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Mid East Info
31-07-2025
- Health
- Mid East Info
Mayo Clinic discovery could mean better access to more donor hearts and improved transplant outcomes - Middle East Business News and Information
Dubai, United Arab Emirates; July 2025 — A new discovery by Mayo Clinic researchers could mean more donor hearts are available for heart transplant, giving more people a second chance at life. In findings published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, a team led by Mayo Clinic cardiac surgeon Paul Tang, M.D., Ph.D., identified a biological process that contributes to donor heart injury during cold storage. The researchers found that a drug already used to treat heart conditions can prevent this damage. Heart transplantation is the most effective treatment for end-stage heart failure, yet fewer than half of donor hearts are ultimately used. One major reason is the relatively short window for transplanting a donated heart into a patient, due to concerns over low donor heart function that comes from leaving a heart in cold storage too long. Why donor hearts deteriorate in cold storage: Although cold storage slows metabolism and helps preserve tissue, prolonged exposure to cold storage conditions can lead to molecular changes that compromise how well the heart performs after transplant. One complication is called primary graft dysfunction, in which the transplanted heart cannot pump blood effectively after surgery. This may affect up to 20% of recipients to varying degrees. To investigate why this damage occurs, the researchers focused on a protein inside heart cells called the mineralocorticoid receptor, which plays a role in how cells respond to stress. During cold storage, they found that this protein undergoes a process in which the protein clumps together in a way that harms the heart cells, called liquid-liquid phase separation. This process promotes cardiac damage from increased inflammation and cell death, making the heart less likely to function well after transplant. Preventing damage with a common drug: To test whether the process could be prevented, the researchers treated donor hearts with a drug called canrenone, which blocks mineralocorticoid receptor activity. In human donor hearts stored beyond the typical timeframe, treatment with the drug nearly tripled their pumping strength compared to hearts stored without it. The hearts also showed better blood flow and fewer signs of cell injury. The findings suggest canrenone may help extend the safe storage period for donor hearts by improving the heart's pumping strength to increase chances of a successful transplant. 'As a cardiovascular surgeon, I've personally experienced in the operating room how every additional hour of preservation can impact the likelihood of whether a donor heart can return to normal function after transplantation,' Dr. Tang says. 'This discovery may give us a new tool to preserve heart function for longer during storage, improve transplant outcomes and enhance patient access to lifesaving transplants.' The study's findings also have the potential to improve the preservation of other transplantable organs. Similar protein clustering was observed in donor kidneys, lungs and livers during cold storage. This suggests that the same strategy may help expand transplant options across multiple organ systems.
Zawya
31-07-2025
- Health
- Zawya
Mayo Clinic discovery could mean better access to more donor hearts and improved transplant outcomes
Dubai, United Arab Emirates — A new discovery by Mayo Clinic researchers could mean more donor hearts are available for heart transplant, giving more people a second chance at life. In findings published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, a team led by Mayo Clinic cardiac surgeon Paul Tang, M.D., Ph.D., identified a biological process that contributes to donor heart injury during cold storage. The researchers found that a drug already used to treat heart conditions can prevent this damage. Heart transplantation is the most effective treatment for end-stage heart failure, yet fewer than half of donor hearts are ultimately used. One major reason is the relatively short window for transplanting a donated heart into a patient, due to concerns over low donor heart function that comes from leaving a heart in cold storage too long. Why donor hearts deteriorate in cold storage Although cold storage slows metabolism and helps preserve tissue, prolonged exposure to cold storage conditions can lead to molecular changes that compromise how well the heart performs after transplant. One complication is called primary graft dysfunction, in which the transplanted heart cannot pump blood effectively after surgery. This may affect up to 20% of recipients to varying degrees. To investigate why this damage occurs, the researchers focused on a protein inside heart cells called the mineralocorticoid receptor, which plays a role in how cells respond to stress. During cold storage, they found that this protein undergoes a process in which the protein clumps together in a way that harms the heart cells, called liquid-liquid phase separation. This process promotes cardiac damage from increased inflammation and cell death, making the heart less likely to function well after transplant. Preventing damage with a common drug To test whether the process could be prevented, the researchers treated donor hearts with a drug called canrenone, which blocks mineralocorticoid receptor activity. In human donor hearts stored beyond the typical timeframe, treatment with the drug nearly tripled their pumping strength compared to hearts stored without it. The hearts also showed better blood flow and fewer signs of cell injury. The findings suggest canrenone may help extend the safe storage period for donor hearts by improving the heart's pumping strength to increase chances of a successful transplant. "As a cardiovascular surgeon, I've personally experienced in the operating room how every additional hour of preservation can impact the likelihood of whether a donor heart can return to normal function after transplantation," Dr. Tang says. "This discovery may give us a new tool to preserve heart function for longer during storage, improve transplant outcomes and enhance patient access to lifesaving transplants." The study's findings also have the potential to improve the preservation of other transplantable organs. Similar protein clustering was observed in donor kidneys, lungs and livers during cold storage. This suggests that the same strategy may help expand transplant options across multiple organ systems.
