DCD and DBD lung transplantation optimized by ex vivo perfusion: What to do when the pump fails.

BACKGROUND: Ex vivo perfusion is a safe and feasible method of assessing and using high-risk donor organs. AIM: We describe a case of successfully ex vivo treated and transplanted human lung allografts. METHODS: Donor human lungs were assessed using ex vivo, our trouble shooting protocol allowed safe recovery. RESULTS: We successfully implanted our ex vivo treated organs.

Heart failure enigma in young man: the acute onset of a frequently encountered condition with an unexpected cause.

An 18-year-old male patient presented to the emergency department complaining of new onset chest pain, fever and orthopnoea. Initial workup was remarkable for elevated troponin, diffuse ST-segment elevation on ECG and chest X-ray with enlarged cardiac silhouette. Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) demonstrates severe biventricular concentric hypertrophy and pericardial effusion. Also, Coxsackie virus A and B titres were positive, concerning for a classic viral pericarditis. However, despite medical management, the patient became dyspnoeic and hypotensive. Impending cardiac tamponade was observed on repeat TTE, and pericardiocentesis was performed, complicated by pulseless electrical activity cardiac arrest, and ultimately patient requiring venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support. Emergent endomyocardial biopsy showed no inflammatory process, and a skin biopsy of a small lesion in the right arm showed unexpected diagnosis of Epstein-Barr virus (+) natural killer/T-cell lymphoma. On initiation of chemotherapy, clinical improvement was observed as evidenced by improving ejection fraction, resolution of pericardial effusion and gradual decrease in myocardial hypertrophy.

Comprehensive analysis of mortality among patients undergoing TAVR: results of the PARTNER trial.

BACKGROUND: Patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) who were deemed too high risk or inoperable for conventional aortic valve replacement (AVR) in the PARTNER (Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valves) trial were randomized to transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) versus AVR (PARTNER-A arm) or standard therapy (PARTNER-B arm). OBJECTIVES: This study compared when and how deaths occurred after TAVR versus surgical AVR or standard therapy. METHODS: The PARTNER-A arm included 244 transfemoral (TF) and 104 transapical (TA) TAVR patients, and 351 AVR patients; the PARTNER-B arm included 179 TF-TAVR patients and 179 standard therapy patients. Deaths were categorized as cardiovascular, noncardiovascular, or uncategorizable, and were characterized by multiphase hazard modelling. RESULTS: In the PARTNER-A arm, the risk of death peaked after randomization in the TA-TAVR and AVR groups, falling to low levels commensurate with the U.S. population within 3 months. Early risk was less in TF-TAVR patients, resulting in initial superior survival; between 12 and 18 months, risk increased, such that within 2 years, TF-TAVR and AVR patients had similar survival rates. Cardiovascular, noncardiovascular, and uncategorizable deaths for TF-TAVR were 37%, 43%, and 20%, respectively, versus 22%, 41%, and 37%, respectively, for TA-TAVR and 33%, 43%, and 24%, respectively, for AVR. In the PARTNER-B arm, risk with standard therapy was 60% per year; TF-TAVR reduced risk to 20% per year, resulting in 0.5 years of life added within 2.5 years. CONCLUSIONS: In inoperable AS patients, TAVR substantially reduced the risk of cardiovascular death. In high-risk patients, TA-TAVR and AVR were associated with elevated peri-procedural risk more than with TF-TAVR, although cardiovascular death was higher after TF-TAVR. Therefore, TF-TAVR should be considered the standard of care for severely symptomatic inoperable patients or those at high risk of noncardiovascular mortality after conventional surgery. (THE PARTNER TRIAL: Placement of AoRTic TraNscathetER Valve Trial; NCT00530894).