Current opinion in organ transplantation
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Curr Opin Organ Transplant · Oct 2015
Pediatric mechanical circulatory support: available devices and outcomes as bridge-to-transplant therapy.
The use of mechanical circulatory support in children has increased dramatically over the current decade. A review of the pediatric ventricular assist device (VAD) literature is timely and relevant in order to improve outcomes and refine patient selection as new devices become available and current VADs are used in smaller patients. ⋯ There are many implications of improving and expanding durable device use in children. VAD therapy is evolving as a standard of care as a bridge to transplant in children. Continued surveillance of outcomes is critical to improving patient selection and decreasing adverse events in children with advanced heart failure.
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Curr Opin Organ Transplant · Oct 2015
ReviewExpanding the lung donor pool: advancements and emerging pathways.
The number of patients listed for lung transplantation largely exceeds the number of available transplantable organs because of a shortage of organ donors and a low utilization rate of lungs from those donors who are available. In recent years, novel strategies have been developed to increase the donor lung pool: improved donor management, the use of lungs from donations after cardiac death (DCD), the use of lobar lung living-donors (LLLD) and the use of ex-vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) to assess and repair injured donor lungs. ⋯ A significant increase in the number of available lungs for transplantation is expected in the future because of the wider use of lungs from controlled or uncontrolled DCD and LLLD lungs, and with organ-specific EVLP treatment strategies.