Tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is common after a heart transplant and is associated with worse clinical outcomes. The incidence ranges from 34% immediately after transplant to 20% by 10 years. Most patients can be managed medically; however, severe TR and symptomatic right heart failure warrant tricuspid valve replacement. The use of Melody transcatheter pulmonary valve in the tricuspid position is previously described. We report a unique case of posttransplant severe TR treated with surgical bioprosthetic tricuspid valve replacement who subsequently underwent successful transcatheter Melody valve placement in tricuspid position for progressive bioprosthetic valve stenosis with 11 years of follow-up.

Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR) procedures can be an alternative to surgical valve replacement for high surgical risk patients with bioprosthetic mitral valves, annuloplasty rings, or severe mitral annular calcification (MAC). TMVR can trigger acute left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction from permanent displacement of the native anterior mitral leaflet toward the left ventricular septum, more often among patients undergoing valve-in-ring and valve-in-MAC procedures. Although acute LVOT obstruction is well described in the literature, there are important additional complications of TMVR related to the length and/or redundancy of the anterior mitral valve that have been recognized after mitral valve surgery and have not been previously reported in the setting of TMVR. These additional complications include acute mitral regurgitation secondary to prolapsing native leaflet through the TMVR, frozen TMVR leaflet secondary to overhanging native leaflet and late LVOT obstruction in the neo-LVOT secondary to long native leaflet. Preprocedural planning with imaging (echocardiography and computed tomography) and measurement of anterior mitral leaflet length is critical important in understanding the risk for these complications. As transcatheter mitral valve technology proliferates, interactions with the anterior mitral leaflet after TMVR may be more frequent than initially anticipated. We believe that there is no advantage to an intact anterior leaflet and advocate removal or reduction of the leaflet prior to TMVR. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Objectives: This study sought to use a new catheter technique to split the anterior mitral valve leaflet (AML) and prevent iatrogenic left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction immediately before transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR). Background: LVOT obstruction is a life-threatening complication of TMVR, caused by septal displacement of the AML. Methods: The procedure was used in patients with severe mitral valve disease and prohibitive surgical risk. Patients either had prior surgical mitral valve ring (n = 3) or band annuloplasty (n = 1) or mitral annular calcification with stenosis (n = 1). Iatrogenic LVOT obstruction or transcatheter heart valve dysfunction was predicted in all based on echocardiography and computed tomography. Transfemoral coronary guiding catheters directed an electrified guidewire across the center and base of the AML toward a snare in the left atrium. The externalized guidewire loop was then electrified to lacerate the AML along the centerline from base to tip, sparing chordae, immediately before transseptal TMVR. Results: Five patients with prohibitive risk of LVOT obstruction or transcatheter heart valve dysfunction from TMVR successfully underwent LAMPOON, with longitudinal splitting of the A2 scallop of the AML, before valve implantation. Multiplane computed tomography modeling predicted hemodynamic collapse from TMVR assuming an intact AML. However, critical LVOT gradients were not seen following LAMPOON and TMVR. Doppler blood flow was seen across transcatheter heart valve struts that encroached the LVOT, because the AML was split. Transcatheter heart valve function was unimpeded. Conclusions: This novel catheter technique, which resembles surgical chord-sparing AML resection, may enable TMVR in patients with prohibitive risk of LVOT obstruction or transcatheter heart valve dysfunction.

Objectives: The objective was to review the use of Impella devices (Abiomed Inc, Danvers, MA) for temporary circulatory support in pediatric and adolescent patients (age ≤ 21 yrs). Background: Options for minimally invasive circulatory support in children are limited, and published data are confined to case reports and small case series. Methods: This was a retrospective, multicenter review of Impella implants in pediatric and adolescent patients from 2009-15, using standardized data collection and INTERMACS definitions. Results: A total of 39 implants were performed in 38 patients from 16 centers. Median age and weight were 16 yrs (4–21 yrs) and 62 kg (15–134 kg). The primary indication for implant was cardiogenic shock in 28 patients (72%). Cardiac allograft rejection, myocarditis, or cardiomyopathy were the underlying diagnosis in 23 patients (59%); 11 patients had congenital heart disease. The median duration of support was 45 hr (1–1224 hr). Indications for explant included ventricular recovery in 16 patients, transition to another device in 12, death in 5, and transplant in 1. Survival was 85% at 7 days and 68% at 30 days. Major adverse events occurred in 8 patients: hemolysis in 3, bleeding in 2, stroke in 1 (unclear if related to Impella), sepsis in 1, and critical leg ischemia in 1. An increase in aortic regurgitation was noted in three patients, with no evidence of valve injury. Conclusion: Temporary circulatory support with Impella devices is feasible in pediatric and adolescent patients, with acceptable risk profiles. More experience and follow up is needed to improve technical performance and patient selection.

