These findings suggest that a MELD-XI score of 14 or higher was associated with a higher postoperative mortality rate than that seen in patients with a lower MELD-XI score. The MELD-XI scoring system can be used to predict outcomes in patients with advanced heart failure who undergo CF-LVAD implantation.

Background: The effect of the new donor heart allocation system on survival following bridging to transplantation with venous-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation remains unknown. The new allocation system places extracorporeal membrane oxygenation–supported candidates at the highest status. Methods: The United Network for Organ Sharing database was queried for adults bridged to single-organ heart transplantation with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation from October 2006 to February 2020. Association between implementation of the new system and recipient survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier estimates, Cox proportional hazards models, and propensity score matching. Results: Of 364 recipients included, 173 and 191 were transplanted under new and old systems, respectively. Compared with the old system, waitlist time was halved under the new system (5 versus 10 days, P <0.01); recipients also demonstrated lower rates of prior cardiac surgery (32.9% versus 44.5%, P =0.03) and preoperative ventilation (30.6% versus 42.4%, P =0.02). Unadjusted 180-day survival was 90.2% (95% CI, 84.7%–94.2%) and 69.6% (95% CI, 62.6%–76.1%) under the new and old systems, respectively. Cox proportional hazards analysis demonstrated listing and transplantation under the new system to be an independent predictor of post-transplant survival (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.34 [95% CI 0.20–0.59]). Propensity score matching demonstrated a similar trend (hazard ratio, 0.36 [95% CI, 0.19–0.66]). Candidates listed under the new system were significantly less likely to experience waitlist mortality or deterioration (subhazard ratio, 0.38 [95% CI, 0.25–0.58]) and more likely to survive to transplant (subhazard ratio, 4.29 [95% CI, 3.32–5.54]). Conclusions: Recipients transplanted following extracorporeal membrane oxygenation bridging to transplantation under the new system achieve greater 180-day survival compared with the old and demonstrate less preoperative comorbidity. Waitlist outcomes have also improved significantly under the new allocation system.

No abstract

No abstract

Implanting short-term mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices as a bridge-to-decision is increasingly popular. However, outcomes have not been well studied in patients who receive short-term MCS before receiving long-term left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support. We analyzed outcomes in our single-center experience with long-term continuous-flow (CF)-LVAD recipients with pre-implantation short-term MCS. From November 2003 through March 2016, 526 patients (mean age, 54.7 ± 13.5 years) with chronic heart failure (mean ejection fraction, 21.7 ± 3.6%) underwent implantation of either the HeartMate II (n = 403) or the HeartWare device (n = 123). Before implantation, 269 patients received short-term MCS with the TandemHeart, the Impella 2.5/5.0, an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO), or the CentriMag. The short-term MCS patients were compared with the CF-LVAD-only patients regarding preoperative demographics, incidence of postoperative complications, and long-term survival. The 269 patients received the following short-term MCS devices: 57 TandemHeart, 27 Impella, 172 IABP, 12 VA-ECMO, and 1 CentriMag. Survival at 30 days, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years was 94.2, 87.2, 79.4, and 72.4%, respectively, for CF-LVAD-only patients versus 91.0, 78.1, 73.4, and 65.6%, respectively, for short-term MCS + CF-LVAD patients (P = 0.17). Within the short-term MCS group, survival at 24 months was poorest for patients supported with VA-ECMO or the TandemHeart (P = 0.03 for both), and survival across all four time points was poorest for patients supported with VA-ECMO (P = 0.02). Short-term MCS was not an independent predictor of mortality in multivariate Cox regression models (hazard ratio = 1.12, 95% confidence interval = 0.84-1.49, P = 0.43). In conclusion, we found that using short-term MCS therapy-except for VA-ECMO-as a bridge to long-term CF-LVAD support was not associated with poorer survival.

No abstract

The standard method for cardiac allograft preservation for the past 50 years has been static storage using crushed ice. A heart transplant transportation system designed to improve preservation quality with temperature monitoring, the Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System (SCTS), was evaluated for its impact on postoperative costs relative to conventional ice storage. Observational US multicenter registry data collected during the August 2015 to November 2021 timeframe from 12 transplant hospitals were analyzed using logistic regression analysis and propensity matching to balance measured baseline covariates and to reduce selection bias. Hospital cost and outcome data post-transplant were then evaluated using various statistical methods. One hundred seventy-four (174) patients were identified resulting in 87 matches. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. The SCTS group had a significantly lower proportion of ICU days on post-transplant mechanical circulatory support (p < 0.0001); significantly fewer patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (p = 0.017); and significantly fewer patients experiencing severe primary graft dysfunction (PGD) (p = 0.03). Overall hospital plus mechanical circulatory support post-transplant costs were significantly lower by $26.7K in the CTS cohort (p = 0.03). Use of the SCTS is associated with improved clinical outcomes resulting in significantly lower overall hospital care costs.

No abstract