Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

Circ Genom Precis Med 2019 Mar 21. Epub 2019 Mar 21.

Department of Cardiology, Division Heart and Lungs, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands.

Background: Genetic variation at chromosome 9p21 is a recognized risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). However, its effect on disease progression and subsequent events is unclear, raising questions about its value for stratification of residual risk.

Methods: A variant at chromosome 9p21 (rs1333049) was tested for association with subsequent events during follow-up in 103,357 Europeans with established CHD at baseline from the GENIUS-CHD Consortium (73. Read More

PLoS One 2019 21;14(3):e0197655. Epub 2019 Mar 21.

IVPC UMR754 INRA, Univ Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, EPHE, Lyon, France.

The pathogenesis of thymic epithelial tumors remains poorly elucidated. The PIK3/Akt/mTOR pathway plays a key role in various cancers; interestingly, several phase I/II studies have reported a positive effect of mTOR inhibitors in disease control in thymoma patients. A major limit for deciphering cellular and molecular events leading to the transformation of thymic epithelial cells or for testing drug candidates is the lack of reliable in vitro cell system. Read More

Circ Genom Precis Med 2019 Mar 21. Epub 2019 Mar 21.

Department of Cardiology, Division Heart and Lungs, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands.

Background: The "GENetIcs of sUbSequent Coronary Heart Disease" (GENIUS-CHD) consortium was established to facilitate discovery and validation of genetic variants and biomarkers for risk of subsequent CHD events, in individuals with established CHD.

Methods: The consortium currently includes 57 studies from 18 countries, recruiting 185,614 participants with either acute coronary syndrome, stable CHD or a mixture of both at baseline. All studies collected biological samples and followed-up study participants prospectively for subsequent events. Read More

Rev Recent Clin Trials 2019 Mar 20. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

Unità Operativa di Epatologia, Policlinico Universitario di "Tor Vergata"; Viale Oxford 81, 00133 Rome. Italy.

Background: Domino transplant occurs when a recipient explanted graft could be then used for a second recipient.

Introduction: The first experience came from thoracic surgery by the observation that many patients during heart-lung transplantation actually showed a functional heart that could be employed in other subjects with a good result.

Results: This concept was then extended in the field of liver transplantation. Read More

Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2019 Mar 19:1535370219834498. Epub 2019 Mar 19.

1 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.

Impact Statement: Over the past several decades, ex vivo perfusion has emerged as a promising technology for the assessment, preservation, and recovery of donor organs. Many exciting pre-clinical findings have now been translated to clinical use, and successful transplantation following ex vivo perfusion has been achieved for heart, lung, and liver. While machine perfusion provides distinct advantages over traditional cold preservation, many challenges remain, including that of long-term (multi-day) ex vivo support. Read More

Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2019 Mar 18. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute, Laboratory of Transplantation Genomics, Bethesda, Maryland, United States.

Am J Transplant 2019 Mar 18. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Division of Infectious Diseases, Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X8, Canada.

Post-transplant-lymphoproliferative-disorder (PTLD) is a devastating complication of organ transplantation. In a hospital-based registry, we identified biopsy-proven cases of PTLD among children over a 15-year period and reviewed trends in PTLD rates, the sites of involvement and the associated survival rates. Cases that were included had at least 1 year of follow-up after the diagnosis of PTLD. Read More

Curr Opin Pulm Med 2019 Mar 14. Epub 2019 Mar 14.

ILD Center of Excellence, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands.

Purpose Of Review: Lung transplantation (LTx) can be a life saving treatment in end-stage pulmonary diseases, but survival after transplantation is still limited. Posttransplant development of chronic lung allograft dysfunction with bronchiolits obliterans syndrome (BOS) as the major subphenotype, is the main cause of morbidity and mortality. Early identification of high-risk patients for BOS is a large unmet clinical need. Read More

Crit Care Med 2019 Mar 15. Epub 2019 Mar 15.

Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain.

