JHLT: The Podcast

JHLT: The Podcast kicks off April with a discussion of the paper, "Lung Cancer After Lung Transplantation: Early Detection and Curative Surgery Drive Long-Term Survival," which appears in the April issue of JHLT. Senior author Pauline Pradère, MD, of Hôpital Marie Lannelongue in Paris, joins the episode to talk about the paper. The conversation includes discussion of: The overall survival of patients who develop lung cancer after lung transplant—and the key differences between the cohort of patients who developed cancer versus the patients who did not Managing lung cancer in transplant recipients Immunosuppression in these patients, and other potential changes to clinical practice derived from the study For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. 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 month on JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors host two themed discussions around HIV in solid organ transplantation. The conversation begins with a discussion of the paper, "Early experience in heart transplantation utilizing donors with HIV," which appears in the March issue of JHLT. First author Omar Saeed, MD, MSc, of the Division of Cardiology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, NY USA, joins the episode. The conversation includes discussion of: The ethics and evolution of the Montefiore program's transplant eligibility and criteria The role of the HOPE Act in the changes to the program Superinfection, viral strain analysis, and informed consent of organ recipients Long-term patient follow upsa nd how other centers can begin this research For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. Return later this month for a broader conversation with an infectious diseases expert about HIV in 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.

In this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors host a discussion on a new consensus statement from ISHLT on Short Telomere Syndrome (STS) and Lung Transplantation. The document was first published last month. They're joined by document leads Andrew Courtwright, MD, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Dr. John Mackintosh of Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane; and John McDyer, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh. The conversation includes discussion of: Recommendations for assessing patients for STS Which patients we should screen How the diagnosis influences transplant decision making and risk assessment How STS impacts immunosuppression Extrapulmonary comorbidities Future areas for research ISHLT Standards, Guidelines, and Consensus Statements are open to all at ISHLT.org. For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. Return later this month for a conversation on barriers and opportunities in utilizing DCD hearts in 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.

Happy new year and welcome to a new season of JHLT: The Podcast! In this year-end recap, the Digital Media Editors will each share one of their favorite studies from The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation in 2025. You'll get a look at some of the best science in advanced heart and lung failure from the past year. Studies featured: Efficacy and safety of sotatercept across ranges of cardiac index in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: A pooled analysis of PULSAR and STELLAR Gomberg-Maitland M, et al. JHLT Apr 2025 44(4):609 – 624. A consensus-based framework for the psychosocial evaluation of pediatric candidates for cardiothoracic transplant and ventricular assist devices Lefkowitz DS, et al. JHLT Apr 2025 44(4):487-502. ABO-incompatible heart transplants in children aged 2-9 years: A new paradigm in transplant? Hollis P, et al. JHLT Dec 2025 44(12):1910-1917. Heart transplantation in Ukraine during wartime: A retrospective cohort study of standard vs marginal donor heart transplantation outcomes Todurov B, et al. JHLT Nov 2025 44(11):1728-1734. For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. 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.

On this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors host a discussion on the paper, "Lung transplant in patients with suspicious lung lesions: A single-center retrospective data analysis," which appears in the December issue of JHLT. They are joined by the senior author, Stefan Schwarz, MD, PhD, of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna. The discussion explores: Methods used to assess the probability of malignancy in the patient cohort The limitations of common scanning methods in assessing this type of transplant patient What the study confirms or changes about standards in clinical practice For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. 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.

On this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors invite co-lead author Nir Uriel, MD, Director of Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplantation at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Columbia University. Dr. Uriel joins to discuss the work of the Cardiogenic Shock Working Group (CSWG) and their recent paper, "Outcomes of patients supported on Impella 5.5 for more than 14 days: A Cardiogenic Shock Working Group registry analysis." The discussion explores: Why patients on longer duration of MCS had better survival but maintained similar rates of serious adverse events (SAEs) Why the study might show fewer SAEs than the literature historically shows How temporary MCS devices are selected in clinical settings in patients with cardiogenic shock The ongoing and upcoming activities of CSWG For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. 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.

