The iPeer2Peer mentorship program for adolescent thoracic transplant recipients: An implementation-effectiveness evaluation.

Background: An increase in self-management skills for adolescent thoracic transplant recipients may improve health outcomes and facilitate a successful transition to adulthood. The iPeer2Peer program is an online peer mentorship program that has been successfully implemented as a self-management intervention in multiple chronic disease populations. This study aimed to determine the implementation and effectiveness outcomes of the iPeer2Peer program for adolescent thoracic transplant recipients.

International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Guidelines for the Evaluation and Care of Cardiac Transplant Candidates-2024.

The "International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Guidelines for the Evaluation and Care of Cardiac Transplant Candidates-2024" updates and replaces the "Listing Criteria for Heart Transplantation: International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Guidelines for the Care of Cardiac Transplant Candidates-2006" and the "2016 International Society for Heart Lung Transplantation Listing Criteria for Heart Transplantation: A 10-year Update." The document aims to provide tools to help integrate the numerous variables involved in evaluating patients for transplantation, emphasizing updating the collaborative treatment while waiting for a transplant. There have been significant practice-changing developments in the care of heart transplant recipients since the publication of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) guidelines in 2006 and the 10-year update in 2016.

Immune phenotyping in a pediatric multicenter transplant study: Suitability of a preformulated dry-antibody panel system.

Flow-cytometric immune phenotyping is influenced by cryopreservation and inter-laboratory variability limiting comparability in multicenter studies. We assessed a system of optimized, pre-mixed dry-antibody panel tubes requiring small amounts of whole blood for validity, reliability and challenges in a Canadian multicenter study (POSITIVE) with long-distance sample shipping, using standardized protocols. Thirty-seven children awaiting solid-organ transplant were enrolled for parallel immune-phenotyping with both validated, optimized in-house panels and the dry-antibody system.

Access to and Health Outcomes of Pediatric Solid Organ Transplantation for Indigenous Children in 4 Settler-colonial Countries: A Scoping Review.

Solid organ transplantation (SOT) is considered the optimal treatment for children with end-stage organ failure; however, increased efforts are needed to understand the gap surrounding equitable access to and health outcomes of SOT for Indigenous children. This scoping review summarizes the literature on the characteristics of access to and health outcomes of pediatric SOT among Indigenous children in the settler-colonial states of Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. A search was performed on MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL for studies matching preestablished eligibility criteria from inception to November 2021.

ABO-incompatible heart transplantation-evolution of a revolution.

In the 1990s, neonates born with severe congenital heart disease faced more than 50% mortality awaiting an ABO-compatible (ABOc) transplant donor. This desperate situation, together with knowledge of gaps in the adaptive immune system in early childhood, led to the clinical exploration of intentional ABO-incompatible (ABOi) heart transplantation. In 2001, West et al.

Let's get physical: Aerobic capacity, muscle strength, and muscle endurance after pediatric heart transplantation.

Background: Pediatric heart (HTx) and kidney transplant (KTx) recipients may have lower physical fitness than healthy children. This study sought to quantify fitness levels in transplant recipients, investigate associations to clinical factors and quality of life, and identify whether a quick, simple wall-sit test is feasible as a surrogate for overall fitness for longitudinal assessment.

Methods: Aerobic capacity (6-min walk test, 6MWT), normalized muscle strength, muscle endurance, physical activity questionnaire (PAQ), and quality of life (PedsQL™) were prospectively assessed in transplanted children and matched healthy controls.

Review on clinician bias and its impact on racial and socioeconomic disparities in pediatric heart transplantation.

This expert review seeks to highlight implicit bias in health care, transplant medicine, and pediatric heart transplantation to focus attention on the role these biases may play in the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities noted in pediatric heart transplantation. This review breaks down the transplant decision making process to highlight points at which implicit bias may affect outcomes and discuss how the science of human decision making may help understand these complex processes.

Evaluating a Telemedicine Video Game-Linked High-Intensity Interval Training Exercise Programme in Paediatric Heart Transplant Recipients.

Paediatric heart transplant recipients (HTRs) have reduced exercise capacity, physical activity (PA), health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and self-efficacy towards PA. Exercise interventions have demonstrated improvements in exercise capacity and functional status in adult HTRs, with a specific emerging interest in the role of high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Studies of exercise interventions in paediatric HTRs have been limited and nonrandomized to date.

