Association of agonal phase duration with heart utilization and post-transplant outcomes in donation after circulatory death heart transplantation.

Background: This study evaluates the impact of the agonal phase and related hemodynamic measures on post-transplant outcomes and heart utilization in donation after circulatory death (DCD) heart transplantation.

Methods: United Network for Organ Sharing registry was queried to analyze adult recipients who underwent isolated DCD heart transplantation between January 1, 2019 and September 30, 2023. The recipients were stratified into 2 groups based on donor agonal period: <30 and ≥30 minutes.

Right Ventricular Mass Oversizing Is Associated With Improved Post-transplant Survival in Heart Transplant Recipients With Elevated Transpulmonary Gradient.

Background: This study evaluates the effects of pre-transplant transpulmonary gradient (TPG) and donor right ventricular mass (RVM) on outcomes following heart transplantation.

Methods: UNOS registry was queried to analyze adult recipients who underwent primary isolated heart transplantation from 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2018. The recipients were dichotomized into 2 groups based on their TPG at the time of transplantation, < 12 and ≥ 12 mmHg.

Mid-term Waitlist and Posttransplant Outcomes With Hepatitis C-positive Donor Hearts.

Background: This study evaluates the clinical trends and impact of hepatitis C virus-positive (HCV+) donors on waitlist and posttransplant outcomes after heart transplantation.

Methods: The United Network for Organ Sharing registry was queried to identify adult waitlisted and transplanted patients from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2022. In the waitlist analysis, the candidates were stratified into 2 cohorts based on whether they were willing to accept HCV+ donor offers.

Donor and Recipient Age Influence Outcomes Following Orthotopic Heart Transplantation in the 2018 US Heart Allocation System.

Background: This study evaluates the interaction of donor and recipient age with outcomes following heart transplantation under the 2018 heart allocation system.

Methods: The United Network for Organ Sharing registry was queried to analyze adult primary isolated orthotopic heart transplant recipients and associated donors from August 18, 2018, to June 30, 2021. Both recipient and donor cohorts were grouped according to age: <65 and ≥65 y for recipients and <50 and ≥50 y for donors.

Extended Duration of Impella 5.5 Support Does Not Adversely Impact Outcomes Following Heart Transplantation: A National Registry Analysis.

Prior studies assessing the effects of Impella 5.5 support duration on posttransplant outcomes have been limited to single-center case reports and series. This study evaluates the impact of Impella 5.

Evolving Trends and Impact of Waitlist Transfusion on Recipient Outcomes Following Heart Transplantation.

Background: This study evaluates the clinical trends, risk factors, and impact of waitlist blood transfusion on outcomes following isolated heart transplantation.

Methods: The UNOS registry was queried to identify adult recipients from January 1, 2014, to June 30, 2022. The recipients were stratified into two groups depending on whether they received a blood transfusion while on the waitlist.

TIM-3 blockade enhances ex vivo stimulated allogeneic NK cell therapy for relapsed murine neuroblastoma after hematopoietic cell transplant.

Background: High-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NBL) is an aggressive tumor of the sympathetic nervous system with high risk of relapse and poor overall survival. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (allo-HCT) has been used previously in HR-NBL patients; however, graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) and disease progression have limited clinical application. Ex-vivo stimulated allogeneic natural killer (NK) cells represent a potential approach to enhance the graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effect without exacerbation of GVHD but have not shown efficacy in NBL.

TLR10 (CD290) Is a Regulator of Immune Responses in Human Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells.

TLRs are the most thoroughly studied group of pattern-recognition receptors that play a central role in innate immunity. Among them, TLR10 (CD290) remains the only TLR family member without a known ligand and clearly defined functions. One major impediment to studying TLR10 is its absence in mice.

The history of cardiac xenotransplantation: early attempts, major advances, and current progress.

In light of ongoing shortage of donor organs for transplantation, alternative sources for donor organ sources have been examined to address this supply-demand mismatch. Of these, xenotransplantation, or the transplantation of organs across species, has been considered, with early applications dating back to the 1600s. The purpose of this review is to summarize the early experiences of xenotransplantation, with special focus on heart xenotransplantation.

Robotically assisted outflow graft anastomosis in minimally invasive left-ventricular assist device implantation: feasibility, surgeon comfort, and operative times in an anatomical study.

Upper hemi-sternotomy is a common approach for outflow graft anastomosis to the ascending aorta in minimally invasive left-ventricular assist device implantation. Right mini-thoracotomy may also be used, but use of robotic assistance has been reported only anecdotally. The aim of our study was to confirm the feasibility of robotically assisted suturing of the outflow graft anastomosis and to assess performance metrics for the robotic suturing part of the procedure.

Can we safely expand the donation after circulatory death donor heart pool by extending the donor age limit?

Objective: This study evaluates the impact of donor age on outcomes following donation after circulatory death heart transplantation.

