood sample collection immediately pretransplant and at 6, 24, 48, and 72 h after lung transplant.

Effect of mode of intraoperative support on primary graft dysfunction after lung transplant.

Objective: To clarify the relationship between the use of extracorporeal life support during lung transplantation and severe primary graft dysfunction (PGD), we developed and analyzed a novel multicenter international registry.

Methods: The Extracorporeal Life Support in Lung Transplantation Registry includes double-lung transplants performed at 8 high-volume centers (>40/year). Multiorgan transplants were excluded.

Analysis of sex-based differences in clinical and molecular responses to ischemia reperfusion after lung transplantation.

Background: Sex and hormones influence immune responses to ischemia reperfusion (IR) and could, therefore, cause sex-related differences in lung transplantation (LTx) outcomes. We compared men's and women's clinical and molecular responses to post-LTx IR.

Methods: In 203 LTx patients, we used the 2016 International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation guidelines to score primary graft dysfunction (PGD).

Giant thymoma presenting as a large bilateral intrathoracic mass: A case report and a comparison between median sternotomy and hemiclamshell approach.

Introduction: Thymoma is an epithelial tumor that commonly lies in the anterior mediastinum. It rarely extends to the pleural cavities. There is no standard approach for resecting similar giant thymomas.

Incidence of primary graft dysfunction is higher according to the new ISHLT 2016 guidelines and correlates with clinical and molecular risk factors.

Background: Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is the most important determinant of morbidity and mortality after lung transplantation, but its definition has evolved over the past decade. The implications of this refinement in clinical definition have not been evaluated. In this single-center study, we compared PGD incidence, risk factors, and outcomes using the 2005 and the updated-2016 International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation guidelines for PGD grading in lung transplant patients.

Breathing lung transplantation with the Organ Care System (OCS) Lung: lessons learned and future implications.

Ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) represents a potentially important advancement in the preservation of donor lungs prior to transplantation. Portable EVLP or "Breathing Lung Transplantation" with the Organ Care System (OCS) Lung combines the fundamental components of EVLP with portability, thus reducing the total ischemic burden. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved OCS for perfusion of standard donor lungs prior to transplant in 2018.

Effects of glycemia on immediate complications following CABG.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between postoperative glucose levels (days 1 through 3) and immediate outcomes in patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 2,558 consecutive patients who had isolated CABG. Patients were stratified into 3 groups based on their pre-operative mortality risk (MR), using Society of Thoracic Surgeons' criteria.