Importance The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD 2019) provided systematic estimates of incidence, morbidity, and mortality to inform local and international efforts toward reducing cancer burden. Objective To estimate cancer burden and trends globally for 204 countries and territories and by Sociodemographic Index (SDI) quintiles from 2010 to 2019. Evidence Review The GBD 2019 estimation methods were used to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2019 and over the past decade. Estimates are also provided by quintiles of the SDI, a composite measure of educational attainment, income per capita, and total fertility rate for those younger than 25 years. Estimates include 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). Findings In 2019, there were an estimated 23.6 million (95% UI, 22.2-24.9 million) new cancer cases (17.2 million when excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer) and 10.0 million (95% UI, 9.36-10.6 million) cancer deaths globally, with an estimated 250 million (235-264 million) DALYs due to cancer. Since 2010, these represented a 26.3% (95% UI, 20.3%-32.3%) increase in new cases, a 20.9% (95% UI, 14.2%-27.6%) increase in deaths, and a 16.0% (95% UI, 9.3%-22.8%) increase in DALYs. Among 22 groups of diseases and injuries in the GBD 2019 study, cancer was second only to cardiovascular diseases for the number of deaths, years of life lost, and DALYs globally in 2019. Cancer burden differed across SDI quintiles. The proportion of years lived with disability that contributed to DALYs increased with SDI, ranging from 1.4% (1.1%-1.8%) in the low SDI quintile to 5.7% (4.2%-7.1%) in the high SDI quintile. While the high SDI quintile had the highest number of new cases in 2019, the middle SDI quintile had the highest number of cancer deaths and DALYs. From 2010 to 2019, the largest percentage increase in the numbers of cases and deaths occurred in the low and low-middle SDI quintiles. Conclusions and Relevance The results of this systematic analysis suggest that the global burden of cancer is substantial and growing, with burden differing by SDI. These results provide comprehensive and comparable estimates that can potentially inform efforts toward equitable cancer control around the world.

Transcatheter electrosurgery is a wire-based technique used to traverse or cut tissue within blood-filled spaces using alternating current delivered by guidewires or catheters. The use of transcatheter electrosurgical techniques in the pediatric population has been limited. We are reporting the first case of retrograde pulmonary vein recanalization using transcatheter electrosurgery. (Level of Difficulty: Advanced.)

Even though the etiology of chronic rejection (CR) is multifactorial, donor specific antibody (DSA) is considered to have a causal effect on CR development. Currently the antibody-mediated mechanisms during CR are poorly understood due to lack of proper animal models and tools. In a clinical setting, we previously demonstrated that induction therapy by lymphocyte depletion, using alemtuzumab (anti-human CD52), is associated with an increased incidence of serum alloantibody, C4d deposition and antibody-mediated rejection in human patients. In this study, the effects of T cell depletion in the development of antibody-mediated rejection were examined using human CD52 transgenic (CD52Tg) mice treated with alemtuzumab. Fully mismatched cardiac allografts were transplanted into alemtuzumab treated CD52Tg mice and showed no acute rejection while untreated recipients acutely rejected their grafts. However, approximately half of long-term recipients showed increased degree of vasculopathy, fibrosis and perivascular C3d depositions at posttransplant day 100. The development of CR correlated with DSA and C3d deposition in the graft. Using novel tracking tools to monitor donor-specific B cells, alloreactive B cells were shown to increase in accordance with DSA detection. The current animal model could provide a means of testing strategies to understand mechanisms and developing therapeutic approaches to prevent chronic rejection. The authors demonstrate that an endogenous de novo allo B cell response after isolated T cell depletion in a CD52 transgenic mouse cardiac allograft model leads to de novo alloantibody production and antibody-mediated chronic rejection. © Copyright 2012 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.