The Star
04-07-2025
- Health
- The Star
U.S. researchers develop AI model improving sudden cardiac death prediction
LOS ANGELES, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) model that significantly outperforms current clinical guidelines in identifying patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death, according to a newly published study. The AI system, known as Multimodal AI for ventricular Arrhythmia Risk Stratification (MAARS), integrates cardiac MRI images with a wide range of patient health records to detect hidden warning signs, offering a new level of precision in cardiovascular risk prediction. The study, published this week in Nature Cardiovascular Research, focused on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, one of the most common inherited heart conditions and a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young people. "Currently we have patients dying in the prime of their life because they aren't protected and others who are putting up with defibrillators for the rest of their lives with no benefit," said senior author Natalia Trayanova, a researcher focused on using AI in cardiology. "We have the ability to predict with very high accuracy whether a patient is at very high risk for sudden cardiac death or not." Clinical guidelines used in the United States and Europe currently have an estimated accuracy of only 50 percent in identifying at-risk patients. In contrast, the MAARS model demonstrated an overall accuracy of 89 percent, and 93 percent for patients aged 40 to 60 -- the group at the greatest risk. The AI model analyzes contrast-enhanced MRI scans for patterns of heart scarring -- something that physicians have traditionally found difficult to interpret. By applying deep learning to this previously underused data, the model identifies key predictors of sudden cardiac death. "Our study demonstrates that the AI model significantly enhances our ability to predict those at highest risk compared to our current algorithms and thus has the power to transform clinical care," said co-author Jonathan Chrispin, a Johns Hopkins cardiologist. The team plans to further test the new model on more patients and expand the new algorithm to use with other types of heart diseases, including cardiac sarcoidosis and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.
Medscape
03-07-2025
- Health
- Medscape
This Model Beats Docs at Predicting Sudden Cardiac Arrest
An artificial intelligence (AI) model has performed dramatically better than doctors using the latest clinical guidelines to predict the risk for sudden cardiac arrest in people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The model, called Multimodal AI for ventricular Arrhythmia Risk Stratification (MAARS), is described in a paper published online on July 2 in Nature Cardiovascular Research . It predicts patients' risk by analyzing a variety of medical data and records such as echocardiogram and radiology reports, as well as all the information contained in contrast-enhanced MRI (CMR) images of the patient's heart. Natalia Trayanova, PhD, director of the Alliance for Cardiovascular Diagnostic and Treatment Innovation at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, led the development of the model. She said that while hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is one of the most common inherited heart diseases, affecting 1 in every 200-500 individuals worldwide, and is a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young people and athletes, an individual's risk for cardiac arrest remains difficult to predict. Current clinical guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, and those from the European Society of Cardiology, identify the patients who go on to experience cardiac arrest in about half of cases. 'The clinical guidelines are extremely inaccurate, little better than throwing dice,' Trayanova, who is also the Murray B. Sachs Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins, told Medscape Medical News . Compared to the guidelines, MAARS was nearly twice as sensitive, achieving 89% accuracy across all patients and 93% accuracy for those 40-60 years old, the group of people with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy most at risk for sudden cardiac death. Building a Model MAARS was trained on data from 553 patients in The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy registry. The researchers then tested the algorithm on an independent external cohort of 286 patients from the Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute hypertrophic cardiomyopathy registry in Charlotte, North Carolina. The model uses all of the data available from these patients, drawing on electronic health records, ECG readings, reports from radiologists and imaging technicians, and raw data from CMR. 'All these different channels are fed into this multimodal AI predictor, which fuses it together and comes up with the risk for these particular patients,' Trayanova said. The inclusion of CMR data is particularly important, she said, because the imaging test can identify areas of scarring on the heart that characterize hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. But clinicians have yet to be able to make much use of those images because linking the fairly random patterns of scar tissue to clinical outcomes has been a challenge. But that is just the sort of task that deep neural networks are particularly well-suited to tackle. 'They can recognize patterns in the data that humans miss, then analyze and combine them with the other inputs into a single prediction,' Trayanova said. Clinical Benefits Better predictions of the risk for serious adverse outcomes will help improve care, by ensuring people get the right treatments to reduce their risk, and avoid the ones that are unnecessary, Trayanova said The best way to protect against sudden cardiac arrest is with an implantable defibrillator — but the procedure carries potential risks that are best avoided unless truly needed. 