ObjectiveTo explore the learning process, critical steps and complication prevention of heterotopic abdominal heart transplantation (HAHT) model in rats,and effectively improve the learning process and shorten the learning curve. MethodsSurgical experience of 146 rats of HAHT from October 2012 to January 2013 was summarized. Operation time,successful rate and failure reasons were analyzed. ResultsA training time of 140-150 hours was needed to successfully master surgical skills of HAHT in rats. Average operation time was 83±27 minutes. There were 105 successful HAHT rats (72%) and 41 failed HAHT rats(28%) among 146 HAHT rats. Major failure reasons included hemorrhagic shock (16 rats,39%) grafted heart rebeating failure (7 rats,17%) and anastomotic stenosis (7 rats,17%). ConclusionVascular anastomosis is the key procedure for the establishment of HAHT model in rats.
ObjectiveTo analyze the clinical effects of allograft orthotopic heart transplantation.MethodsThe clinical data of 36 patients with allograft orthotopic heart transplantation performed in the Heart Centre of Nanjing First Hospital from January 1, 2014 to January 1, 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 31 males and 5 females, aged 23-65 (46.2±8.8) years. Protopathy diseases of recipients included dilated cardiomyopathy in 33 patients, end-stage coronary heart disease in 2 patients, and end-stage valvular heart disease in 1 patient. Heart transplantations were performed through double vena cava anastomosis. Immune induction during operations was treated with a combination therapy of both bariximab and methylprednisolone. Postoperatively, all patients were treated with a new triple immunosuppression protocol: FK506+cellcept+prednisone.ResultsDuring the perioperative period, 1 patient died of severe infection. For 8 patients with heart failure, after adjustment and intra-aortic balloon pump, the cardiac function of all the 8 patients improved. For 5 patients with renal failure, after continuous renal replacement therapy, the renal function of all the patients returned to normal. One patient died of graft failure after 1 year of follow-up. The follow-up time for each patient postoperatively differed from 3 to 49 months with an average time of 16±4 months while the 1-year survival rate was 97.1% (34/35). Among them, 10 patients were marginal donors, with no significant differences between conventional donors and them. Conclusion For end-stage heart diseases, heart transplantation is one of the effective treatment methods in China with fine early- and middle-term curative effects. Reasonable application of intra-aortic balloon pump, continuous renal replacement therapy and other adjuvant treatments and the new triple immunosuppression protocol can significantly improve the success rate of heart transplantation, reduce the occurrence of acute and chronic rejections. The application of marginal donors can alleviate the current situation of shortage of donors to some extent.
Cardiogenic shock (CS) describes a physiological state of end-organ hypoperfusion characterized by reduced cardiac output in the presence of adequate intravascular volume. Mortality still remains exceptionally high. Veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA ECMO) has become the preferred device for short-term hemodynamic support in patients with CS. ECMO provides the highest cardiac output, complete cardiopulmonary support. In addition, the device has portable characteristics, more familiar to medical personnel. VA ECMO provides cardiopulmonary support for patients in profound CS as a bridge to myocardial recovery. This review provides an overview of VA ECMO in salvage of CS, emphasizing the indications, management and further direction.
In recent years, breakthroughs in genetic engineering (GE) and cloning technology have led to the successful cultivation of “designated pathogen free (DPF) xenotransplantation (XENO) medical (M) pigs” (hereinafter referred to as GE-DPF-XENO-M pigs). Based on GE-DPF-XENO-M pigs, a large number of xenotransplantation experiments with non-human primates (NHPs) as recipients basically answered the most concerned questions: overcoming hyperacute rejection and cross species infection. These achievements directly accelerate to the emergence of a new “xenotransplantation subclinical research model”. At the end of 2021, Montgomery and Porrett teams in the United States successively transplanted GE pig kidney into the remains of 3 brain dead cases, no hyperacute rejection occurred after 48–72 hours. These three subclinical studies provide a scientific basis for xenotransplantation into clinical research. On January 7, 2022, Griffith, Maryland, USA, etc. transplanted a GE pig heart to a patient with severe heart failure and survived for 59 days. The above progress shows that xenotransplantation has taken a key step towards the stage of clinical research, which is worthy of our peers’ attention and reference.
