The Texas Heart Institute Makes a Strong Showing at ISHLT 2023

Daniel Timms, PhD, founder and chief technical officer of BiVACOR, Inc., described the benchtop testing and preclinical studies performed with The Texas Heart Institute in preparation for first-in-human clinical studies of the company’s total artificial heart.

Scientists and Academic Professional Staff members from The Texas Heart Institute recently shared their research at ISHLT 2023, The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation’s 43^rd Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions held April 19-22 in Denver, Colorado. The annual meeting brings together a multidisciplinary group of scientific and clinical professionals with the shared goal of improving the care of patients with advanced heart or lung disease through transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, and innovative therapies.

The research presented at the meeting benefitted from an interdisciplinary approach, with most studies from The Institute pairing physicians and surgeons with scientists or biomedical engineers. The geographical reach of the projects was also notable, leveraging collaborations between Institute investigators with counterparts from The Texas Medical Center (Baylor College of Medicine, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, and Houston Methodist Hospital), the University of Houston, and multiple medical facilities in Germany. Presentations also highlighted productive collaborations between Institute investigators and medical device companies.

Although the scope and specific focus of the projects varied widely, the common purpose of the work is clear: to ultimately expand treatment options and improve outcomes for patients receiving an organ transplant or mechanical circulatory support.

Presentations included updates on device development, including the preclinical evaluation of the BiVACOR total artificial heart, which has been designed and tested in collaboration with the mechanical circulatory support pioneers at The Institute. Similarly, investigators shared their preclinical evaluation of the VP.S ENCORE™ cardiac preservation device in collaboration with The Institute’s Center for Preclinical Surgical & Interventional Research.

Other Institute investigators analyzed the clinical utilization of approved support devices, including two studies on the use of Impella 5.0 and 5.5 devices in patients with cardiogenic shock. Patients receiving left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) were also a focus, with a study characterizing the use of continuous-flow LVADs in women with heart failure compared to men, and another examining the prevalence of genetic mutations in LVAD recipients with end-stage dilated nonischemic cardiomyopathy.

Lourdes Chacon-Alberty, MD, MCTM, presenting the results of one of the many collaborative projects she enabled. Dr. Chacon-Alberty also served as a Roving Reporter at ISHLT 2023.

Scientists from The Institute’s Regenerative Medicine Research Department and the Biorepository and Biospecimen Profiling Core Laboratory used their knowledge of cellular and molecular profiling approaches to advance multiple projects focused on various aspects of heart and lung transplantation.

With their clinical collaborators, they identified a variety of biomarker molecule groups—including some associated with exosomes—that may eventually be used to assess the suitability of donated organs for transplant, the kidney health of patients who have received an LVAD, and the risk of primary graft dysfunction in patients who received lungs subjected to portable normothermic ex-vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) before implantation, to name just a few of the areas of investigation presented.

Camila Hochman-Mendez, MSc, PhD, Assistant Director of Regenerative Medicine Research and Director of the Biorepository, emphasized the value of these multidisciplinary research efforts. “Our interdisciplinary approach to research at The Texas Heart Institute has allowed us to share cutting-edge advancements in the field of heart and lung transplantation and innovative therapies with the ISHLT community. Through our collaborative efforts with physicians, surgeons, and scientists, we are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the pursuit of improving outcomes for patients in need of organ transplant or mechanical circulatory support,” she said.

Lourdes Chacon-Alberty, MD, MCTM, Research Scientist in Regenerative Medicine and Assistant Director of the Biorepository, described her research emphasis and its motivation, sharing, “In collaboration with outstanding physicians and scientists from different institutions, our research group aims to develop novel approaches to improve organ preservation and recipients’ outcomes. We are especially focused on reducing ischemia-reperfusion injury and inflammatory response during mechanical circulatory support and after transplantation.”

In addition to presenting her collaborative work, Dr. Chacon-Alberty was honored to be one of eight professionals selected to provide recaps of the meeting. “During ISHLT 2023, I was honored to present some of our advancements in this effort and serve as one of the Roving Reporters covering some of the advanced lung failure and transplantation sessions,” she said.