Objectives: Latest trials failed to confirm merits of nebulized amikacin for critically ill patients with nosocomial pneumonia. We studied various nebulized and IV antibiotic regimens in a porcine model of severe Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia, resistant to amikacin, fosfomycin, and susceptible to meropenem.

Design: Prospective randomized animal study. Read More

Kardiol Pol 2019 Mar 18. Epub 2019 Mar 18.

Department of Cardiac Surgery, Wroclaw Medical University, Borowska 213, 50-556 Wroclaw, Poland.

Transplant Proc 2019 Mar 28;51(2):380-382. Epub 2018 Oct 28.

Lung Transplantation Unit, 12 de Octubre University Hospital, Madrid, Spain.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a comorbidity associated with interstitial lung disease (ILD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of PH on intrahospital mortality in lung transplantation (LT) for ILD.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 66 patients who underwent LT for ILD at the 12 de Octubre University Hospital (Madrid, Spain) from October 2008 to June 2014. Read More

Clin Transplant 2019 Mar 14:e13538. Epub 2019 Mar 14.

Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida.

Background: Severe primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is the leading cause of early death after heart transplant.

Aim: To examine the outcomes of heart transplant recipients who received venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) for severe PGD.

Methods: We reviewed electronic health records of adult patients who underwent heart transplant from November 2005 through June 2015. Read More

Transpl Infect Dis 2019 Mar 13:e13067. Epub 2019 Mar 13.

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN, USA.

Background: Lung transplant recipients are prone to invasive fungal infections prompting many transplant centers to use prolonged triazole antifungal prophylaxis. From a practical standpoint, it is unclear if lung transplant recipients are able to continue prolonged or lifelong prophylaxis without premature discontinuation from side effects, drug interactions, development of fungal disease, or medication cost. We examined the number of patients that are able to reach a prophylactic endpoint and understand the reasons for early termination. Read More

JAMA Dermatol 2019 Mar 13. Epub 2019 Mar 13.

Department of Dermatology, St Vincent's Hospital Sydney, Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia.

Importance: There is limited research examining the incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) in heart and lung transplant recipients in Australia.

Objective: To determine the frequency of and risk factors for NMSC in a cohort of Australian heart and lung transplant recipients.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at an Australian tertiary center where heart and lung transplants are performed between March 21 and December 14, 2016. Read More

Aging Cell 2019 Mar 10:e12931. Epub 2019 Mar 10.

School of Basic and Medical Biosciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, Kings College London, London, UK.

Aging leads to increased cellular senescence and is associated with decreased potency of tissue-specific stem/progenitor cells. Here, we have done an extensive analysis of cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) isolated from human subjects with cardiovascular disease, aged 32-86 years. In aged subjects (>70 years old), over half of CPCs are senescent (p16 , SA-β-gal, DNA damage γH2AX, telomere length, senescence-associated secretory phenotype [SASP]), unable to replicate, differentiate, regenerate or restore cardiac function following transplantation into the infarcted heart. Read More

Pediatr Pulmonol 2019 Mar 10. Epub 2019 Mar 10.

Department of Internal Medicine, Adult Cystic Fibrosis Care Center, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) before and after lung transplantation (LT); to analyse the survival and renal function after LT according to the CFRD status before LT.

Methods: Sixty cystic fibrosis (CF) patients transplanted at the Lyon University Hospital between 2004 and 2014 were included. Genotype, pancreatic status, age at LT, survival were recorded. Read More

Ann Cardiothorac Surg 2019 Jan;8(1):44-53

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, New York, USA.

Early mobilization of critically ill patients is increasingly being recognized as not only safe and feasible, but also as a potential means of optimizing outcomes in the intensive care unit (ICU). With the rapidly expanding use of extracorporeal life support (ECLS) for severe cardiopulmonary failure, there is a growing interest in the application of early mobilization to this patient population, which has been shown to be safe and feasible in select patient populations. However, some patients receiving ECLS support may benefit more than others. Read More

J Heart Lung Transplant 2019 Feb 27. Epub 2019 Feb 27.

