Publications by authors named "Leard L"

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) for Lung Cancer Screening provide criteria for selecting individuals for screening and offer recommendations for evaluating and managing lung nodules detected during initial and subsequent annual screening. These NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on recent updates to the NCCN Guidelines for Lung Cancer Screening.

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Background: Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) limits survival following lung transplant, but substantial lung damage occurs before diagnosis by traditional methods. We hypothesized that small airway gene expression patterns could identify CLAD risk before spirometric diagnosis and predict subsequent graft failure.

Methods: Candidate genes from 4 rejection-associated transcript sets were assessed for associations with CLAD or graft failure in a derivation cohort of 156 small airway brushes from 45 CLAD cases and 37 time-matched controls with >1-year stable lung function.

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Article Synopsis
  • Acute lung allograft dysfunction (ALAD) is a warning sign for chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD), prompting the need for biomarkers to assess the risk of progression.
  • Researchers conducted a study using single cell RNA sequencing on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples from lung transplant recipients to differentiate immune cell responses in patients with ALAD compared to those with stable function.
  • Results indicated significant differences in immune cell populations, with a specific macrophage cluster and CD8 T cells associated with ALAD progression; discordance between these cells was linked to a higher risk of severe graft dysfunction or death, underscoring the potential protective role of anti-inflammatory macrophages.
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Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) limits clinical benefit after lung transplantation, a life-prolonging therapy for patients with end-stage disease. PGD is the clinical syndrome resulting from pulmonary ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), driven by innate immune inflammation. We recently demonstrated a key role for NK cells in the airways of mouse models and human tissue samples of IRI.

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Unlabelled: Large-airway lymphocytic inflammation (LB), assessed on endobronchial biopsies, has been associated with acute cellular rejection and chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD). Azithromycin (AZI) prophylaxis has been used to prevent airway inflammation and subsequent CLAD, with inconsistent results. We hypothesized that AZI prophylaxis would be associated with reduced LB, changes in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) immune cell populations, and improved CLAD-free survival.

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Background: We developed an automated, chat-based, digital health intervention using Bluetooth-enabled home spirometers to monitor for complications of lung transplantation in a real-world application.

Methods: A chat-based application prompted patients to perform home spirometry, enter their forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV), answer symptom queries, and provided patient education. The program alerted patients and providers to substantial FEV decreases and concerning symptoms.

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Background: Existing measures of frailty developed in community dwelling older adults may misclassify frailty in lung transplant candidates. We aimed to develop a novel frailty scale for lung transplantation with improved performance characteristics.

Methods: We measured the short physical performance battery (SPPB), fried frailty phenotype (FFP), Body Composition, and serum Biomarkers representative of putative frailty mechanisms.

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Heterogeneous frailty pathobiology might explain the inconsistent associations observed between frailty and lung transplant outcomes. A Subphenotype analysis could refine frailty measurement. In a 3-center pilot cohort study, we measured frailty by the Short Physical Performance Battery, body composition, and serum biomarkers reflecting causes of frailty.

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Acute and chronic rejections limit the long-term survival after lung transplant. Pulmonary antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is an incompletely understood driver of long-term outcomes characterized by donor-specific antibodies (DSAs), innate immune infiltration, and evidence of complement activation. Natural killer (NK) cells may recognize DSAs via the CD16 receptor, but this complement-independent mechanism of injury has not been explored in pulmonary AMR.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lung transplantation can save lives for patients with serious lung diseases, but complications like primary graft dysfunction (PGD) limit outcomes.
  • A study analyzing samples from the first day after transplant found that certain immune indicators (NKG2D ligands) were linked to severe PGD and poorer recovery metrics.
  • The research suggests that targeting the immune response, specifically NKG2D receptors, could help manage PGD and improve patient outcomes.
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The lung allocation score (LAS) was revised in 2015 to improve waiting list mortality and rate of transplant for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We sought to determine if the 2015 revision achieved its intended goals. Using the Standard Transplant Analysis and Research file, we assessed the impact of the 2015 LAS revision by comparing the pre- and postrevision eras.

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The NCCN Guidelines for Lung Cancer Screening recommend criteria for selecting individuals for screening and provide recommendations for evaluation and follow-up of lung nodules found during initial and subsequent screening. These NCCN Guidelines Insights focus on recent updates to the NCCN Guidelines for Lung Cancer Screening.

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Objective: Most studies observing an association between depressive symptoms following lung transplantation and mortality are limited to depressive symptom measurement at a single time point, unrelated to allograft function. We aimed to test the association of depressive symptoms over multiple assessments with allograft dysfunction and with mortality.

Methods: We assessed depressive symptoms before and serially up to 3 years after lung transplantation in lung transplant recipients.

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Background: Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is an uncommon indication for lung transplantation. The use of mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors, which are the mainstay of treatment in progressive LAM, in patients awaiting lung transplant is controversial. We sought to examine worldwide practice patterns in use of mTOR inhibitors in LAM patients on the lung transplant waiting list.

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Background: Lung transplant recipients undergo bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) to detect antecedents of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD), but routine assessment of BAL cytology is controversial. We hypothesized that inflammation on BAL cytology would predict CLAD-free survival.

Methods: In a single-center retrospective cohort, associations between cytology results and clinical characteristics were compared using generalized-estimating equation-adjusted regression.

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Advanced donor age is a risk factor for poor survival following lung transplantation. However, recent work identifying epigenetic determinants of aging has shown that biologic age may not always reflect chronologic age and that stressors can accelerate biologic aging. We hypothesized that lung allografts that experienced primary graft dysfunction (PGD), characterized by poor oxygenation in the first three post-transplant days, would have increased biologic age.

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Tens of thousands of patients with advanced lung diseases may be eligible to be considered as potential candidates for lung transplant around the world each year. The timing of referral, evaluation, determination of candidacy, and listing of candidates continues to pose challenges and even ethical dilemmas. To address these challenges, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation appointed an international group of members to review the literature, to consider recent advances in the management of advanced lung diseases, and to update prior consensus documents on the selection of lung transplant candidates.

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Post-operative delirium after lung transplantation is common. Its associations with health-related quality of life (HRQL), depression, and mortality remains unknown. In 236 lung transplant recipients, HRQL and depressive symptoms were assessed as part of a structured survey battery before and after transplantation.

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Sarcopenia is associated with disability and death. The optimal definition and clinical relevance of sarcopenia in lung transplantation remain unknown. To assess the construct and predictive validity of sarcopenia definitions in lung transplant candidates.

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The use of donor lungs from victims of drowning remains a rare occurrence, given concerns over lung parenchymal injury and microbial contamination secondary to aspiration. Given this infrequency, there is a relative paucity of literature surrounding the use of organs from drowned donors, with the few that exist on this subject focusing primarily on cases of drowning in naturally occurring bodies of water (i.e.

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