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Vital Signs: Working to better preserve hearts for transplant

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Studies have shown that hearts and other donor organs are very sensitive to the temperatures at which they are preserved during transport. Temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius have been shown to have a negative effect on outcomes for transplant patients and potentially be linked to complications related to the viability of a donor organ for transplant.

Another challenge is related to the lack of data related to organ conditions during transport. With the standard method of preserving organs — packing them in ice — it is difficult to know the precise temperature at which a donated organ is being preserved during transport. Read the full article in The Daily Progress.

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CareDx Reports Over 200,000 Heart Transplant Patient Results Served

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CareDx Testing Services Have Been Used in Over 30,000 Heart Transplant Patients and Over 90 Percent of Centers in the United States

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CareDx, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDNA) – The Transplant Company™ focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of clinically differentiated, high-value healthcare solutions for transplant patients and caregivers – today announced that it has delivered over 200,000 AlloMap® or AlloSure® results for over 30,000 heart transplant recipients.1

“We are proud to have a long-standing and trusted relationship with the heart transplant community. Since 2005, we have served half of all heart transplant patients in the U.S. with AlloMap or AlloSure, and AlloMap has the distinction of being the only FDA cleared gene-expression profiling test (GEP) for use in heart transplants, the only GEP incorporated in International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation guidelines, and the only one covered by CMS for multimodality assessment using AlloSure donor-derived cell-free DNA,” said Reg Seeto, CEO and President of CareDx. “Importantly, we have earned this trust by conducting multi-center prospective studies that have been published in leading journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine.”
Read the complete press release on CareDx.com here.

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Stroke While on LVAD No Barrier to Successful Heart Transplant

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— It doesn’t help, for sure, but it doesn’t seem to hurt greatly either

SEATTLE — Perhaps the biggest downside of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) for people with end-stage heart failure is the substantial risk of strokes they bring. But a new study indicates that patients can still proceed to successful heart transplant after an LVAD-related stroke.

Among patients suffering strokes after receiving LVADs as bridge-to-transplant therapy at one major referral center, and then proceeding to transplant, medium- and long-term outcomes were just as good as for stroke-free LVAD recipients, reported Aaron Shoskes, DO, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Read more on MedPage Today.

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Heart-Saving AI

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An artificial intelligence system shows promise in identifying signs of heart transplant rejection

Heart transplantation can be lifesaving for patients with end-stage heart failure. However, many patients experience organ transplant rejection, in which the immune system attacks the transplanted organ. But detecting transplant rejection is challenging. In its early stages, patients may not experience symptoms, and experts do not always agree on the degree and severity of the rejection when they examine heart biopsies to diagnose the problem.
Read the full story.

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DECISIONS IN A HEARTBEAT: HOW 2 UVA RESEARCHERS HELP CHILDREN ON TRANSPLANT WAITLIST

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Inevitably, the call comes in the dark hours of the morning, the result of something tragic. Dr. Michael McCulloch, an associate professor and pediatric cardiologist at UVA Children’s Heart Center, picks up the phone. A voice on the other end explains, as he knew it would, that a pediatric heart donation is available. Does he want it?

Urgency is never felt so keenly as when it involves organ donorship. Read the full story.

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Baby gets heart transplant with a twist to fight rejection

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Duke University doctors say a baby is thriving after a first-of-its-kind heart transplant — one that came with a bonus technique to try to help prevent rejection of the new organ.

The thymus plays a critical role in building the immune system. Doctors have wondered if implanting some thymus tissue that matched a donated organ might help it survive without the recipient needing toxic anti-rejection medicines. Read more.

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