Division of Cardiac, Thoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; German Centre for Lung Research, BREATH site, Hannover, Germany. Electronic address:

Background: Pediatric lung transplantation remains the only curative treatment option for some end-stage lung diseases in childhood. Recipient numbers outnumber potential donor organs, and therefore a broader group of donor organs must be considered for pediatric lung transplantation. Herein we describe the outcome of utilizing extended criteria donor organs in pediatric lung transplantation. Read More

J Immunol 2019 Mar 8. Epub 2019 Mar 8.

Department of Surgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 4H4, Canada;

Regulatory T cell (Treg) therapy is a potential curative approach for a variety of immune-mediated conditions, including autoimmunity and transplantation, in which there is pathological tissue damage. In mice, IL-33R (ST2)-expressing Tregs mediate tissue repair by producing the growth factor amphiregulin, but whether similar tissue-reparative Tregs exist in humans remains unclear. We show that human Tregs in blood and multiple tissue types produced amphiregulin, but this was neither a unique feature of Tregs nor selectively upregulated in tissues. Read More

J Heart Lung Transplant 2019 Feb 18. Epub 2019 Feb 18.

Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address:

Background: Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) represents ischemia‒reperfusion injury in the lung allograft, and elevated left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) may contribute to capillary leak. We tested whether pre-transplant LVEDP or pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (mPCWP) are related to PGD risk. We hypothesized that elevated LVEDP and mPCWP would increase PGD risk. Read More

Tuberc Respir Dis (Seoul) 2019 Feb 28. Epub 2019 Feb 28.

Division of Pulmonology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Institute of Chest Diseases, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive fibrosing interstitial pneumonia, which presents with a progressive worsening dyspnea, and thus a poor outcome. The members of the Korean Academy of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases as well as the participating members of the Korea Interstitial Lung Disease Study Group drafted this clinical practice guideline for IPF management. This guideline includes a wide range of topics, including the epidemiology, pathogenesis, risk factors, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and acute exacerbation of IPF in Korea. Read More

J Cardiovasc Transl Res 2019 Mar 6. Epub 2019 Mar 6.

Institute of Molecular and Translational Therapeutic Strategies (IMTTS), Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany.

Calcification of aortic valves leads to aortic stenosis mainly in elderly individuals, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are still not understood. Here, we studied microRNA (miR, miRNA) expression and function in healthy and stenotic human aortic valves. We identified miR-21, miR-24, and miR-143 to be highly upregulated in stenotic aortic valves. Read More

Tex Heart Inst J 2019 02 1;46(1):80-81. Epub 2019 Feb 1.

J Cardiovasc Med (Hagerstown) 2019 Apr;20(4):226-236

Clinical Department of Cardiac Surgery, Central Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Interior in Warsaw, Warsaw.

Aims: To compare transcatheter aortic valve replacement TAVR with self-expandable first-generation Medtronic CoreValve with new-generation Evolut R devices in patients with aortic stenosis.

Methods: Multiple databases were screened for all available reports directly or indirectly comparing CoreValve vs Evolut R. Primary endpoint was device success. Read More

Parkinsonism Relat Disord 2019 Feb 14. Epub 2019 Feb 14.

Washington University School of Medicine, Department of Neurology, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Campus Box 8111, St. Louis, 63110, MO, USA; University of the Witwatersrand, School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, 27 Saint Andrews Road, Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address:

Introduction: The pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unclear, but growing evidence supports a role of neuroinflammation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between tissue transplantation and PD risk, given the importance of immunosuppressants in post-transplant management.

Methods: We performed a case-control study among Medicare beneficiaries age 66-90 using claims from 2004 to 2009. Read More

Soc Sci Med 2019 Mar 16;225:120-127. Epub 2019 Feb 16.

University of Toronto, Canada. Electronic address:

The concept of biographical disruption has now enjoyed nearly 40 years of use in medical sociology. This paper argues that taking an embodied approach to biographical disruption helps to explain the concept's enduring efficacy. Drawing on the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and contemporary theories of embodiment inspired by his phenomenology, this paper advances that biographical disruption involves, in the first instance, a disruption to the ability to enact an embodied orientation towards the world. Read More

J Heart Lung Transplant 2019 Feb 12. Epub 2019 Feb 12.

