Destination Therapy Strategies of Advanced Heart Failure in Elderly Non-Heart Transplant Candidates: A Propensity Matching Analysis from the LEVO-D and REGALAD Registries.

Heart transplantation (HT) is the gold standard therapy for advanced heart failure (ADHF), and LVADs as destination therapy are an option in non-HT candidates. Most patients with ADHF never receive HT or an LVAD, so alternative strategies are needed. Intermittent levosimendan can reduce HF hospitalizations in ADHF patients in the short term.

Management of heart disease in renal transplant recipients: a national Delphi survey-based SET/SEC/SEN consensus document.

Renal transplantation improves the survival and quality of life of patients with end-stage renal disease. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in renal transplant recipients. The bidirectional relationship between renal and heart disease creates a unique clinical scenario that demands a comprehensive and personalized approach.

Impact of natriuresis on worsening renal function during episodes of acute heart failure.

Introduction And Objectives: Worsening renal function (WRF) is a frequent complication in acute heart failure (AHF) with a controversial prognostic value. We aimed to study the usefulness of natriuresis to evaluate WRF.

Methods: We conducted an observational, prospective, multicenter study of patients with AHF who underwent a furosemide stress test.

Prognosis after heart transplant in patients with hypertrophic and restrictive cardiomyopathy. A nationwide registry analysis.

Introduction And Objectives: Posttransplant outcomes among recipients with a diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) or restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) remain controversial.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of a nationwide registry of first-time recipients undergoing isolated heart transplant between 1984 and 2021. One-year and 5-year mortality in recipients with HCM and RCM were compared with those with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

Review of the allocation criteria for heart transplant in Spain in 2023. SEC-Heart Failure Association/ONT/SECCE consensus document.

Heart transplant (HT) remains the best therapeutic option for patients with advanced heart failure (HF). The allocation criteria aim to guarantee equitable access to HT and prioritize patients with a worse clinical status. To review the HT allocation criteria, the Heart Failure Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (HFA-SEC), the Spanish Society of Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery (SECCE) and the National Transplant Organization (ONT), organized a consensus conference involving adult and pediatric cardiologists, adult and pediatric cardiac surgeons, transplant coordinators from all over Spain, and physicians and nurses from the ONT.

Frailty Is Common in Heart Transplant Candidates But Is Not Associated With Clinical Events and Is Reversible After Heart Transplantation.

Assessment of frailty before heart transplant (HT) is recommended but is not standard in most HT protocols. Our objective was to evaluate frailty at inclusion in HT list and during follow-up and to assess the influence of baseline frailty on prognosis. A prospective multicenter study in all adults included in the nonurgent HT waiting list.

Mechanical circulatory support in severe primary graft dysfunction: Peripheral cannulation but not earlier implantation improves survival in heart transplantation.

Background: Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) still affects 2% to 28% of heart transplants (HT). Severe PGD requires mechanical circulatory support (MCS) and is the main cause of death early after HT. Earlier initiation has been suggested to improve prognosis but the best cannulation strategy is unknown.

Pulmonary Vascular Remodeling and Prognosis in Patients Evaluated for Heart Transplantation: Insights from the OCTOPUS-CHF Study.

Objective: In patients with advanced heart failure, the intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) of subsegmental pulmonary artery measurements is correlated with right heart catheterization parameters. Our aim was to study the prognostic value of pulmonary OCT, right heart catheterization data, and the echocardiographic estimation of pulmonary pressure in patients studied for elective heart transplants.

Methods: This research is an observational, prospective, multicenter study involving 90 adults with a one-year follow-up.

Optical coherence tomography assessment of pulmonary vascular remodeling in advanced heart failure. The OCTOPUS-CHF study.

Introduction And Objectives: Pulmonary vascular remodeling is common among patients with advanced heart failure. Right heart catheterization is the gold standard to assess pulmonary hypertension, but is limited by indirect measurement assumptions, a steady-flow view, load-dependency, and interpretation variability. We aimed to assess pulmonary vascular remodeling with intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) and to study its correlation with hemodynamic data.