Organ Donation in Canadian PICUs: A Cross-Sectional Survey, 2021-2022.

Objectives: To understand contemporary pediatric organ donation programs in Canadian PICUs, including: policies and practices, data collection and reporting, and system and process barriers.

Design: A cross-sectional survey carried out 2021-2022.

Setting: Canadian PICUs affiliated with a donor physician network.

Genetic Contribution to End-Stage Cardiomyopathy Requiring Heart Transplantation.

Background: Many cardiovascular disorders propel the development of advanced heart failure that necessitates cardiac transplantation. When treatable causes are excluded, studies to define causes are often abandoned, resulting in a diagnosis of end-stage idiopathic cardiomyopathy. We studied whether DNA sequence analyses could identify unrecognized causes of end-stage nonischemic cardiomyopathy requiring heart transplantation and whether the prevalence of genetic causes differed from ambulatory cardiomyopathy cases.

Prospective examination of HLA sensitization after VAD implantation in children and adults.

Background: Ventricular assist devices (VADs) have improved survival to heart transplantation (HTx). However, VADs have been associated with development of antibodies against human leukocyte antigen (HLA-Ab) which may limit the donor pool and decrease survival post-HTx. Since HLA-Ab development after VAD insertion is poorly understood, the purpose of this prospective single-center study was to quantify the incidence of and evaluate risk factors for HLA-Ab development across the age spectrum following VAD implantation.

Impact of the Pediatric ABO Policy Change on Listings, Transplants, and Outcomes for Children Younger Than 2 Years Listed for Heart Transplantation in the United States.

Background: We assessed the impact of the liberalized ABO pediatric policy change on candidate characteristics and outcomes for children undergoing heart transplant (HT).

Methods And Results: Children <2 years undergoing HT with ABO strategy reported at listing and HT from December 2011 to November 2020 to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database were included. Characteristics at listing, HT, and outcomes during the waitlist and post-transplant were compared before the policy change (December 16, 2011 to July 6, 2016), and after the policy change (July 7, 2016 to November 30, 2020).

Impact of race and health coverage on listing and waitlist mortality in pediatric cardiac transplantation.

Background: Social factors like race and insurance affect transplant outcomes. However, little is known in pediatric heart transplantation. We hypothesized that race and insurance coverage impact listing and waitlist outcomes across eras.

Clinical approach to antibody-mediated rejection from the pediatric heart transplant society.

This document is designed to outline the definition, pathogenesis, diagnostic modalities and therapeutic measures to treat antibody-mediated rejection in children postheart transplant METHODS: Literature review was conducted by a Pediatric Heart Transplant Society (PHTS) working group to identify existing pediatric and adult studies on antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). In addition, the centers participating in PHTS were asked to submit their approach to diagnosis and management of pediatric AMR. This document synthesizes information gathered from both these sources to highlight a practical approach to diagnosing and managing a child with AMR postheart transplant.

Patient and care provider inclusion in the development of an educational graphic novel for heart transplanted teenagers.

Purpose: Teenagers experience high rates of rejection and organ failure after heart transplantation due to non-adherence to medications, poor transition into adult care, and difficulties communicating with adults including healthcare providers. This project aimed to creatively bridge this gap-including teenage patients, their parents, and healthcare providers in the development of a new resource meant to motivate teenage heart-transplant-patients to take interest and ownership of their long-term health.

Methods: Four teenage heart-transplanted patients, four parents, and three healthcare providers provided insight into relevant content for an educational resource through semi-standardized questionnaires and interviews.

The experiences of children with a cardiac transplant, their families and health care providers in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had deleterious impacts on pediatric patients and families, as well as the healthcare providers who have attended to their care needs.

Methods: In this qualitative study, children with a cardiac transplant, as well as their families and healthcare providers were interviewed to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pediatric care, as well as on patients' and their families' daily lives. Participants were recruited from a children's hospital in western Canada.

Ventricular assist device support following pediatric heart transplantation.

Background: VAD support for early graft failure after HTx is a rare event in pediatrics.

Methods: We retrospectively describe our single-center experience with post-HTx VAD support in a cohort of patients transplanted between 01/05 and 12/20.

Results: Nine patients underwent VAD insertion in the early post-HTx period [median age 6.