Queensland Lung Transplant Service, The Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, Queensland, Australia; Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia.

Background: The new anti-fibrotics pirfenidone and nintedanib are now in widespread use for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), but they may have an adverse impact on pathways involved in wound-healing. This study aimed to establish the safety of anti-fibrotic therapy in the peri-transplant period, particularly with regard to healing of the bronchial anastomosis.

Methods: In this work we assessed a retrospective cohort of patients who had undergone lung transplantation with a diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis between January 2012 and December 2017. Read More

Acta Oncol 2019 Mar 1:1-5. Epub 2019 Mar 1.

a Heart and Lung Center , Helsinki University Hospital , Helsinki , Finland.

Background: Cancer is currently one of the most important factors affecting the long-term health and survival of heart transplant patients.

Material And Methods: We calculated the standardized incidence ratios (SIR) for different cancer sites and the cancer-specific standardized mortality ratio (SMR) by linking a cohort of 479 adult heart transplant recipients transplanted in 1985-2014 (4491.6 person-years of follow-up) with data from the national Finnish Cancer Registry until the end of 2015, and with the data from the Statistics Finland's national registry of causes of death. Read More

J Heart Lung Transplant 2019 Feb 6. Epub 2019 Feb 6.

Leuven Lung Transplant Group, Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism & Ageing, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address:

Background: Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) hampers long-term survival after lung transplantation. Common fibrosis-related mechanisms in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and CLAD instigated the consideration of investigating the differential regulation of pleural mesothelium and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) in restrictive allograft syndrome (RAS).

Methods: TGF-β was assessed in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid using enzyme-linked immunoassay and via immune staining of explant biopsies. Read More

J Am Coll Cardiol 2019 Mar;73(8):964-976

Department of Cardiology, Heinrich-Braun-Hospital, Zwickau, Germany.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) are considered revascularization procedures, but only CABG can prolong life in stable coronary artery disease. Thus, PCI and CABG mechanisms may differ. Viability and/or ischemia detection to guide revascularization have been unable to accurately predict treatment effects of CABG or PCI, questioning a revascularization mechanism for improving survival. Read More

Transpl Int 2019 Feb 27. Epub 2019 Feb 27.

Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, WVU Heart & Vascular Institute, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.

This study evaluated the impact of Medicaid eligibility expansion (ME) on lung transplant (LT) listings and Medicaid coverage. Data on LT candidates aged 18-64 were obtained from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (N = 9153). The impact of ME was evaluated by comparing LT listings in 2011-2013 with listings in 2014-2016, as well as comparing states that had and had not adopted ME in 2014. Read More

Bone Marrow Transplant 2019 Feb 25. Epub 2019 Feb 25.

Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA.

Heart Surg Forum 2019 01 8;22(1):E001-E007. Epub 2019 Jan 8.

Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.

Background: Today's declining federal budget for scientific research is making it consistently more difficult to become federally funded. We hypothesized that even in this difficult era, surgeon-scientists have remained among the most productive and impactful researchers in lung transplantation.

Methods: Grants awarded by the NIH for the study of lung transplantation between 1985 and 2015 were identified by searching NIH RePORTER for 5 lung transplantation research areas. Read More

Transplantation 2019 Feb 19. Epub 2019 Feb 19.

Cardiac Physiology and Transplantation, Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia.

Background: Storage of donor hearts in cardioplegic solutions supplemented with conditioning agents activating endogenous mitochondrial protective signaling enhanced their post-reperfusion recovery. The present study investigates the role of timing and duration of cardiac exposure to cyclosporine A, another putative mitochondrial protectant, on cardiac functional recovery and potential mechanisms of CsA action in an isolated working rat heart model of donor heart retrieval and storage.

Methods: After measurement of baseline function, hearts were arrested and stored for 6h at 4°C in either Celsior® alone or Celsior®+CsA (0. Read More

Transplantation 2019 Feb 19. Epub 2019 Feb 19.

