An estimated 3 million individuals in the U.S. live with a condition called atrial fibrillation, or AFib, with some estimates projecting that number being closer to 6 million when taking unknown and undiagnosed cases into account.
Baylor Scott & White Research Institute (BSWRI) is well known for its diverse research portfolio. The program actively maintains nearly 2,000 active and enrolling projects across more than 50 medical specialties each year, including initiatives supported by its translational research program. The program is focused on driving innovation by working with clinical teams across the Baylor Scott & White Health System to develop new medicines and diagnostic tests. The translational research team’s approach to discovery of “bench-to-bedside- and- back-to-bench” allows BSWRI to continue to be a major contributor to advancements in medical science.
In 2018, the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) implemented a new allocation system for donor hearts with extended geographical sharing. The new system places patients in new medical urgency status classifications – Adult Status 1 through 6 – with specific status qualification criteria at listing.
A revolutionary new organ preservation system allows transplant programs to travel farther distances to procure donor hearts and provides the ability to better assess potential donor hearts that have borderline function. Approved by the FDA for use with donor hearts within the last 12 months, the organ care system is a portable, warm perfusion and monitoring system designed to keep a donor heart in a beating, human-like, metabolically active state.
Over the last several years, the new lung allocation system has resulted in broader, more equitable sharing of organs across the United States. At some individual transplant centers, this means wait times and the level of illness of patients on the waitlist are increasing.
The lung transplant team at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas (Baylor Dallas), part of Baylor Scott & White Health, is evaluating and testing two new preservation and transport technologies for donor lungs. The goal of both technologies is to improve the method by which organs are preserved after procurement until they get to the recipient.
Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, part of Baylor Scott & White Health, is currently enrolling patients in ENDCOV-I: The Study of the Use of Nintedanib in Slowing Lung Disease in Patients with Fibrotic or Non-Fibrotic Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Related to COVID-19. Baylor Dallas is one of seven trial sites throughout the United States.
