Review of the allocation criteria for heart transplant in Spain in 2023. SEC-Heart Failure Association/ONT/SECCE consensus document

Heart transplant (HT) remains the best therapeutic option for patients with advanced heart failure (HF). The allocation criteria aim to guarantee equitable access to HT and prioritize patients with a worse clinical status. To review the HT allocation criteria, the Heart Failure Association of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (HFA-SEC), the Spanish Society of Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery (SECCE) and the National Transplant Organization (ONT), organized a consensus conference involving adult and pediatric cardiologists, adult and pediatric cardiac surgeons, transplant coordinators from all over Spain, and physicians and nurses from the ONT. The aims of the consensus conference were as follows: a) to analyze the organization and management of patients with advanced HF and cardiogenic shock in Spain; b) to critically review heart allocation and priority criteria in other transplant organizations; c) to analyze the outcomes of patients listed and transplanted before and after the modification of the heart allocation criteria in 2017; and d) to propose new heart allocation criteria in Spain after an analysis of the available evidence and multidisciplinary discussion. In this article, by the HFA-SEC, SECCE and the ONT we present the results of the analysis performed in the consensus conference and the rationale for the new heart allocation criteria in Spain.

First-in-human therapy with Treg produced from thymic tissue (thyTreg) in a heart transplant infant

Due to their suppressive capacity, regulatory T cells (Tregs) have attracted growing interest as an adoptive cellular therapy for the prevention of allograft rejection, but limited Treg recovery and lower quality of adult-derived Tregs could represent an obstacle to success. To address this challenge, we developed a new approach that provides large quantities of Tregs with high purity and excellent features, sourced from thymic tissue routinely removed during pediatric cardiac surgeries (thyTregs). We report on a 2-year follow-up of the first patient treated worldwide with thyTregs, included in a phase I/II clinical trial evaluating the administration of autologous thyTreg in infants undergoing heart transplantation. In addition to observing no adverse effects that could be attributed to thyTreg administration, we report that the Treg frequency in the periphery was preserved during the 2-year follow-up period. These initial results are consistent with the trial objective, which is to confirm safety of the autologous thyTreg administration and its capacity to restore the Treg pool.

A Neonatal ABO non-compatible heart transplant from a circulatory-determined death donor using NRP/Cold storage

BACKGROUND

Donation after Circulatory death is gaining worldwide acceptance. Most protocols regard their first cases to be performed with donor and recipient in the same institution. Few records of children or distant procurement have been published.

METHODS

Our institution was offered a heart from a 3-day-old, 3.4-kg child, blood group A, suffering irreversible encephalopathy. Parents accepted withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy and agreed to donation. The donor hospital was located 340 km away. Concomitantly, a 2-month-old, 3.1 kg, blood group type B and with non-compaction ventricles was awaiting for the heart transplant in our unit.

RESULTS

Thirty-seven minutes after withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy, the heart arrested. Five minutes afterwards, a sternotomy was performed. The supra-aortic vessels were clamped altogether. Aorta and right appendage were cannulated and connected to heart-lung machine. The innominate artery above the clamp was severed. The heart resumed spontaneous rhythm in less than 1 min. Ventilation was restored and extracorporeal circulation was maintained for 32 min. Upon cardiologic arrest, the graft was harvested as routinely. The heart was cold-stored and transported by plane to our Hospital. An orthotopic bicaval transplant was performed. Overall cold ischaemia was 245 min. Ten weeks later, the child was discharged home in good condition.

CONCLUSION

Donation in circulatory death could increase the pool in neonates. Extracorporeal circulation proves successful for procurement in neonates. Distant procurement plus cold storage for donation in circulatory death is feasible. Donation in circulatory death and ABO non-compatible strategies are complementary to each other.

