Editor's Note This study, led by researchers at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, finds that from August 2020 through September 2021, 7% of lung transplantations in the US were performed in patients with COVID-19-related respiratory failure. In this analysis of 3,039 lung transplants, 214 were…

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Editor's Note This study led by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, finds that although COVID-19’s effect on access to liver transplantation has been all-pervasive, minorities have been disproportionately affected—especially those with public insurance. During the initial wave of COVID-19, organ transplantation was classified as a…

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Editor's Note The opioid epidemic has expanded the pool of overdose-death donors (ODDs) for heart transplantation. Even though ODDs have higher rates of hepatitis C, cardiac allograft quality indices are favorable, and recipient outcomes are similar to those with non-ODD hearts, this study finds. Of 15,904 heart transplant donors analyzed,…

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Editor's Note In patients without HCV infection who received a heart or lung transplant from HCV-infected donors, treatment with a 4-week antiviral regimen prevented establishment of HCV infection, this study finds. Of 44 patients enrolled in the study, 36 received lung transplants and 8 received heart transplants. All of the…

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Editor's Note Surgeons at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, completed the first successful penis transplantation in the US in a patient who had a subtotal penectomy for penile cancer. Operative reinterventions were needed on postoperative days 2 and 3 for hematoma evacuation and skin eschar debridement. At 3 weeks, no…

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Editor's Note Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) performed a record number of heart transplants in 2017, making it the second-busiest heart transplant program in the country. VUMC performed a record 97 heart transplantations,  including pediatric cases, which surpassed the 2016 milestone of 92. Vanderbilt is building a program that…

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Editor's Note The success rates of pediatric kidney transplants have significantly improved over the past 50 years, with young children now experiencing better long-term transplant success than adults, this study finds. Of 1,056 pediatric kidney transplant recipients analyzed, 85% were alive at 1 year after surgery 50 years ago, compared…

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Editor's Note Advances in critical care have made it possible for critically ill children to undergo liver transplantation with the same survival benefits as children who are stable before surgery, this study finds. At Texas Children’s Hospital, 65 of 354 patients who had liver transplantation between 2002 and 2015 were…

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Editor's Note Hospitals managing the highest volume of deceased organ donors were 52% more likely to recover an above-average number of transplantable organs per donor than low-volume hospitals in this study. The study included data from 4,427 donors across 384 hospitals. High-volume hospitals had an organ yield (ie, rate of…

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Editor's Note Using a computerized mathematical model, Johns Hopkins researches investigated whether they could improve heart and lung transplants by transferring patients from low- to high-volume transplant centers. Among the findings: For heart transplants, 10 lives were saved after one center closure, and 240 lives were saved after up to…

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