Read the Abstracts

Temporal Changes in Myocardial Edema, Inflammation and Injury in Human Heart Donated after Circulatory Death: Impact of Warm Ischemia and Subsequent Cold Storage

N.K. Mondal, S. Li, A.E. Elsenousi, A. Mattar, H.K. Lamba, C. Hochman-Mendez, T. Rosengart, K.K. Liao. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2023 42:4 Supplement (S114). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2023.02.1536

Cardiac Mitochondrial Stress Burden and Impairment of Oxidative Phosphorylation are More Profound in Human Heart Donated after Circulatory Death Than Heart Donated after Brain Death

N.K. Mondal, S. Li, A.E. Elsenousi, A. Mattar, K.V. Nordick, H.K. Lamba, C. Hochman-Mendez, T. Rosengart, K.K. Liao. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2023 42:4 Supplement (S100-S101). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2023.02.1508

Preclinical Evaluation of the BiVACOR Total Artificial Heart

D.L. Timms, N. Greatrex, F. Nestler, E. Wu, M. Kleinheyer, W. Cohn, O. Frazier. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2023 42:4 Supplement (S66). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2023.02.143

Recipients of Extended Criteria Ex Situ Preserved Lungs Display Higher Plasma Levels of Cytokines and Endothelial Markers after Lung Transplantation Without Higher PGD Scores

J.F. Kuehne, K. Beushausen, J. Keil, B. Wiegmann, F. Ius, L. Chacon, C. Kuehn, M. Avsar, A. Haverich, G. Loor, G. Warnecke, C.S. Falk. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2023 42:4 Supplement (S539-S540). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2023.02.1474

R. Kanchi, L. Chacon, E. D’Silva, M. Salan-Gomez, A. Leon-Pena, M. Castillo, P. Gunaratne, C. Hochman-Mendez, C. Coarfa, G. Loor. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2023 42:4 Supplement (S179). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2023.02.1682

Investigating Genetic Variants in Patients with Left Ventricular Assist Devices for Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy

C. Scott, J. Posey, A. Butac, H. Lamba, S. Oberton, A. Shafii, K. Liao, G. Loor, J. George, L. Simpson, R. Delgado, A. Civitello, A. Nair. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2023 42:4 Supplement (S442). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2023.02.1234

Greater Burden of Biventricular Dysfunction in Female Recipients of Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Devices

H. Lamba, R. Kherallah, M. Kassi, R. Delgado, A. Mattar, A. Nair, S. Chatterjee, A. Shafii, G. Loor, J. Rogers, A. Civitello, K. Liao. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2023 42:4 Supplement (S50). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2023.02.108

Preclinical Evaluation of the VP.S ENCORE™ Cardiac Preservation Device

R. Veraza, K. Andrijauskaite, R. Lopez, I. Cano, E. Cisneros, I. Jessop, M. Watt, M. Morales Garza, A. Elgalad, L. Bunegin. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2023 42:4 Supplement (S379). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2023.02.885

Impact of Impella 5.0 and 5.5 Microaxillary Left Ventricular Mechanical Circulatory Support on Right Ventricular Hemodynamics

H. Lamba, H. Ali, M.E. Delgado, A. Shafii, S. Chatterjee, C. Walther, A. Nair, L. Simpson, K. Liao, A. Civitello. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2023 42:4 Supplement (S406-S407). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2023.02.1052

Extended Impella 5.0 and 5.5 Microaxillary Left Ventricular Mechanical Circulatory Support for Cardiogenic Shock

H. Lamba, H. Ali, M.E. Delgado, C. Walther, K. Nordick, A. Shafii, S. Chatterjee, A. Nair, L. Simpson, K. Liao, A. Civitello. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 2023 42:4 Supplement (S405-S406). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2023.02.1050

Photo Credit: Gabriel Loor, MD

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