'More accurate risk prediction means fewer patients might undergo unnecessary ICD implantation, which carries risks such as infections, device malfunction, and inappropriate shocks,' said Antonis Armoundas, PhD, from the Cardiovascular Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The model could also help personalize treatment for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Trayanova said. 'It's able to drill down into each patient and predict which parameters are the most important to help influence the management of the condition,' she said. Robert Avram, MD, MSc, a cardiologist at the Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, said the results are encouraging. 'I'm especially interested in how a tool like this could streamline risk stratification and ultimately improve patient outcomes,' he said. But it is not yet ready for widespread use in the clinic. 'Before it can be adopted in routine care, however, we'll need rigorous external validation across diverse institutions, harmonized variable definitions, and unified extraction pipelines for each modality, along with clear regulatory and workflow-integration strategies,' Avram said. Armoundas said he would like to see the model tested on larger sample sizes, with greater diversity in healthcare settings, geographical regions, and demographics, as well as prospective, randomized studies and comparisons against other AI predictive models. 'Further validation in larger cohorts and assessment over longer follow-up periods are necessary for its full clinical integration,' he said. Armoundas, Avram, and Trayanova reported having no relevant financial conflicts of interest.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
THIS natural supplement can prevent a transplant in heart failure cases
Researchers at Osaka University discovered that tricaprin, a natural supplement, significantly improves survival rates in patients with triglyceride deposit cardiomyovasculopathy (TGCV), a rare heart disease. The study revealed that tricaprin not only alleviated symptoms but also improved heart muscle function and reversed structural damage. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally. These diseases claim an estimated 17.9 million lives each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In many extreme cases, such as heart failure , a transplant is the only option. Considering it is a serious surgery and comes at a high cost, it often puts the patients in great financial stress. However, researchers have now found that simply taking a supplement might be all that is needed for certain patients with heart failure to recover. Yes, that's right, no surgery required. The researchers from Osaka University found that a natural supplement can significantly improve the survival in patients with a rare heart disease . The study, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research , found that tricaprin , a natural dietary supplement, can improve long-term survival and recovery from heart failure in patients with triglyceride deposit cardiomyovasculopathy (TGCV). Operation Sindoor Operation Sindoor: India deploys warships forward as situation at LoC explodes Air siren warning sounded in Chandigarh, Ambala residents advised to stay indoors L-70 guns, Schilka, S-400: Weapons India used to intercept Pak drones What is TGCV? Triglyceride deposit cardiomyovasculopathy (TGCV) is a rare cardiovascular disorder. This new type of heart disease is primarily reported in patients carrying certain genetic mutations. It results from an impaired ability of the heart and smooth muscle cells to break down triglycerides, which are a type of fat. Triglyceride accumulation in cells causes structural and functional damage in the heart and blood vessels. This leads to clogged arteries and weakened heart muscles, which may cause debilitating symptoms and eventually heart failure, which requires a heart transplant . The tricaprin supplement, however, could be a breakthrough to treat this without a transplant. Through a series of experiments, researchers have figured out how to diagnose the disease and developed a treatment that improves both disease symptoms and prognosis. 'Our previous research on the effect of tricaprin on patients with TGCV was very promising, but this time we decided to study how long the positive effects of the drug held up,' lead author of the study Ken-ichi Hirano said in a statement. For this, the researchers analyzed data from 22 patients across 12 hospitals who were treated with tricaprin and compared them with 190 untreated patients. To ensure accuracy, 81 of the control patients were matched with the treated group based on similar health profiles. Millena Brandão's Mystery Illness Turns Fatal; Child Star Dies After Multiple Heart Attacks 'Not only did the positive effects on patient symptoms continue, but the function of the heart muscle improved and the structural changes that had developed were reversed as well,' Ken-ichi Hirano, the principal investigator for the Japan TGCV study group, said. All the patients initially had heart failure, but those treated with tricaprin had much better 3 and 5-year survival rates (both 100%) than the control group (78.6% and 68.1%). Several patients who had positive effects with tricaprin were on hemodialysis. These patients have a very poor prognosis without tricaprin. 'Spreading awareness of this disease to achieve early diagnosis and treatment offers patients the best chance for recovery,' Ken-ichi Hirano asserted. The study is based on the data from Japanese patients, and the researchers are planning to carry it out in those from other ethnicities in the next step. Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
