JHLT: The Podcast

JHLT: The Podcast continues its exploration of recent consensus documents this month by discussing "Assessing and Addressing Frailty in Candidates for Lung Transplantation: An ISHLT Consensus Statement."

The statement appears online now at JHLT, and a helpful companion perspective piece from the authors can be read in your October print issue of the Journal.

Today's guests are project leads Michaela Anderson, MD, MS, of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and Jonathan Singer, MD, MS, of the University of California San Francisco.

In their discussion, they cover:

• What real-world teams want to know about frailty and how their document enhances clinical capacity
• How programs decide which tools to use to use to measure frailty—and which are most relevant to lung transplantation
• The importance of—and best timing for—universal assessment
• What's next in studying frailty

Stay up to date with official standards and guidelines documents from ISHLT at ISHLT.org. For the latest studies from JHLT, visit http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 https://www.jhltonline.org/.

Today, JHLT: The Podcast discusses the recent ISHLT consensus document "Baseline Lung Allograft Dysfunction: Definition, Timing, and Implications for Outcomes—An ISHLT Consensus Document."

Now available online at JHLT—and a helpful companion perspective piece from the authors appears in the print October issue of JHLT.

Today's guests are co-leads on the document, Jens Gottlieb, MD, of Hannover Medical School and Kieran Halloran, MD, MSc, of the University of Alberta.

They discuss:

• Why rapid increases in usage of "BLAD" in the literature meant it was time for a formal definition
• Major considerations and areas of debate during the writing process
• How clinicians should think about patients meeting the criteria for BLAD and how the evaluation of underlying etiologies took place
• Interpreting BLAD's potential relationship to CLAD

Stay up to date with official standards and guidelines documents from ISHLT at ISHLT.org. For the latest studies from JHLT, visit http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 https://www.jhltonline.org/.

In this episode, JHLT: The Podcast continues the Pulmonary Hypertension theme for the month, exploring the study "Long-Term outcomes of stent-based pulmonary angioplasty for isolated peripheral pulmonary artery stenosis," which appears in the September print issue of JHLT.

Today's guest is author Hiroto Shimokawahara, MD, of the Okayama Medical Center in Japan.

Dr. Shimokawahara's discussion with Digital Media Editor Van-Khue Ton covers:

• What the study contributes to the clinical literature with longer-term outcomes of stent-based pulmonary angioplasty in peripheral pulmonary artery stenosis (PPAS)
• How the diffuse nature of PPAS and the advanced stage of disease complicates treatment options
• The evolution of stent choices and technologies in the last 20 years of clinical practice at their center
• Ideal follow-up conditions for monitoring patients after PPAS stenting

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

Today, JHLT: The Podcast discusses "Long-term effects of medical therapy pre- and post-pulmonary endarterectomy—insights from the UK CURATE registry," a manuscript available online now and in the September print issue of JHLT.

Today's guest is first author Paula Appenzeller, MD, of the National Pulmonary Vascular Diseases Unit at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge.

In the episode, Dr. Appenzeller and the editors discuss:

• How findings from the UK CURATE registry challenge assumptions about pre-operative therapy in CTEPH
• What's important about the 6-minute walk distance test
• How hemodynamics help guide post-PEA treatment decisions
• If multimodal CTEPH treatment could become the norm

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

In this episode, JHLT: The Podcast explores the study "The ASSIST CLAD study: A phase 2 randomized controlled trial of mesenchymal stromal cells for new-onset chronic lung allograft dysfunction," which appears in the August print issue of JHLT.

Today's guest is Daniel C. Chambers, MBBS, MD, of The Prince Charles Hospital and Queensland Lung Transplant Service in Brisbane, Australia.

From across the dateline, he and Digital Media Editor Erika Lease discuss:

• What inspired the team to explore the use of mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) infusions in CLAD patients
• Preparation and treatment considerations for using MSCs
• How despite the negative outcome—the MSCs made no clear improvements in the patient groups—the study still pushes the field forward

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

Today, JHLT: The Podcast discusses "Improved outcomes and donor utilization in heart transplantation with 10 °C static cold storage," a manuscript available online now and in the August print issue of JHLT.

Today's guest is senior author John Trahanas, MD, of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, TN USA.

In the episode, Dr. Trahanas and the editors discuss:

• What was learned from the lung 10°C trials and how the team adapted the devices for hearts
• The improved outcomes in PGD and survivability observed in the 10°C group
• How to determine if switching from ice to 10°C actually changed donor selection practices—and how it enabled the team to use more hearts

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

In case you missed it, JHLT: The Podcast is re-releasing a past audience favorite for your listening pleasure. This month, we revisit a conversation regarding a study from the April 2025 issue of JHLT about the efficacy and safety of sotatercept in patients with PAH.

This conversation with Ioana Preston, MD, of the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, explores:

• What makes sotatercept unique as the first "biologic" in the treatment of PAH
• Hypotheses about the mechanism of action in sotatercept
• Sotatercept's interaction with mPAP and what it indicates about the drug's action on the pulmonary vasculature

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

JHLT: The Podcast returns for July with a paper entitled "Comparing DSA-negative and DSA-positive antibody-mediated rejection in heart transplants: Results from the Trifecta-Heart study," available online now and in the July print issue of JHLT.

Today's guests are first author Katelynn S. Madill-Thomsen, PhD and senior author Philip F. Halloran, MD, PhD, both from the Alberta Transplant Applied Genomics Center in Canada.

In the episode, the authors and editors discuss:

• Striking similarities—and key differences—in the DSA-negative and DSA-positive groups
• Changes to clinical practice based on the findings, including innovations from the kidney transplant community
• Future studies, including tools and therapies that could be explored for improved clinical outcomes

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

For the first time, JHLT: The Podcast welcomes a patient onto the podcast. The Digital Media Editors are pleased to welcome heart transplant recipient and patient advocate Payton Herres for a discussion about her recent perspective piece in JHLT.

In this compelling, moving discussion, Payton shares:

• Her treatment story—from her congenital diagnoses to her life-changing transplant—and her donor's story
• The difference between coverage and access—and how FDA labeling affected her access to an important component of her care
• What she wishes clinicians understood about long-term care of transplant patients

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

On JHLT: The Podcast, we kick off June with a paper entitled "Serial assessment of modified Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions SHOCK classification in post-cardiotomy patients," which is available online now and in the June issue of JHLT.

Today's guests are first author Ufuk Baldan, MD and senior author Patrick Klein, MD, PhD, both of the Amsterdam University Medical Center in the Netherlands.

We discuss:

• The heterogeneous nature of post-cardiotomy shock and challenges to treat
• Should serial assessments become standardized post-cardiac surgery?
• Does SCAI staging overestimate risk—and how do we interpret the stages we observe immediately post-op?
• What's next for this line of research?

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

On this special episode of JHLT: The Podcast, the Digital Media Editors take a look back at the exciting science that was on display at ISHLT2026, the ISHLT 46th Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions.

Topics include:

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning in transplantation, especially in assessing donor lungs and EVLP
• Cardiogenic Shock science at ISHLT2026, including a well-attended, all-new Academy
• The re-launch of the ISHLT International Thoracic Organ Transplant Registry, and the recent report in JHLT

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

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 http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 https://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 http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 https://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 http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 https://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 http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 https://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 http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 https://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 http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 https://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 http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 https://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 http://www.jhltonline.org/current, or, if you're an ISHLT member, access your Journal membership at https://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 https://www.jhltonline.org/.