Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators in Patients with Orthotopic Heart Transplant: A Multicenter Case Series

The Year in Cardiothoracic Transplant Anesthesia: Selected Highlights From 2022 Part II: Cardiac Transplantation

These highlights focus on research published in the year 2022 and is divided into preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative sections. The preoperative section includes research on the assessment and optimization of candidates for heart transplantation; donor optimization and the use of extended donors; organ protection systems; donation after circulatory death allografts; recipient factors including cannabis use, sex, race, and comorbidities such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, and peripartum cardiomyopathy; the effects of the 2018 heart allocation policy change on waitlist and postoperative mortality; updates on heart transplantation in patients with coronavirus disease 2019; in pediatric patients; and those who require a bridge to transplant. The intraoperative section includes the use of a multidisciplinary team, a proposed transfusion algorithm, bench surgery on the allograft, and size matching. The postoperative section focuses on the research on the development and management of tricuspid regurgitation, echocardiography, arrhythmia management, and, finally, xenotransplantation.

Defibrillators in heart transplant patients: Not always a shockingly good choice

We know that cardiac implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD)s save lives. The pivotal studies done around 20 years ago confirmed the value of these devices for both primary and secondary prevention of sudden cardiac death (SCD)^1-3 and have led to guideline recommendations for their use in patients with prior episodes of life-threatening sustained ventricular arrhythmias (Class I) or heart failure and a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of < 35% (Class I) This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.