On this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors invite first author Ahmet Bilgili, from the University of Florida's Congenital Heart Center, and senior author Eric I. Jeng, MD, from the University of Florida's MCS program. Bilgili and Dr. Jeng discuss their paper, "Optimal pretransplant duration with HeartMate III left ventricular assist device: A contemporary analysis." The discussion explores: Prior gaps in the literature regarding contemporary HM3 outcomes in relation to transplantation—and the study's potential influence on policy Which length of HM3 support influenced better post-transplant outcomes—and which ages were most influenced How these findings might change standard practice For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. 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.

On this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors invite first author Gaurav Sharma, PhD, MBA, from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Dr. Sharma discusses his paper, "Metabolic and transcriptomic insights into temperature controlled hypothermic preservation of human donor hearts." The discussion explores: How donor hearts not offered or declined for transplantation responded in hypothermic preservation versus conventional static cold storage Potentially beneficial genetic signatures yielded by TCHP versus cold storage The surprising response of energy stores in the hearts to the different storage environments How multi-omic approaches could be applied to other organs For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. 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.

On this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors invite first author Nikil Prasad, MD, a cardiology fellow in the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, to discuss the paper, "Can the grading of mild cardiac allograft vasculopathy be further refined? An angiographic and physiologic assessment of heart transplant recipients with ISHLT CAV 1." The discussion explores: The study's subdivisions of CAV grade 1 into CAV 1a and CAV 1b, based on the degree of coronary stenosis Differing clinical information provided by different methods of CAV screening: reduced myocardial blood flow reserve vs angiographic grading Limitations in implementing PET-based CAV assessments at various centers, and how transplant programs can use combined testing data For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. 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.

On this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors invite first author Peter Cho and senior author Abbas Ardehali, MD, to discuss the paper, "Severe primary graft dysfunction in heart transplant recipients using donor hearts after circulatory death: a United States Experience." Peter is a third year medical student at Drexel University, and Dr. Ardehali is professor of surgery and medicine and the Director of the Heart, Lung, and Heart-Lung Transplant programs at UCLA. The episode explores: The study's findings regarding an increased incidence of severe PGD at 24 hours post-transplant in DCD over DBD recipients What risks weren't changed in DCD recipients—suggesting that DCD PGD is likely to be transient, and may have a different phenotype How NRP may impact the outcomes Mitigating the risk of PGD For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. Tune in again later this month for the Digital Media Editors' findings and observations from the ISHLT2025 Annual Meeting in Boston. 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.

On this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors invite author Ioana Preston, MD, to discuss the paper, "Efficacy and safety of sotatercept across ranges of cardiac index in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: A pooled analysis of PULSAR and STELLAR." Dr. Preston is the director of the pulmonary hypertension center at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, and has over 20 years of experience in caring for patients with PH, as well as multiple clinical trials in PH. The episode explores: What makes sotatercept unique as the first "biologic" in the treatment of PAH Hypotheses about the mechanism of action in sotatercept Sotatercept's interaction with mPAP and what it indicates about the drug's action on the pulmonary vasculature For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. Those involved in the heart failure and mechanical circulatory support should tune in again later this month for a study on apixaban plasma levels in patients with HeartMate 3 support. 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.

On this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors invite lead author Jan Van Slambrouck, MD, to discuss the paper, "The effect of rewarming ischemia on tissue transcriptome and metabolome signatures: A clinical observational study in lung transplantation." Dr. Van Slambrouck is a general surgeon who's just finished his PhD training at the KU Leuven lab of respiratory disease and thoracic surgery in Belgium. The episode explores: How rewarming ischemia time (RIT) affects donor lungs, especially on the molecular level The pace of rewarming and how prior literature prepared the team to track and evaluate it Clinical strategies to reduce RIT and directly address molecular changes For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. Those involved in the pulmonary vascular disease space should tune in again later this month for a study on the safety and efficacy of riociguat in patients with PAH. 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.