The Longnus Lab is investigating on the pathophysiology of acute cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury and cardioprotection in the context of DCD (donation after circulatory death) heart transplantation. These are the key interests of the lab:
Influence of pre-ischemic conditions on post-ischemic recovery
Conditions surrounding circulatory arrest can affect the quality of cardiac DCD grafts. We are specifically interested in how systemic and metabolic changes influence graft quality.
Tolerance of cardiac DCD grafts to warm ischemia
Prolonged ischemia leads to myocardial tissue damage, but the heart is able to withstand a limited period of ischemia. Our team is interested in the metabolic, mitochondrial and vascular ischemic tolerance of DCD cardiac grafts.
Evaluation of DCD grafts
As DCD cardiac grafts undergo an inevitable period of warm ischemia, it is critical to safely determine the cardiac damage / function after ischemia in order to predict graft suitability for transplantation and post-transplant function. We aim to establish suitable means to predict cardiac recovery of DCD grafts.
Cardioprotection
As reperfusion of a cardiac DCD graft at procurement is a modifiable, scheduled intervention, it provides an opportunity to modulate reperfusion conditions to promote optimal post-ischemic recovery. Our aim is to find suitable cardioprotective strategies to improve post-ischemic recovery.
