On this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the JHLT Digital Media Editors explore two studies from the February issue of The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. Digital Media Editor Van-Khue Ton, MD, a transplant cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, hosts this episode.

First, Dr. Ton and Digital Media Editor Erika Lease, MD interview their first guest, David Jenkins, FRCS(Cth), of the Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, UK. Dr. Jenkins was senior author on the study "Perioperative extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support for pulmonary endarterectomy: A 17-year experience from the UK national cohort." In the conversation, Dr. Jenkins shares the major determinants of mortality in this patient population, differences between survivors and non-survivors, and the CTEPH classification systems involved.

Next, Dr. Ton is joined by Digital Media Editor Marty Tam, MD, to interview their next guest, Kevin Chen, a 4th year general surgery resident at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Chen was a first author on the study "Heart transplantation in patients from socioeconomically distressed communities." Drs. Ton and Tam lead a lively discussion about this important paper, including the methodology behind the indices used to categorize patients, and the million-dollar question: why did patients from distressed communities fare more poorly?

Follow along at www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt.

Don't already get the Journal and want to read along? Join the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation at www.ishlt.org for a free subscription, or subscribe today at www.jhltonline.org.