Abdallah G Kfoury

..In this study, we examine whether a pattern of repetitive AMR occurred early enough after transplantation to warrant prospective immunohistochemistry screening in all recently transplanted recipients...

..Although adherence to these HF care processes may be improving, their collective impact on survival is not yet settled...

..In this study, we hypothesized that the severity of AMR, as assessed on EMBs, correlates with cardiovascular mortality in heart transplant recipients...

..Yet, compared with adults, the lack of routine surveillance for AMR has limited the growth of evidence in the pediatric population. Herein, we compared outcomes of pediatric HT recipients with and without AMR...

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..Many of their components are not commonly used, but they might contain independent risk information. This study tested the ability of a risk score combining all components to predict all-cause mortality...

..Mortality is the most definitive clinical endpoint, but medical care is more easily applied to modify morbidity and thereby prevent death. This study tested whether IMRS is associated with clinical morbidity endpoints...

..Debate continues about whether therapeutic intervention is warranted to avoid adverse outcomes. In this study we examine the course of individual episodes of untreated asymptomatic AMR on follow-up endomyocardial biopsy (EMB)...

..Although individual variables are checked for cardiovascular health and risk, combining them into a total BMP-derived score, as to maximize BMP predictive ability, has not been previously attempted...

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..Whether HCY affects development of congestive heart failure (CHF) independent of coronary artery disease (CAD) is uncertain. We evaluated whether increased HCY predicts low ejection fraction or clinical CHF...

..In this study, we examined whether a differential impact on cardiovascular mortality (CVM) existed when comparing asymptomatic AMR, to stable MR or CR...

..BNP levels do predict allograft rejection but correlate with allograft function after 6 months following transplant...

..We investigated the pattern of sensitization in left ventricular assist device recipients in relation to cellular blood product transfusions received...

..Our aim was to determine the impact of the type of LVAD and implant era on post-transplant survival...

..IMRS may be used to stratify age-specific risk of mortality in research, clinical/preventive, and quality improvement applications. A web calculator is located at http://intermountainhealthcare.org/IMRS...

..0% (3 of 25) of the non-IVIG group (p = 0.5). CONCLUSIONS: The use of low-dose prophylactic IVIG after left ventricular assist device implantation affects neither the incidence nor the severity of HLA allosensitization...

..Our study evaluated whether the use of high-dose inotropic support in potential donors was associated with increased early myocardial necrosis (MN) and worse clinical outcomes after cardiac transplantation...

..In this study, we compared the post-transplant (PTx) outcomes between XVE and HMII using a large national data registry...

..02). In conclusion, the SHFM predicts survival in patients with HF in a hospital-based population, with areas under the curve similar to those from data on which models were initially fit...

..This approach may lead to improved patient and allograft survival...

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..The aim of this study was to determine whether VASC and ENDO are adequate to act as screening parameters to trigger further AMR investigation...

..04). Pre-sensitized patients are at higher risk for becoming and remaining highly HLA-allosensitized after LVAD implantation. The HeartMate II LVAD appears to cause less sensitization than HeartMate I...

..We sought to analyze the relationship between LVAD flow characteristics and subsequent allograft rejection in bridge to transplant (BTT) patients...

..After the ODBC, increases in the number of all solid organs transplanted, except for heart, were seen. The aim of this study was to determine if ODBC resulted in temporal changes in the use of hearts from high-risk donors...

..HF management and approach to orthotopic heart transplant (OHT) may differ from adults without CHD. We sought to compare OHT waitlist characteristics and outcomes for these 2 groups...

..This study investigates alterations in myocardial microvasculature, fibrosis, and hypertrophy before and after mechanical unloading of the failing human heart...

..Conflicting data exist regarding the impact of reversible pulmonary hypertension (PHTN) on post-transplant (Tx) outcomes. In this study we sought to determine the influence of reversible PHTN on outcomes after Tx...

..In conclusion, outcomes after noncardiac surgery in patients with VADs are favorable, and most patients continue to benefit from the intended purpose of mechanical circulatory support after recovering from noncardiac surgery...

..In conclusion, elevated TC appears to be associated with improved survival. The effect was stronger in patients receiving statin therapy, but the cause of this differential effect is uncertain...

..In conclusion, not only proscription of tobacco, but also routine periodic fasting was associated with lower risk of CAD...

..Herein, we summarize and integrate insights from studies which investigated how LVAD unloading influences the structure and function of the failing human heart...

..These results may warrant increased measures to prevent and treat infection in the preimplant and postimplant periods...

..This study examined the accuracy of virtual crossmatch, in which recipient HLA-specific antibodies, identified by solid-phase assays, are compared to the prospective donor HLA-type in heart transplantation...

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..ABO-I transplantation has resulted in reduced waitlist mortality in some countries. This study assessed the effect of an ABO-I listing strategy on pre-transplant outcomes in the United States...

..Herein we examine the role of the different tests used in diagnosis of TB and review the specifics of anti-mycobacterial therapy and the public health implications of TB in a SOT recipient...

..Determining which pretransplantation (TX) characteristics predict the development of chronic renal dysfunction (CRD) or death after heart TX would enable more accurate risk assessment at the time of candidate evaluation...

..As such, organs would be allocated to the sickest recipients with highest listing status across the region. Our aim was to determine the impact of the new policy on the procurement and transplant process within our program...

..The incidence of chronic renal insufficiency was actually lower in the MCS Group (15.3% vs 37.9%, p = .001). CONCLUSION: Post-transplant outcomes after pre-transplant use of MCS are similar to those when MCS is not required...

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..This perspective examines some of the contentious and unresolved issues in cardiac AMR as the transplant community makes concrete steps towards updating its defining criteria...

..The aim of this study was to review our experience with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stents in cardiac transplant recipients...

..Waveforms (n = 454) were collected for 21 patients with failed pumps. An artificial neural network was used to predict pump failure within 30 days from the waveform characteristics identified though signal processing...

..Nonetheless, end-of-life (EOL) issues are inevitable and how to approach them underreported...

..Flail leaflets are the most common operative finding, suggesting that biopsy-induced trauma is the likely cause of severe TI in these patients...

..0) significantly and independently predicted mortality. Even in the absence of coronary artery disease, patients with left ventricular dysfunction are at increased risk of mortality based on their baseline CRP concentrations...

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..In the present study, we describe outcomes of DT in the post-REMATCH era in the United States...