Heart Transplantation News and Research

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A heart transplant is an operation in which the diseased heart in a person is replaced with a healthy heart from a deceased donor. Ninety percent of heart transplants are performed on patients with end-stage heart failure.

Heart failure is a condition in which the heart is damaged or weakened and can't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs. "End-stage" means the condition has become so severe that all treatments, other than heart transplant, have failed.

COVID-19 positive hearts may be safe for transplantation

A recent study soon to be presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2022* suggests that hearts from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-positive (COVID-19+) donors may be safe for transplantation.

1 Nov 2022

COVID-19-positive donor hearts appear to be safe for transplantation

Donor hearts from people who were COVID-19-positive appeared to be as safe for transplantation as those from people without COVID-19, according to a short-term analysis to be presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2022.

31 Oct 2022

IU researchers suggest the potential for a new approach to determining heart transplant candidacy

Researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine have concluded the medical and scientific establishment should expand and re-contextualize its understanding of cannabis use and heart transplantation, suggesting the potential for a completely new approach to determining transplant candidacy.

18 Oct 2022

New software application predicts the likelihood of genetic mutation in dilated cardiomyopathy

Scientists at the CNIC and Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro in Majadahonda have developed a software application that predicts the likelihood that a case of dilated cardiomyopathy is caused by a genetic mutation. The research was carried out in collaboration with hospitals in Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands.

13 Sep 2022

Study provides new insight into the cellular and molecular biology of human heart failure

Studying heart samples from patients with cardiomyopathies, as well as from controls without heart disease, researchers have provided new insights into the cellular and molecular biology of human heart failure – a highly fatal condition that affects 23 million people worldwide.

5 Aug 2022

The successful transplantation of genetically engineered pig hearts into recently deceased humans

Researchers successfully transplanted two genetically engineered heart pigs into recently deceased humans in June and July 2022.

14 Jul 2022

Study unveils the novel driver of cardiomyocyte loss

Researchers from the group of Eva van Rooij used advanced sequencing technology to better understand the heart disease arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, in which heart muscle tissue is replaced by fat cells. Using explanted human hearts, they found regions in which heart muscle was actively degenerated and identified a new gene, ZBTB11, that drives heart muscle cell degradation. The results were published in Cardiovascular Research on 17 May 2022.

25 May 2022

$6 million grant to fund research investigating the role of immune system in heart failure

A new grant for researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will fund research investigating the role of the immune system in heart failure. Finding ways to harness beneficial immune cells could lead to new therapies that encourage the heart to heal after injuries.

2 May 2022

Experimental heart failure drug does not improve exercise capacity in HFrEF patients

Patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) did not experience any improvement in their ability to exercise vigorously after taking the experimental heart failure drug omecamtiv mecarbil, in a study presented at the American College of Cardiology's 71st Annual Scientific Session.

3 Apr 2022

AI system can help detect the degree and severity of heart transplant rejection

Heart transplantation can be a lifesaving operation for patients with end-stage heart failure. However, many patients experience organ transplant rejection, in which the immune system begins attacking the transplanted organ.

21 Mar 2022

Effectiveness of mRNA BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine in immunocompromised individuals

Israeli researchers evaluate the antibody response in ICPs to assess antibody-mediated immunity following vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

26 Oct 2021

Radiation therapy for ventricular tachycardia may revert heart muscle cells to a younger state

Radiation therapy for ventricular tachycardia — a life-threatening irregular heart rhythm — appears to work by reverting heart muscle cells to a younger state, reducing the irregular rhythms, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

24 Sep 2021

Duke surgeons perform first 'donation after circulatory death' pediatric heart transplant

Surgeons at Duke University Hospital successfully performed a "donation after circulatory death" (DCD) heart transplant in a pediatric patient, demonstrating the potential expansion of eligible donor hearts for children with heart failure.

9 Sep 2021

New artificial heart can adjust the changing needs of patients treated for end-stage heart failure

An experimental artificial heart includes an autoregulation control mechanism, or Auto-Mode, that can adjust to the changing needs of patients treated for end-stage heart failure.

21 Jun 2021

Novel computer system can help inform future therapies for patients with inherited heart disease

An integrated, genomic computer system for precision cardiology has been created using clinical data that can help inform medical and surgical decisions to support future therapies for patients with inherited heart disease.

14 Jun 2021

FDA alerts health care providers to no longer implant heart failure patients with Medtronic's HVAD System

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care providers to no longer implant end-stage heart failure patients with Medtronic's Heartware Ventricular Assist Device (HVAD) System due to a growing body of observational clinical comparisons that demonstrates a higher frequency of neurological adverse events and mortality associated with the system when compared to other commercially available devices, as well as complaints that the internal pump may delay or fail to restart.

3 Jun 2021

Study shows that heart transplantation using donation after cardiac death with NRP is feasible in the U.S.

A new study, presented today at the AATS 101st Annual Meeting, found that heart transplantation using donation after cardiac death (DCD) with normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) is feasible in the United States.

3 May 2021

Cell-free DNA tests can reduce the need for biopsies to detect rejection after heart transplant

A new study, presented today at the AATS 101st Annual Meeting, shows that non-invasive cell-free DNA tests can reduce the need for regular surveillance biopsies to detect early rejection in heart transplant patients. The study was the first of its kind to be performed on both adult and pediatric patients.

30 Apr 2021

Blood type-incompatible pediatric heart transplant shown to be as effective as the traditional approach

A pediatric heart transplant procedure pioneered by Canadian doctors--once deemed impossible--has been shown to be at least as effective as the traditional approach, according to newly published research in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

25 Mar 2021

Young, Black patients at higher risk of death in the first year after a heart transplant

Young, Black adults are more than twice as likely to die in the first year after a heart transplant when compared to same-age, non-Black heart transplant recipients, according to new research published today in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

2 Feb 2021