Renal Medicine, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and University of Sydney, Australia.

Background: The safety profiles of standard therapy versus everolimus with reduced-exposure calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) therapy using contemporary protocols in de novo kidney transplant recipients have not been compared in detail.

Methods: TRANSFORM was a randomized, international trial in which de novo kidney transplant patients were randomized to everolimus with reduced-exposure CNI (N=1014) or mycophenolic acid (MPA) with standard-exposure CNI (N=1012), both with induction and corticosteroids.

Results: Within the safety population (everolimus 1014, MPA 1012), adverse events with a suspected relation to study drug occurred in 62. Read More

Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2019 Feb 22. Epub 2019 Feb 22.

University of Michigan, Pulmonary & Critical Care, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States ;

Rationale: Evidence suggests damage to small airways is a key pathologic lesion in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Computed Tomography (CT) densitometry has been demonstrated to identify emphysema, but no such studies have been performed linking an imaging metric to small airway abnormality.

Objectives: To correlate ex vivo Parametric Response Mapping (PRM) analysis to in vivo lung tissue measurements of patients with severe COPD treated by lung transplantation and controls. Read More

Pediatr Transplant 2019 Feb 21:e13379. Epub 2019 Feb 21.

Pediatric Cardiology, Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital, Nashville, Tennessee.

Database linkage is a common strategy to expand analytic possibilities. Our group recently completed a linkage between the SRTR and PHIS databases for pediatric heart transplant recipients. The aim of this project was to expand the linkage between SRTR and PHIS to include liver, kidney, lung, heart-lung, and small bowel transplants. Read More

Nat Commun 2019 Feb 20;10(1):880. Epub 2019 Feb 20.

Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.

Asthma is a complex disease with striking disparities across racial and ethnic groups. Despite its relatively high burden, representation of individuals of African ancestry in asthma genome-wide association studies (GWAS) has been inadequate, and true associations in these underrepresented minority groups have been inconclusive. We report the results of a genome-wide meta-analysis from the Consortium on Asthma among African Ancestry Populations (CAAPA; 7009 asthma cases, 7645 controls). Read More

ESC Heart Fail 2019 Feb 19. Epub 2019 Feb 19.

Department of Cardiology, Rigshospitalet, 2142, 9 Blegdamsvej, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Aims: Patients with heart failure (HF) are known to have a reduced pulmonary diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (D ), but little is known about how lung function relates to central haemodynamics. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between haemodynamic variables and pulmonary diffusion capacity adjusted for alveolar volume in congestive HF patients and to analyse how predicted D /V affects mortality in relation to the haemodynamic status.

Methods And Results: We retrospectively studied right heart catheterization (RHC) and lung function data on 262 HF patients (mean age 51 ± 13 years) with a left ventricular ejection fraction < 45% referred non-urgently for evaluation for heart transplantation (HTX) or left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Read More

Exp Clin Transplant 2019 01;17(Suppl 1):254-256

From the Organ Procurement Unit (OPU), Lung Transplantation Research Center (LTRC), National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU), Tehran, Iran.

Objectives: Livers from deceased donors compose nearly 30% of all organ transplants, and about 700 liver transplants are carried out per year. Marginal livers (extended-criteria donors), however, are not usually accepted by recipient teams, and there is only one center for these procedures in Iran. The final decision is made according to criteria that are much more conservative than other globally accepted ones. Read More

Exp Clin Transplant 2019 01;17(Suppl 1):242-245

From the Lung Transplantation Research Center (LTRC), National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU), Tehran, Iran.

Objectives: Donor characteristics can directly affect transplant outcomes. In this study, we examined donor patterns in an organ procurement unit, which covered one-third of the population in Tehran, Iran over the past 12 years (2005 to 2018).

Materials And Methods: Demographic data of donors, including sex, age, cause of death, blood group, outcome of donation, number of organs per donor, and comorbidities (including diabetes mellitus and hypertension), were assessed. Read More

Exp Clin Transplant 2019 01;17(Suppl 1):216-219

From the Department of Radiology, Baskent University, School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess initial and follow-up computed tomography findings of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in solid-organ transplant recipients and to examine the most common computed tomography patterns during hospitalization.

