JHLT: The Podcast

JHLT: The Podcast starts May with an important ten-year update to a keystone document—the "ISHLT Consensus Conference on Graft Dysfunction within the First 72 Hours after Heart Transplantation." The consensus summary—and a perspective piece by the authors—appears in the May issue of JHLT, and is available in full on ISHLT.org.

The podcast is happy to host conference leader and first author Jon Kobashigawa, MD, Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, to talk about the consensus document, the conference, and PGD.

The conversation includes discussion of:

• Why the document needed updating and how consensus was achieved
• The revised severity scale for PGD and the omission of the vasoactive-inotropic score
• Changes from the old document, including:
  • Newer predictors of PGD
  • The latest donor preservation devices
  • Updated treatment approaches

For the latest studies from JHLT, visit 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.

In this episode, JHLT: The Podcast highlights a special issue of the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation that's just been released. The issue focuses on innovations in Device Therapies, and was edited by JHLT Deputy Editor Manreet Kanwar, MD, FACC, of the University of Chicago. Dr. Kanwar joins Digital Media Editor Van-Khue Ton, MD, PhD for a discussion about the special issue.

The discussion explores:

• The importance of discussing device therapies in the advanced heart and lung failure communities
• The most anticipated device therapies in the pipeline for clinicians and patients to consider
• The impact of publishing in JHLT

For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt. Read the special issue on ScienceDirect or at the Journal website.

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.

JHLT: The Podcast kicks off April with a discussion of the paper, "Lung Cancer After Lung Transplantation: Early Detection and Curative Surgery Drive Long-Term Survival," which appears in the April issue of JHLT.

Senior author Pauline Pradère, MD, of Hôpital Marie Lannelongue in Paris, joins the episode to talk about the paper.

The conversation includes discussion of:

• The overall survival of patients who develop lung cancer after lung transplant—and the key differences between the cohort of patients who developed cancer versus the patients who did not
• Managing lung cancer in transplant recipients
• Immunosuppression in these patients, and other potential changes to clinical practice derived from the study

For the latest studies from JHLT, visit 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.

JHLT: The Podcast continues a themed month on HIV infection in solid organ transplant, building on our last episode's exploration from Dr. Saeed at Montefiore in New York.

Our guest this episode is infectious diseases expert Cameron Wolfe, MD, Professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. He joined us while on sabbatical with his family in Brisbane Australia for a conversation about how transplant centers now consider HIV infection, including transplant recipients who are HIV positive.

The discussion explores:

• How the HOPE Act of 2013 changed practice in the United States, and how other countries have handled HIV transplantation regulations
• Immunosuppresion, antiviral therapy, and opportunistic infection in HIV+ transplant recipients
• Whether organ-specific surveillance changes in HIV+ patients
• The ethics of using organs from HIV+ donors and ensuring HIV+ patients are treated equitably

For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt.

This month on JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors host two themed discussions around HIV in solid organ transplantation. The conversation begins with a discussion of the paper, "Early experience in heart transplantation utilizing donors with HIV," which appears in the March issue of JHLT.

First author Omar Saeed, MD, MSc, of the Division of Cardiology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, NY USA, joins the episode.

The conversation includes discussion of:

• The ethics and evolution of the Montefiore program's transplant eligibility and criteria
• The role of the HOPE Act in the changes to the program
• Superinfection, viral strain analysis, and informed consent of organ recipients
• Long-term patient follow upsa nd how other centers can begin this research

For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt.

Return later this month for a broader conversation with an infectious diseases expert about HIV in transplantation.

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.

JHLT: The Podcast returns with an episode for our heart transplant colleagues, discussing the paper, "Barriers and opportunities in donation after circulatory death heart transplantation," from the February issue of JHLT.

Featured on this episode is first author, Katherine G. Phillips, MD, of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at NYU Langone, and co-author, Brian Wayda, MD, from the Division of Cardiology at NYU Langone.

The discussion explores:

• Geographic variability on DCD heart utilization—why it happens and how to address
• Concerns around donor progression to circulatory arrest after life support withdrawal
• The volume of DCD hearts not utilized each year—and the gap between those successfully transplanted

For the latest studies from JHLT, visit 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.

In this episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors host a discussion on a new consensus statement from ISHLT on Short Telomere Syndrome (STS) and Lung Transplantation. The document was first published last month.

They're joined by document leads Andrew Courtwright, MD, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Dr. John Mackintosh of Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane; and John McDyer, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh.

The conversation includes discussion of:

• Recommendations for assessing patients for STS
• Which patients we should screen
• How the diagnosis influences transplant decision making and risk assessment
• How STS impacts immunosuppression
• Extrapulmonary comorbidities
• Future areas for research

ISHLT Standards, Guidelines, and Consensus Statements are open to all at ISHLT.org.

For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt.

Return later this month for a conversation on barriers and opportunities in utilizing DCD hearts in transplantation.

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.

JHLT: The Podcast returns with an episode discussing the paper, "Impact of evolocumab on coronary physiology and microstructure in de-novo heart transplant recipients," from the January issue of JHLT.

Featured on this episode is early career guest host Bin Yang, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital. Mentored by Digital Media Editor Van-Khue Ton, MD, PhD, Dr. Yang shares hosting duties this episode and brings great questions to the discussion.

Drs. Yang and Ton are joined by the first author, Salma Karim, and senior author, Hans Eiskjaer, both from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark.

The discussion explores:

• What imaging and physical markers the researchers used to determine if evolocumab was influencing the development of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV)
• The potential role of lipid-lowering therapies or statins in treating CAV
• The relationship between CAV and microvascular resistance (IMR)

For the latest studies from JHLT, visit www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at www.ishlt.org/jhlt.

In case you missed it, earlier this month the JHLT Digital Media Editors recapped their favorite papers from 2025. Take a listen!

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.

Happy new year and welcome to a new season of JHLT: The Podcast! In this year-end recap, the Digital Media Editors will each share one of their favorite studies from The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation in 2025. You'll get a look at some of the best science in advanced heart and lung failure from the past year.

Studies featured:

• Efficacy and safety of sotatercept across ranges of cardiac index in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: A pooled analysis of PULSAR and STELLAR Gomberg-Maitland M, et al. JHLT Apr 2025 44(4):609 – 624.
• A consensus-based framework for the psychosocial evaluation of pediatric candidates for cardiothoracic transplant and ventricular assist devices Lefkowitz DS, et al. JHLT Apr 2025 44(4):487-502.
• ABO-incompatible heart transplants in children aged 2-9 years: A new paradigm in transplant? Hollis P, et al. JHLT Dec 2025 44(12):1910-1917.
• Heart transplantation in Ukraine during wartime: A retrospective cohort study of standard vs marginal donor heart transplantation outcomes Todurov B, et al. JHLT Nov 2025 44(11):1728-1734.

For the latest studies from JHLT, visit 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.

JHLT: The Podcast returns with an episode discussing the paper, "High Antiphospholipid Antibody Titers and Outcomes of Pulmonary Endarterectomy: A Single-Center Retrospective Observational Cohort Study," from the December issue of JHLT.

They are joined by the first author, Camille Miard, MD, and senior author, François Stéphan, MD, PhD, both from the cardiothoracic intensive care unit at Hôpital Marie Lannelongue in Paris.

The discussion explores:

• Whether antiphospholipid antibody titers could predict postoperative outcomes for CTEPH patients undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA)
• How APS patients differed from non-APS patients in the PEA cohort
• The changes in clinical practice at Marie Lannelongue after the study's findings

For the latest studies from JHLT, visit 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.