Dose of furosemide before admission predicts diuretic efficiency and long-term prognosis in acute heart failure.

Aims: The outpatient diuretic dose is a marker of diuretic resistance and prognosis in chronic heart failure (HF). Still, the impact of the preadmission dose on diuretic efficiency (DE) and prognosis in acute HF is not fully known.

Methods And Results: We conducted an observational and prospective study.

Results of heart retransplantation: subanalysis of the Spanish Heart Transplant Registry.

Introduction And Objectives: Heart retransplantation (ReHT) is controversial in the current era. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the results of ReHT in Spain.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis from the Spanish Heart Transplant Registry from 1984 to 2018.

COVID-19 in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients in Spain Throughout 2020: Catching the Wave?

Background: Few studies have analyzed differences in clinical presentation and outcomes in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) across different pandemic waves.

Methods: In this multicenter, nationwide, prospective study, we compared demographics and clinical features, therapeutic management, and outcomes in SOT recipients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Spain before (first wave) or after (second wave) 13 July 2020.

Results: Of 1634 SOT recipients, 690 (42.

Prevalence and characterization of frailty, depression, and cognitive impairment in patients listed for heart transplantation: Results of the FELICITAR prospective registry.

Introduction: It is recommended to assess frailty prior to heart transplantation (HT). Our objective was to assess the prevalence of frailty in patients listed for HT.

Methods: The FELICITAR registry (Frailty Evaluation after List Inclusion, Characteristics and Influence on TrAnsplantation And Results) is a prospective registry that includes patients listed for HT in three centers, from January 2017 to April 2019.

Influence of Gender in Advanced Heart Failure Therapies and Outcome Following Transplantation.

Biological differences between males and females change the course of different diseases and affect therapeutic measures' responses. Heart failure is not an exception to these differences. Women account for a minority of patients on the waiting list for heart transplantation or other advanced heart failure therapies.

Rationale and design of the optical coherence tomography observation of pulmonary ultra-structural changes in heart failure (OCTOPUS-CHF) study.

Background: The assessment of vascular remodeling using optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been previously described in some types of pulmonary hypertension. However, evidence about its feasibility and clinical utility for evaluation of pulmonary arterial vasculopathy in advanced heart failure (HF) is scarce. Optical Coherence Tomography Observation of Pulmonary Ultra-Structural Changes in Heart Failure (OCTOPUS-CHF) study is designed to study the correlation between OCT-morphometric parameters and hemodynamic data measured or derived from right heart catheterization (RHC).

Rationale and design of the FELICITAR registry (Frailty Evaluation After List Inclusion, Characteristics and Influence on Transplantation and Results).

Frailty reflects a state of decreased physiological reserve and vulnerability to stressors. Its prevalence among patients with cardiovascular disease is as high as 60%. Frailty is associated with a poor prognosis for patients with heart failure, increasingly frequent hospitalization, and death.

Early mortality after heart transplantation related to IgA anti-β2-glycoprotein I antibodies.

Background: The presence of pre-formed IgA anti-β-glycoprotein I antibodies (IgA-aB2GP1ab) has been related to early graft loss after kidney transplant. Because β-glycoprotein I is produced in both the kidney and heart, we aimed to assess whether the presence of these antibodies may also be associated with poor outcomes after heart transplantation (HT).

Methods: A 2-year follow-up retrospective analysis of 151 consecutive patients who underwent HT between 2004 and 2012 was performed to assess the role of this pre-formed antibody type in HT.

Atrioventricular nodal tachycardia in a patient with anomalous inferior vena cava with azygos continuation and persistent left superior vena cava.

A 39-year-old female patient was referred for ablation of recurrent episodes of atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia. A combination of an anomalous inferior vena cava with azygos continuation and a persistent left superior vena cava was discovered. A nonfluoroscopic navigation system was very useful for catheter ablation of the tachycardia in this unusual case of anomalous venous system of the heart.