The JHLT Digital Media Editors explore two manuscripts from the August issue of The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation—the first on immunosuppression in pediatric heart transplantation, and the second TA-NRP in DCD lung transplantation. Digital Media Editor Van-Khue Ton, MD, heart failure and transplant cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, hosts this episode.

First, hear from senior author Steven C. Greenway, MSc, MD, on his team’s study “Single-drug immunosuppression is associated with noninferior medium-term survival in pediatric heart transplant recipients.” Dr. Greenway shares his journey from enzyme biochemistry in mollusks, snails, and frogs to pediatric cardiology, then outlines the results of the paper.

The study queried the Pediatric Heart Transplant Society’s registry to determine the efficacy and safety of monotherapy immunosuppression. The results showed better graft survival and less coronary allograft vasculopathy in the monotherapy group, even after adjusted for age at transplant, sex, neonatal transplant, infection, PTLD, and etiology of cardiomyopathy. Dr. Greenway and the digital media editors discuss the burning questions that obviously arise from the study’s findings, the limitations of the paper, and what follow-up studies might start generating the answers that might eventually change clinical practice.

Next, the editors welcome first author Jad Malas, MD, to discuss the paper “The impact of thoracoabdominal normothermic regional perfusion on early outcomes in donation after circulatory death lung transplantation.” This study utilized the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) database to identify DCD donors whose heart was procured in order to evaluate lung utilization rates and early post-lung transplant outcomes. Lung utilization was similar between the groups—14.9% for the NRP group and 13.8% for direct procurement. Post-lung transplant rates of ECMO and mechanical ventilation at 72 hours were not statistically different, and 6-month survival was equivalent.

Dr. Malas and the Digital Media Editors discuss the study’s findings and implications, including exploring the background of NRP’s relationship to lung allografts, differences in assessment or procurement techniques, and what might be needed to further evaluate this procurement technique for lung allografts.

Follow along at www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you’re an ISHLT member, log in at ishlt.org/journal-of-heart-lung-transplantation.  Don’t already get the Journal and want to read along? Join the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation at www.ishlt.org for a free subscription, or subscribe today at www.jhltonline.org.

This episode of JHLT: The Podcast, but not the studies within, is sponsored by Natera.