A Novel GMP Protocol to Produce High-Quality Treg Cells From the Pediatric Thymic Tissue to Be Employed as Cellular Therapy

Due to their suppressive capacity, the adoptive transfer of regulatory T cells (Treg) has acquired a growing interest in controlling exacerbated inflammatory responses. Limited Treg recovery and reduced quality remain the main obstacles in most current protocols where differentiated Treg are obtained from adult peripheral blood. An alternate Treg source is umbilical cord blood, a promising source of Treg cells due to the higher frequency of naïve Treg and lower frequency of memory T cells present in the fetus’ blood. However, the Treg number isolated from cord blood remains limiting. Human thymuses routinely discarded during pediatric cardiac surgeries to access the retrosternal operative field has been recently proposed as a novel source of Treg for cellular therapy. This strategy overcomes the main limitations of current Treg sources, allowing the obtention of very high numbers of undifferentiated Treg. We have developed a novel good manufacturing practice (GMP) protocol to obtain large Treg amounts, with very high purity and suppressive capacity, from the pediatric thymus (named hereafter thyTreg). The total amount of thyTreg obtained at the end of the procedure, after a short-term culture of 7 days, reach an average of 1,757 x10⁶ (range 50 x 10⁶ – 13,649 x 10⁶) cells from a single thymus. The thyTreg product obtained with our protocol shows very high viability (mean 93.25%; range 83.35% – 97.97%), very high purity (mean 92.89%; range 70.10% – 98.41% of CD25⁺FOXP3⁺ cells), stability under proinflammatory conditions and a very high suppressive capacity (inhibiting in more than 75% the proliferation of activated CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells in vitro at a thyTreg:responder cells ratio of 1:1). Our thyTreg product has been approved by the Spanish Drug Agency (AEMPS) to be administered as cell therapy. We are recruiting patients in the first-in-human phase I/II clinical trial worldwide that evaluates the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of autologous thyTreg administration in children undergoing heart transplantation (NCT04924491). The high quality and amount of thyTreg and the differential features of the final product obtained with our protocol allow preparing hundreds of doses from a single thymus with improved therapeutic properties, which can be cryopreserved and could open the possibility of an “off-the-shelf” allogeneic use in another individual.

Malignancy following heart transplantation: differences in incidence and prognosis between sexes - a multicenter cohort study

Male patients are at increased risk for developing malignancy postheart transplantation (HT); however, real incidence and prognosis in both genders remain unknown. The aim of this study was to assess differences in incidence and mortality related to malignancy between genders in a large cohort of HT patients. Incidence and mortality rates were calculated for all tumors, skin cancers (SCs), lymphoma, and nonskin solid cancers (NSSCs) as well as survival since first diagnosis of neoplasia. 5865 patients (81.6% male) were included. Total incidence rates for all tumors, SCs, and NSSCs were lower in females [all tumors: 25.7 vs. 44.8 per 1000 person-years; rate ratio (RR) 0.68, (0.60-0.78), P < 0.001]. Mortality rates were also lower in females for all tumors [94.0 (77.3-114.3) vs. 129.6 (120.9-138.9) per 1000 person-years; RR 0.76, (0.62-0.94), P = 0.01] and for NSSCs [125.0 (95.2-164.0) vs 234.7 (214.0-257.5) per 1000 person-years; RR 0.60 (0.44-0.80), P = 0.001], albeit not for SCs or lymphoma. Female sex was associated with a better survival after diagnosis of malignancy [log-rank p test = 0.0037; HR 0.74 (0.60-0.91), P = 0.004]. In conclusion, incidence of malignancies post-HT is higher in males than in females, especially for SCs and NSSCs. Prognosis after cancer diagnosis is also worse in males.

