Publications by authors named "Laurens J Ceulemans"

RATIONALE+OBJECTIVE/ Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by bronchiectasis on imaging, while functionally evolving towards obstructive impairment. Despite its assumed importance in CF, small airway remodeling and its relation to bronchiectasis, is still poorly understood. METHOD/ On high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT, 600µm, CF=21, control=6) and micro-computed tomography (µCT, 150µm, CF=3, control=1) scans of inflated explant lungs, AV% (airway/total lung volume) was calculated as marker for bronchiectasis, while airway segmentation was used for generation analysis.

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Age prediction based on single cell RNA-Sequencing data (scRNA-Seq) can provide information for patients' susceptibility to various diseases and conditions. In addition, such analysis can be used to identify aging related genes and pathways. To enable age prediction based on scRNA-Seq data, we developed PolyEN, a new regression model which learns continuous representation for expression over time.

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Volume reduction is a disease-modifying treatment that aims to reshape the diseased lung towards a more normal total lung capacity by removing severely damaged and overinflated lung parenchyma. It is an effective therapeutic strategy in well-selected patients, resulting in improvements in exercise tolerance, lung function, quality of life and survival. The most widespread strategies for volume reduction are either video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery or bronchoscopic lung volume reduction.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Acute cellular rejection (ACR) is common after lung transplants and can lead to chronic lung problems and affect survival rates; diagnosing it can be tricky due to inconsistent interpretations among pathologists.
  • - This study explored the use of immunohistochemistry to identify specific markers (like PD-L1 and PECAM-1) in lung tissue samples from lung transplant patients to improve ACR diagnosis.
  • - Results showed that PD-L1 levels were higher in patients with ACR, indicating an immune response suppression effort, and there were notable differences in PECAM-1 levels, highlighting these markers’ potential usefulness for detecting ACR.
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Elevated neutrophil counts in broncho-alveolar lavage (BAL) fluids of lung transplant (LTx) patients with chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) are associated with disease pathology. However, phenotypical characteristics of these cells remained largely unknown. Moreover, despite enhanced levels of the most potent human neutrophil-attracting chemokine CXCL8 in BAL fluid, no discrimination had been made between natural NH-terminally truncated CXCL8 proteoforms, which exhibit up to 30-fold differences in biological activity.

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Lung transplantation is still hindered by a high rate of chronic rejection necessitating profound immunosuppression with its associated complications. Donor-specific blood transfusion is a pre-transplant strategy aimed at improving graft acceptance. In contrast with standard stored blood or donor-specific regulatory T cells transfusions, this approach utilizes fresh whole blood from the donor prior to allograft transplantation, encompassing all cell types and plasma.

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The role of immunosuppressive therapy on SARS-CoV-2 infection risk and COVID-19 severity remains unclear in unvaccinated solid organ transplant recipients. We included 1957 organ transplant recipients between July 2020 and April 2021 to analyze whether baseline immunosuppressive therapy and other risk factors are associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19. In total, 247 (12.

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Background: In lung transplantation (LuTx), various ischemic phases exist, yet the rewarming ischemia time (RIT) during implantation has often been overlooked. During RIT, lungs are deflated and exposed to the body temperature in the recipient's chest cavity. Our prior clinical findings demonstrated that prolonged RIT increases the risk of primary graft dysfunction.

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Complex abdominal wall repair remains a major surgical challenge. In transplant patients, non-vascularized rectus fascia (NVRF) is successfully used to bridge the defect. To extrapolate this to non-transplant patients, we developed a rabbit model of NVRF-transplantation without immunosuppression comparing syngeneic versus allogeneic transplants.

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The Lichtenstein procedure is one of the most performed surgeries worldwide. However, proper examination to exclude a femoral hernia is often not performed, resulting in a high number of missed hernias. For patients in whom a femoral hernia is suspected pre- or intraoperatively, we describe a novel surgical technique of a femoral extension to the classic Lichtenstein repair.

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Introduction: Chylopericardium represents a rare condition of chyle accumulation within the pericardial sac, caused by abnormal thoracic duct anatomy or prolonged increased pressure. Nothing by mouth (NPO) policy and total parenteral nutrition (TPN), even in combination with pericardial drainage, render only a temporary solution. Surgical intervention with thoracic duct ligation and creation of a pericardial window is believed to be the most effective treatment.

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Objectives: Historically, the perfusion-guided sequence suggests to first transplant the side with lowest lung perfusion. This sequence is thought to limit right ventricular afterload and prevent acute heart failure after first pneumonectomy. As a paradigm shift, we adopted the right-first implantation sequence, irrespective of lung perfusion.

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Article Synopsis
  • Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is identified as a new satiety signal that works through the GFRAL receptor in the brain, and bitter compounds can trigger GDF15 expression in response to gut stress related to obesity.
  • * A study tested the effects of the bitter drug hydroxychloroquine on plasma GDF15 levels, finding that it increased GDF15 and reduced hunger in healthy participants.
  • * Results indicate that various bitter compounds influence GDF15 expression in gut cells, and this process is affected by specific taste receptors (TAS2Rs) and obesity-related factors.
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Introduction: Compared with traditional static ice storage, controlled hypothermic storage (CHS) at 4-10°C may attenuate cold-induced lung injury between procurement and implantation. In this study, we describe the first European lung transplant (LTx) experience with a portable CHS device.

Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted of all consecutively performed LTx following CHS (11 November 2022 and 31 January 2024) at two European high-volume centers.

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Tolerance is the Holy Grail of solid organ transplantation (SOT) and remains its primary challenge since its inception. In this topic, the seminal contributions of Thomas Starzl at Pittsburgh University outlined foundational principles of graft acceptance and tolerance, with chimerism emerging as a pivotal factor. Immunologically, intestinal transplantation (ITx) poses a unique hurdle due to the inherent characteristics and functions of the small bowel, resulting in increased immunogenicity.

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