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Heart to Heart Mission

For more than 20 years, the IPA has performed life-saving heart surgery on over 400 patients in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

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Ecuador Mission

The IPA is working with Harvard / MGH to expand their heart surgery mission program in Ecuador. We have a mission trip planned for October 2026. Stay tuned for more information.

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Your Mission Trip

The IPA will gladly make donations to qualified charitable organizations who perform cardiac surgery mission work for patients in need.

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700+ Patients

Help Mend a Heart!

Every member of our team is an unpaid volunteer, so please take comfort in knowing that 100% of all donated funds go directly to patient care. Your generosity is so very welcome and will help save lives!
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— Latest News —

Impella vs VA-ECMO in Cardiogenic Shock

Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VA-ECMO) Versus Impella for Cardiogenic Shock: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 observational studies (5,364 patients) compared Impella and VA-ECMO for cardiogenic shock. No significant difference in short-term mortality was found (RR 0.92). However, Impella was associated with lower risks of stroke, major bleeding, and limb ischemia. Evidence certainty was very low due to confounding bias. Device selection should be individualized pending randomized trials.

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February 24, 2026
Comparing Myocardial Protection Strategies in Heart Transplantation

Long-Term Outcome of Myocardial Protection in Heart Transplantation: Comparison Among 3 Different Solutions 

This 20-year single-center study of 528 heart transplant recipients compared three preservation solutions: Celsior, HTK-Custodiol, and St Thomas. HTK-Custodiol was associated with a significantly higher rate of severe primary graft dysfunction (10.2% vs 4.5%), but long-term survival and rejection rates were similar across groups. Severe PGD, ischemic time, and donor/recipient age predicted late mortality. Authors advise caution with HTK-Custodiol.

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February 23, 2026
Expanding the Donor Pool: Rethinking Time to Death in DCD Liver Transplantation

Donor Time to Death and DCD Liver Transplant Outcomes: Challenging the Dogma That Shorter Is Better

This large UNOS registry study of 8,489 DCD liver transplants (2010–2024) found that shorter donor time to death (TTD) was associated with worse graft survival, while prolonged TTD did not negatively impact outcomes—even without normothermic regional perfusion (NRP). Despite this, liver utilization declined sharply after 15 minutes of TTD. Simulation modeling showed that avoiding TTD-based decline could increase utilization by 17%, potentially adding hundreds of safe transplants.

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February 23, 2026
Elective ECMO Lung Transplant

Elective Use of Intraoperative Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Patients With Pulmonary Fibrosis Reduces Primary Graft Dysfunction After Bilateral Lung Transplantation

This single-center retrospective study evaluated 422 pulmonary fibrosis patients undergoing bilateral lung transplantation between 2012 and 2025. After adopting a more liberal elective intraoperative veno-arterial ECMO strategy in 2020, the incidence of severe primary graft dysfunction (PGD grade 3 at 72 hours) significantly decreased. Elective ECMO use was associated with shorter ventilation times, reduced dialysis rates, and a trend toward improved one-year graft survival without increasing major vascular complications.

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February 23, 2026
AI-Powered ECMO Digital Twin in Virtual Reality Training

Building an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Digital Twin Using High-Resolution Patient Data: An Artificial Intelligence Model for Virtual Reality Simulation 

In this multicentre study of 335 ECMO patients, high-resolution device and electronic health record data were integrated to develop a two-stage artificial intelligence model capable of simulating ECMO circuit behavior and patient physiological responses. The digital twin was deployed in a virtual reality platform with real-time inference. Expert evaluation confirmed clinically coherent responses, supporting scalable, high-fidelity ECMO training without dedicated hardware.

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February 22, 2026
Optimizing Oxygen During Bypass

Indexed Delivery of Oxygen Predicts In-Hospital Mortality and Morbidity in Reoperative Adult Cardiac Surgery Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study 

This retrospective cohort study of 343 reoperative cardiac surgery patients found that low indexed oxygen delivery (DO₂i) during cardiopulmonary bypass independently predicted in-hospital mortality and major morbidity. A median DO₂i below 289 mL/min/m² was associated with a fourfold increase in mortality risk, higher rates of acute kidney injury, cardiac complications, and prolonged ventilation. Optimizing intraoperative oxygen delivery may improve outcomes in this high-risk population.

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February 20, 2026
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