ObjectiveTo compare the perioperative renal function changes in patients undergoing heart transplantation (HT) and left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. MethodsPatients with end-stage heart failure who underwent surgical treatment at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2019 to April 2024 were included. According to the surgical method, patients were divided into a HT group and a LVAD group, and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of patients before surgery, postoperative 1 d, 7 d, 30 d, and 60 d was compared between the two groups. The patients with preoperative renal dysfunction were subdivided into subgroups for comparison of eGFR changes before surgery and 30 days after surgery between the two groups. ResultsA total of 112 patients were enrolled. There were 78 patients in the HT group, including 61 males and 17 females, aged 44.42±18.51 years. There were 34 patients in the LVAD group, including 30 males and 4 females, aged 54.94±11.37 years. Compared with the HT group, the average age of patients in the LVAD group was greater (P<0.001), body mass index was higher (P=0.008), preoperative eGFR was lower (P=0.009), and the proportions of smokers (P=0.017), alcohol drinkers (P=0.041), and diabetes mellitus (P=0.028) patients were higher. Among patients with preoperative renal dysfunction [eGFR<90 mL/(min·1.73 m2)], compared with the HT group, the postoperative eGFR of the LVAD group was significantly higher than that of the HT group, and it was significantly increased compared with that before surgery; the postoperative eGFR of the HT group was comparable to that before surgery, and more than half of the patients had a lower eGFR than before surgery. Among patients with preoperative renal dysfunction, 11 patients in the HT group received continuous renal replacement therapy, and 8 died early; 2 patients in the LVAD group received continuous renal replacement therapy, and 1 died early. ConclusionFor end-stage heart failure patients with combined renal dysfunction, compared with HT, LVAD implantation enables patients to obtain better renal function benefits.
ObjectiveTo analyze the short- and long-term therapeutic effects of heart transplantation in children. MethodsA retrospective study was conducted on recipients and donors who underwent heart transplantation at the 7th People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou from May 2018 to August 2023, analyzing their clinical characteristics, surgical data, postoperative complications, and survival rates. ResultsA total of 22 children underwent heart transplantation, including 14 males and 8 females, with a median age of 13.5 years and a median weight of 41.9 kg. The primary diseases included: dilated cardiomyopathy in 16 patients, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 1 patient, myocardial dysplasia in 3 patients, right ventricular dysplasia in 1 patient, and congenital heart disease with abnormal coronary artery origin in 1 patient. The median age of the donors was 21.0 years, and the median weight was 50.5 kg. The blood types of the donors and recipients were the same, with type A in 10 patients, type B in 5 patients, type O in 5 patients, and type AB in 2 patients. Before transplantation, all children had a New York Heart Association cardiac function grade Ⅳ, with 1 patient assisted by intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), 3 patients assisted by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), 2 patients assisted by continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), and 2 patients on mechanical ventilation. Nine patients met the criteria for emergency child status allocation, and the panel reactive antibody level in the patients was<10%. The median cold ischemic time of the donor heart was 355.0 min, the median aortic cross-clamping time was 45.0 min, the median mechanical ventilation time was 22.5 h, the median postoperative hospital stay was 29.5 d, and the median intensive care unit stay was 6.0 d. After surgery, 4 patients were assisted by ECMO, 2 patients by CRRT, and 7 patients developed complications, including lung fungal infection in 6 patients, liver and kidney dysfunction in 1 patient, local wound non-union and mediastinal infection in 1 patient, and multiple organ failure in 1 patient. Kaplan-Meier curve analysis showed that the survival rates of children after surgery were 91.3% at 1 year and 3 years; the survival rates of adult heart transplant recipients at our center were 86.7% and 73.8% at 1 year and 3 years, respectively, indicating that the survival rate of children with heart transplantation was higher than that of adult patients. ConclusionHeart transplantation is an effective treatment for end-stage heart failure in children, and the short- and long-term survival rates of children with heart transplantation are superior to those of adults. There are still many difficulties to be solved in pediatric heart transplantation, requiring joint efforts from society and the medical community.
Objective To explore the impact of SARS-CoV-2-positive donors on the prognosis of heart transplant recipients. MethodsThe Medline, EMbase, CENTRAL, CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP and Chinese Biomedical Abstracts Database from inception to May 2023 were searched by computer for studies about impact of SARS-CoV-2-positive donors on the prognosis of heart transplant recipients. The data were extracted from all the relevant literatures, and the quality of the data was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). All statistical analyses were conducted by the STATA 11.0 software. Results A total of 10 studies (NOS score ranging from 5 to 9 points) involving 643 patients were enrolled. The pooled results demonstrated that the pooled mortality of heart transplant recipients from SARS-CoV-2-positive donors was 4% (95%CI 2% to 5%). And the incidence of composite outcome, regarding graft failure, rejection and death as poor prognosis, was 7% (95%CI 5% to 9%). Besides, compared with recipients from SARS-CoV-2-negative donors, the pooled odds ratio (OR) value of death of SARS-CoV-2-positive donors was 0.68 (95%CI 0.38 to 1.22, Z=1.28, P=0.200). The pooled OR value of rejection rate was 0.41 (95%CI 0.27 to 0.64, Z=3.97, P<0.005). For the composite outcome, the pooled OR value was 0.50 (95%CI 0.37 to 0.69, Z=4.30, P<0.005). In addition, there was no statistical difference in the length of hospital stay between heart transplant recipients from SARS-CoV-2-positive donors and negative donors (SMD=–0.03, 95%CI –0.22 to 0.15, Z=0.36, P=0.720). Conclusion The application of heart from SARS-CoV-2-positive donor for transplantation is safe and feasible. However, further prospective studies with longer follow-up are still needed to verify its impact on long-term outcomes.