Basiliximab impairs regulatory T cell (TREG) function and could affect the short-term graft acceptance in children with heart transplantation

CD25, the alpha chain of the IL-2 receptor, is expressed on activated effector T cells that mediate immune graft damage. Induction immunosuppression is commonly used in solid organ transplantation and can include antibodies blocking CD25. However, regulatory T cells (Tregs) also rely on CD25 for their proliferation, survival, and regulatory function. Therefore, CD25-blockade may compromise Treg protective role against rejection. We analysed in vitro the effect of basiliximab (BXM) on the viability, phenotype, proliferation and cytokine production of Treg cells. We also evaluated in vivo the effect of BXM on Treg in thymectomized heart transplant children receiving BXM in comparison to patients not receiving induction therapy. Our results show that BXM reduces Treg counts and function in vitro by affecting their proliferation, Foxp3 expression, and IL-10 secretion capacity. In pediatric heart-transplant patients, we observed decreased Treg counts and a diminished Treg/Teff ratio in BXM-treated patients up to 6-month after treatment, recovering baseline values at the end of the 12-month follow up period. These results reveal that the use of BXM could produce detrimental effects on Tregs, and support the evidence suggesting that BXM induction could impair the protective role of Tregs in the period of highest incidence of acute graft rejection.

Behavioral economics-A framework for donor organ decision-making in pediatric heart transplantation

The high discard rate of pediatric donor hearts presents a major challenge for children awaiting heart transplantation. Recent literature identifies several factors that contribute to the disparities in pediatric donor heart usage, including regulatory oversight, the absence of guidelines on pediatric donor heart acceptance, and variation among transplant programs. However, a likely additional contributor to this issue are the behavioral factors influencing transplant team decisions in donor offer scenarios, a topic that has not yet been studied in detail. Behavioral economics and decision psychology provide an excellent foundation for investigating decision-making in the pediatric transplant setting, offering key insights into the behavior of transplant professionals. We conducted a systematic review of published literature in pediatric heart transplant related to behavioral economics and the psychology of decision-making. In this review, we draw on paradigms from these two domains in order to examine how existing aspects of the transplant environment, including regulatory oversight, programmatic variation, and allocation systems, may precipitate potential biases surrounding donor offer decisions. Recognizing how human decision behavior influences donor acceptance is a first step toward improving utilization of potentially viable pediatric donor hearts.

ISHLT consensus statement on donor organ acceptability and management in pediatric heart transplantation

The number of potential pediatric heart transplant recipients continues to exceed the number of donors, and consequently the waitlist mortality remains significant. Despite this, around 40% of all donated organs are not used and are discarded. This document (62 authors from 53 institutions in 17 countries) evaluates factors responsible for discarding donor hearts and makes recommendations regarding donor heart acceptance. The aim of this statement is to ensure that no usable donor heart is discarded, waitlist mortality is reduced, and post-transplant survival is not adversely impacted.

Immune dysregulation and Th2 polarization are associated with atopic dermatitis in heart-transplant children: A delicate balance between risk of rejection or atopic symptoms

Atopic dermatitis (AD) has a high incidence in heart-transplant children, and the reason why there is more AD after transplantation is still unknown. We conducted a cross-sectional study comparing 11 AD and 11 non-AD age-matched heart-transplant children, to assess which immune alterations are related to AD in these patients. AD patients had been transplanted at a younger age compared to non-AD, indicating that age at transplant may be determinant in the onset of AD. The earlier thymectomy in AD heart-transplant children favored the presence of more differentiated phenotypes in the T cell compartment. We observed a clear reduction in the T-helper 1/T-helper 2 (Th1/Th2) ratio in AD children. This Th2 polarization was related to eosinophilia and high immunoglobulin E levels, but also to an impaired regulatory T cell (Treg) suppression, which could be secondary to an exhaustion of the Treg compartment. Interestingly, AD patients were free of rejection episodes (0/11) in comparison to non-AD children (4/11). We propose that a predominant Th2 phenotype may prevent the emergence of Th1 responses associated with graft rejection. A more differentiated Treg phenotype could also play a role in preventing acute rejection in the first year posttransplant. Our findings provide useful insights and knowledge for the better understanding of atopic disorders in transplanted children.