Materials And Methods: From January 2011 to September 2016, the total number of solid-organ transplant patients at our institution was 784. These patients consisted of 550 kidney, 164 liver, and 67 heart transplant recipients. Read More

Scand Cardiovasc J 2019 Feb 19:1-7. Epub 2019 Feb 19.

j Department of Medicine , Karolinska Institutet and Heart and Vascular Theme, Karolinska University Hospital , Stockholm , Sweden.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess complications and mortality and its predictors, with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CF-LVADs) in the Nordic Countries.

Design: This was a retrospective, international, multicenter cohort study.

Results: Between 1993 and 2013, 442 surgically implanted long-term mechanical assist devices were used among 8 centers in the Nordic countries. Read More

Clin Transplant 2019 Feb 18:e13498. Epub 2019 Feb 18.

Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah.

We report a case of a 64-year-old woman who developed transfusion-dependent anemia after cardiac transplantation, the etiology of which was unknown after initial comprehensive evaluation. At the suggestion of the Transplant Infectious Diseases consultant, microbial agents with red blood cell tropism pertinent to this patient such as Parvovirus B 19 (B19V) were investigated. The B19V viral load by PCR in peripheral blood was >100 000 000 copies/ml and after treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), her anemia resolved. Read More

J Heart Lung Transplant 2019 Mar 21;38(3):295-305. Epub 2018 Dec 21.

Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery.

Background: Donors with characteristics that may increase the likelihood of disease transmission with transplantation are noted as increased risk via Public Health Service criteria. This study aimed to establish the implications of declining an increased-risk donor (IRD) organ offer in lung transplantation.

Methods: Adult candidates waitlisted for isolated lung transplantation in the United States using the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network /United Network of Organ Sharing registry from 2007 to 2017 were identified. Read More

Clin Physiol Funct Imaging 2019 Feb 15. Epub 2019 Feb 15.

Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Cardiology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.

Aims: Assessment following heart transplantation (HTx) is routinely performed using transthoracic echocardiography. Differences in long-term mortality following HTx related to donor-recipient matching have been reported, but effects of gender on cardiac size and function are not well studied. The aims of this study were to evaluate differences in echocardiographic characteristics of HTx recipients defined by gender. Read More

Clin Transplant 2019 Feb 15:e13496. Epub 2019 Feb 15.

Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Background: Systemic right ventricular (RV) failure may progress necessitating referral for orthotropic heart transplantation (OHT). Pulmonary hypertension (PH) frequently coexists in adult congenital heart disease and can complicate the assessment for OHT.

Methods: Single-center case series of six patients (median age 34. Read More

Transl Res 2019 Feb 5. Epub 2019 Feb 5.

Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado.

Pulmonary fibrosis refers to the development of diffuse parenchymal abnormalities in the lung that cause dyspnea, cough, hypoxemia, and impair gas exchange, ultimately leading to respiratory failure. Though pulmonary fibrosis can be caused by a variety of underlying etiologies, ranging from genetic defects to autoimmune diseases to environmental exposures, once fibrosis develops it is irreversible and most often progressive, such that fibrosis of the lung is one of the leading indications for lung transplantation. This review aims to provide a concise summary of the recent advances in our understanding of the genetics and genomics of pulmonary fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in particular, and how these recent discoveries may be changing the clinical approach to diagnosing and treating patients with fibrotic interstitial lung disease. Read More

Transplantation 2019 Feb 6. Epub 2019 Feb 6.

Evidence-Based Practice Research Program, Mayo Clinic, MN, USA.

Background: This systematic review was commissioned to identify new variables associated with transplant outcomes that are not currently collected by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).

Methods: We identified 81 unique studies including 1,193,410 patients with median follow-up of 36 months posttransplant, reporting 108 unique risk factors.

Results: Most risk factors (104) were recipient-related; few (4) were donor-related. Read More