Methods: The United Network for Organ Sharing registry was queried to analyze adult recipients who underwent isolated donation after circulatory heart transplantation from January 1, 2019, to September 30, 2023. The cohort was stratified into 2 groups according to donor age, where advanced donor age was defined as 40 years or more.

Concomitant use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and percutaneous microaxial assist device support for cardiogenic shock.

Objectives: Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) with concomitant percutaneous microaxial left ventricular assist device support is an emerging treatment modality for cardiogenic shock (CS). Survival outcomes by CS etiology with this support strategy have not been well described.

Methods: This study was a retrospective, single-center analysis of patients with CS due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI-CS) or decompensated heart failure (ADHF-CS) supported with VA-ECMO with concomitant percutaneous microaxial left ventricular assist device support from December 2020 to January 2023.

Outcomes of Impella 5.0 and 5.5 for cardiogenic shock: A single-center 137 patient experience.

Background: This study evaluated the outcomes of patients with cardiogenic shock (CS) supported with Impella 5.0 or 5.5 and identified risk factors for in-hospital mortality.

Impact of post-transplant stroke and subsequent functional independence on outcomes following heart transplantation under the 2018 United States heart allocation system.

Background: This study evaluates the clinical trends, risk factors, and effects of post-transplant stroke and subsequent functional independence on outcomes following orthotopic heart transplantation under the 2018 heart allocation system.

Methods: The United Network for Organ Sharing registry was queried to identify adult recipients from October 18, 2018 to December 31, 2021. The cohort was stratified into 2 groups with and without post-transplant stroke.

Cardiogenic shock etiology and exit strategy impact survival in patients with Impella 5.5.

Background: Despite historical differences in cardiogenic shock (CS) outcomes by etiology, outcomes by CS etiology have yet to be described in patients supported by temporary mechanical circulatory support (MCS) with Impella 5.5.

Objectives: This study aims to identify differences in survival and post-support destination for these patients in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) CS at a high-volume, tertiary, transplant center.

Donation after circulatory death improves probability of heart transplantation in waitlisted candidates and results in post-transplant outcomes similar to those achieved with brain-dead donors.

Objective: To quantitate the impact of heart donation after circulatory death (DCD) donor utilization on both waitlist and post-transplant outcomes in the United States.

Methods: The United Network for Organ Sharing database was queried to identify all adult waitlisted and transplanted candidates between October 18, 2018, and December 31, 2022. Waitlisted candidates were stratified according to whether they had been approved for donation after brain death (DBD) offers only or also approved for DCD offers.

Griddient: a microfluidic array to generate reconfigurable gradients on-demand for spatial biology applications.

Biological tissues are highly organized structures where spatial-temporal gradients (e.g., nutrients, hypoxia, cytokines) modulate multiple physiological and pathological processes including inflammation, tissue regeneration, embryogenesis, and cancer progression.

Concomitant Use of VA-ECMO and Impella Support for Cardiogenic Shock.

Background: VA-ECMO with concomitant Impella support (ECpella) is an emerging treatment modality for cardiogenic shock (CS). Survival outcomes by CS etiology with ECpella support have not been well-described.

Methods: This study was a retrospective, single-center analysis of patients with cardiogenic shock due to acute myocardial infarction (AMI-CS) or decompensated heart failure (ADHF-CS) supported with ECpella from December 2020 to January 2023.

Improved waitlist and comparable post-transplant outcomes in simultaneous heart-kidney transplantation under the 2018 heart allocation system.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the clinical trends and the impact of the 2018 heart allocation policy change on both waitlist and post-transplant outcomes in simultaneous heart-kidney transplantation in the United States.

Methods: The United Network for Organ Sharing registry was queried to compare adult patients before and after the allocation policy change. This study included 2 separate analyses evaluating the waitlist and post-transplant outcomes.

MATILDA.FT: A mesoscale simulation package for inhomogeneous soft matter.

In this paper, we announce the public release of a massively parallel, graphics processing unit (GPU)-accelerated software, which is the first to combine both coarse-grained particle simulations and field-theoretic simulations in one simulation package. MATILDA.FT (Mesoscale, Accelerated, Theoretically Informed, Langevin, Dissipative particle dynamics, and Field Theory) was designed from the ground-up to run on CUDA-enabled GPUs with Thrust library acceleration, enabling it to harness the possibility of massive parallelism to efficiently simulate systems on a mesoscopic scale.

Combination fedratinib and venetoclax has activity against human B-ALL with high FLT3 expression.

Treatment of relapsed/refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) remains a challenge, particularly in patients who do not respond to traditional chemotherapy or immunotherapy. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of fedratinib, a semi selective JAK2 inhibitor and venetoclax, a selective BCL-2 inhibitor, on human B-ALL using both single-agent and combinatorial treatments. The combination treatment of fedratinib and venetoclax improved killing of the human B-ALL cell lines RS4;11 and SUPB-15 in vitro over single-agent treatments.