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Rude Awakening on Trying to Keep Donor Hearts Usable With Common Hormone Infusions

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— Long-standing practice of levothyroxine supplementation fails in randomized trial

By Nicole Lou

Giving unstable brain-dead heart donors intravenous levothyroxine did not lead to more hearts being transplanted, a randomized trial showed.

In hemodynamically unstable potential donors, administering the thyroid hormone supplement after brain death did not significantly improve donor heart utilization compared with saline placebo, with transplantation rates of 54.9% and 53.2%, respectively (adjusted risk ratio 1.01, 95% CI 0.97-1.07), reported Rajat Dhar, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, and colleagues. Read the article in MedPage Today.

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Novel equations estimate long-term risk from cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome

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By Scott Buzby

PHILADELPHIA — A speaker unveiled the American Heart Association’s new PREVENT equations to evaluate 10- and 30-year absolute risk associated with cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome.

Details on the PREVENT equations were presented at the AHA Scientific Sessions and simultaneously published in Circulation. Read the article in Healio.

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Q&A: Shaping the future of lung transplantation with technology

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By Isabella Hornick
By Lisa Anderson, PhD

In the transplantation world, technology has played a major role in advancing the way donor organs are transported and preserved.

One advancement in lung transplant preservation that recently received FDA 510(k) clearance is the BAROguard system (Paragonix Technologies), which is designed to keep lungs at optimal temperatures and inflation pressures during transport, according to a press release. Read the article in Healio.

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Mediterranean diet linked to improvements in CV health

Mediterranea Diet
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By Michael Monostra

Adults who eat more foods associated with a Mediterranean diet have lower blood pressure, BMI and reduced cardiovascular risk, according to study findings published in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases.

“Our data support the notion that the consumption of a Mediterranean diet may be beneficial for CV health, including in non-Mediterranean settings such as the U.K.,” Sarah Gregory, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Edinburgh Dementia Prevention program at University of Edinburgh in the U.K., and colleagues wrote. Read the article in Healio.

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Coronary Heart Disease by Age 45 Linked With Subsequent Dementia

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— All-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia risks elevated

By Judy George

Younger onset age of coronary heart disease was tied to higher risks of incident all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia, a large prospective cohort study in Great Britain showed.

Each 10-year decrease in coronary heart disease onset age was associated with a 25% increased risk of all-cause dementia, a 29% increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and a 22% increased risk of vascular dementia (all P<0.001), reported Fanfan Zheng, PhD, of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, and co-authors in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Read the article in MedPage Today.

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Teen desperately needed a kidney, but her dad already had 3 transplants. Who could save her?

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By Phaedra Threthan

This summer, the last thing on Kaitlin Seigel’s mind was whether she’d be able to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal with her family.

The 15-year-old from Clark, New Jersey, felt nauseous all the time. She was listless and all the color was gone from her face. She couldn’t eat, and the lack of nourishment was making her weak. She didn’t want to hang out with her friends or take part in any school activities, fearful she might get sick. The isolation made her sad and anxious.
Read the full story in USA Today.

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Groundbreaking double lung transplant gives patients hope of becoming cancer-free

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Reporter: Amy Oshier Writer: Nicholas Karsen

Lung cancer tops the list of cancer-related deaths in the United States, surpassing colon, breast and prostate cancer deaths combined.

For patients who have been diagnosed late, survival is slim. Now, a new groundbreaking double lung transplant is giving patients hope of becoming cancer-free. Read the article in WINK.

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Two-week direct-acting antiviral prophylaxis prevents hep C after kidney transplant

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By Elana Gotkine

Two-week direct-acting antiviral (DAA) prophylaxis prevents hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in individuals without HCV viremia who received kidney transplant (KT) from donors with HCV viremia (HCV D+/R−), according to a study published online Nov. 28 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Niraj M. Desai, M.D., from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, and colleagues examined the safety and efficacy of two-week DAA prophylaxis for HCV D+/R− KT in a small uncontrolled trial involving 10 patients. Read the article in Medical Xpress.

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Lung transplant ‘effective treatment option’ for bronchopulmonary dysplasia

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By Isabella Hornick

Patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia who received a lung transplant showed survival rates comparable to those of transplant recipients with other lung diseases, according to results published inCHEST.

“Patients with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) have similar short- and long-term survival outcomes compared with patients undergoing lung transplant for other indications,” Alia Dani, MD, MPH, a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of cardiothoracic surgery at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center at the time of the study and now a pediatric resident at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and colleagues wrote. Read the article in Healio.

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Mayo Clinic Minute – How innovation is transforming heart transplants

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More than 4,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for a new heart, that’s according to the organization Donate Life America. Anxiety, fear and frustration are some of the emotions people go through while waiting for a lifesaving organ. Dr. Lisa LeMond, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist, says perfusion technology, sometimes called “heart in a box,” is giving hope to transplant patients. Watch the video from the Mayo Clinic.

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