Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.2
2.9
Journals
JCM
Special Issues
Risk Prediction in Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) and Cardiac Transplantation
jcm-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for JCM Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Risk Prediction in Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) and Cardiac Transplantation

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Cardiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 915

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Nandini Nair

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Milton S Hershey Medical Center, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Interests: heart transplantation; heart failure; mechanical circulatory support
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advanced heart failure therapies such as mechanical circulatory support and cardiac transplantation have evolved in the last few decades to become the standard of care for end-stage heart failure. The development of anti-rejection drugs and therapies has led to the establishment of heart transplantation as a treatment for advanced heart failure. This has also led to better outcomes and a prolonged survival of the allografts. Mechanical circulatory support rose to prominence in the setting of donor organ shortage. Currently, the 2-year survival of patients on a durable left ventricular assist device is similar to that of cardiac allograft recipients.

This Special Issue is dedicated to the use of risk stratification strategies to improve patient selection and outcomes. We encourage the submission of papers that address innovative technologies in risk stratification, the identification of risk factors, and risk modeling to improve all aspects of advanced heart failure care.

Prof. Dr. Nandini Nair
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • advanced heart failure
  • mechanical circulatory support (MCS)
  • cardiac transplantation
  • heart transplantation
  • risk prediction

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 1095 KB  
Article
Prognostic Significance of Albumin in Modern Left Ventricular Assist Device Therapy: Relevance in the HeartMate 3 Era?
by Roxana Moayedifar, Muhammed Celik, Barbara Karner, Anne-Kristin Schaefer, Hebe Al Asadi, Christiane Marko, Lukas Ruoff, Daniel Zimpfer, Julia Riebandt and Thomas Schlöglhofer
J. Clin. Med. 2025, 14(17), 6193; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14176193 - 2 Sep 2025
Viewed by 646
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Preoperative hypoalbuminemia is a known risk factor for adverse outcomes in cardiac surgery, but its role in patients undergoing HeartMate 3 (HM3) left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is unclear. This study evaluated the association between albumin levels and postoperative outcomes, [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Preoperative hypoalbuminemia is a known risk factor for adverse outcomes in cardiac surgery, but its role in patients undergoing HeartMate 3 (HM3) left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is unclear. This study evaluated the association between albumin levels and postoperative outcomes, aiming to define a clinically meaningful cut-off for risk stratification. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 205 adult patients who underwent HM3 implantation at a single center from June 2014 to December 2023. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis identified an optimal pre-implant albumin cut-off of <32 g/L. This threshold, derived using the maximal Youden Index, provided a sensitivity of 52.1%, specificity of 71.6%, and an AUC of 0.64 (95% CI 0.56–0.71), with internal bootstrapping validation confirming model stability, and calibration demonstrating good agreement between predicted and observed outcomes. Kaplan–Meier analysis assessed freedom from hemocompatibility-related adverse events (HRAEs) and survival. Cox proportional hazards models evaluated albumin and other variables as independent risk factors for HRAEs. Results: Patients with pre-implant albumin <32 g/L had higher rates of HRAEs, including stroke (24.9% vs. 8.4%, p = 0.004) and bleeding (38.1% vs. 23.2%, p = 0.012). Freedom from HRAEs was significantly lower in the hypoalbuminemia group (45.2% vs. 69.8%, p < 0.001) and competing risk-adjusted cumulative incidence for HRAE was higher, but did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.11), one-year HRAE-free survival was also reduced (68.5% vs. 85.7%, p = 0.03). In multivariable analysis, low albumin (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.33–0.93, p = 0.026) and temporary right ventricular assist device (RVAD) support (HR 3.32, 95% CI 2.05–5.39, p < 0.001) were independent predictors of HRAEs. Conclusions: Low preoperative albumin is independently associated with increased HRAEs and reduced one-year survival after HM3 implantation. Compared with the traditional 35 g/L threshold, the ROC-derived 32 g/L cut-off offered superior balance between sensitivity and specificity, underscoring its clinical utility. Albumin may serve as a simple, pragmatic, and cost-effective biomarker for preoperative risk assessment and optimization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Risk Prediction in Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) and Cardiac Transplantation)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-1
Back to TopTop