Pharmacokinetics of tacrolimus granules in pediatric de novo liver, kidney, and heart transplantation: The OPTION study

Tacrolimus granules were developed for patients who are unable to swallow capsules. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is required to optimize efficacy and safety, which is based on C_trough for tacrolimus capsules. Pharmacokinetic (PK) data for tacrolimus granules are required to establish the basis for TDM in those who are unable to swallow capsules. In this phase IV study (NCT01371331) of children undergoing liver, kidney, or heart transplantation, patients received tacrolimus granules 0.15 mg/kg twice daily; first dose was administered within 24 hours of reperfusion. PK analysis samples were collected after reperfusion, after first dose of tacrolimus (Day 1), and at steady state (Day 7; >4 days stable dose). Of the 52 transplant recipients enrolled, 38 had two evaluable PK profiles. Mean AUC_tau after first dose of tacrolimus was 211, 97, and 224 hour*ng/mL in liver, kidney, and heart transplant recipients, respectively; corresponding mean AUC_tau at steady state was 195, 208, and 165 hour*ng/mL. C_trough and AUC_tau were positively correlated after first dose of tacrolimus and at steady state (Pearson's coefficients: r = 0.81 and r = 0.87, respectively). This study demonstrated that C_trough is a reliable marker for TDM in pediatric transplant recipients treated with tacrolimus granules, consistent with TDM for other tacrolimus formulations.

Beta1-adrenergic receptor antibodies in children with dilated cardiomyopathy

Autoantibodies to beta-1 adrenergic receptor have been reported in adult patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Removal of these antibodies has a positive hemodynamic effect. Our aim was to investigate whether these antibodies are present in children with DCM and explore the potential hemodynamic benefit of immunoadsorption (IA). Seventeen children with DCM  were tested for these antibodies. The etiology of DCM was genetic (n=5), myocarditis (n=4), DCM and congenital heart block (n=3), DCM associated to maternal lupus (n=1), DCM and Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome (n=1), and idiopathic (n=3). All patients evidenced ventricular dysfunction. Antibody testing was positive in 8 patients, 7  received IA.  Three patients with high titers had a poor clinical outcome and needed transplantation. Two patients with low titers exhibited a full recovery of heart function. One patient with multiple myocarditis episodes was treated with immunoglobulin IgG and IA ; after 5 years this patient presented a LVEF of 40 percent. Beta-1 adrenergic receptors autoantibodies are present in children with DCM. Immunoadsorption therapy may help improve heart failure in this context.

[Percutaneous pulmonary valvulotomy using radiofrequency in pulmonary atresia with intact interventricular septum]

Early pulmonary valvulotomy in patients with pulmonary atresia and intact interventricular septum allows the development and growth of the right ventricle and two-ventricle circulation. Percutaneous valvulotomy today is a valid alternative procedure to surgical valvulotomy. With the use of the radiofrequency 5F currently available for the treatment of arrythmias atretic pulmonary valve perforation and consecutive balloon dilation may be safely and effectively performed. We describe a case of perforation of a pulmonary valve by radiofrequency in a 15-day-old neonate with pulmonary valve atresia and intact ventricular septum.

Determination of tin, vanadium, iron, and molybdenum in various matrices by atomic absorption spectrometry using a simultaneous liquid-liquid extraction procedure

An atomic-absorption spectrometric method is described for the determination of tin, vanadium, iron, and molybdenum in two certified reference materials, food samples, and petroleum crude. After treatment with acids, these elements are separated from matrix elements by simultaneous solvent extraction of 5,5'-methylenedisalicylohydroxamic acid complexes from HCl/NaClO4 solution into an isobutyl methyl ketone/tributyl phosphate solution. The detection limits range from 0.018 to 0.19 microg/mL (n = 3), and the relative standard deviations do not exceed 2.0% at levels of 0.5, 0.6, 2.0, and 7.0 microg/mL of Fe, Mo, V, and Sn, respectively. The method is selective and suffers only from interference by Zr(IV), Ti(IV), Th(IV), W(VI), PO4(3-), and F-.