Vega Emory

Adult immunization coverage remains low in the US, particularly for people who use drugs (PWUD), a population that experiences a disproportionate burden of vaccine-preventable diseases. The extent of and characteristics associated with vaccine confidence (VC) held by PWUD is poorly understood. As VC strongly correlates with vaccine uptake, this cross-sectional study identifies mutable factors associated with VC and quantifies its relationship to immunization status within a highly vulnerable, underimmunized population of PWUD...

BACKGROUND: Caregiver support is considered necessary after heart transplant (HT) and left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for patients with end-stage heart failure (HF). Few studies have demonstrated how caregivers differ by gender and race, and whether that impacts therapy eligibility. METHODS: We examined caregiver relationships among 674 patients (32% women, 55% Black) evaluated at Emory University from 2011 to 2017. Therapy readiness was assessed using the Stanford Integrated Assessment for Transplant (SIPAT)...

The 2018 Revised UNOS Heart Allocation System (HAS) was proposed to re-classify status 1A candidates into groups of decreasing acuity, however, does not take into account factors such as body mass index(BMI) and blood group which influence waitlist(WL) outcomes. We sought to validate patient prioritization in the new HAS at our center. We retrospectively evaluated patients listed for HT (n=214) at Emory University Hospital from 2011-17. Patients were re-classified into the 6-tier HAS. Multi-state modeling and competing risks analysis were used to compare outcomes of transplantation and WL death/deterioration between new tiers...

BACKGROUND: Despite improvements in outcomes after heart transplantation, black recipients have worse survival compared with non-black recipients. The source of such disparate outcomes remains largely unknown. We hypothesize that a propensity to generate de-novo donor-specific antibodies (dnDSA) and subsequent antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) may account for racial differences in sub-optimal outcomes after heart transplant. In this study we aimed to determine the role of dnDSA and AMR in racial disparities in post-transplant outcomes...

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BACKGROUND: The impact of the degree of renal dysfunction (RD) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) ranging from normal to dialysis-dependence is not well defined. METHODS: A retrospective review of 14,199 patients undergoing isolated, primary CABG from January 1996 to May 2009 at Emory Healthcare was performed. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was estimated by the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formula: mild RD (eGFR 60 to 90 mL/min/1...

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to assess short-term and long-term outcomes after valve replacement with biologic or mechanical prostheses in patients with preoperative end-stage renal disease on chronic dialysis. METHODS: A retrospective review of patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing valve replacement from January 1996 through March 2008 at Emory Healthcare Hospitals was performed. Outcomes were compared using χ(2) tests and 2-sample t tests...

BACKGROUND: Race has been shown to be an independent risk factor for operative mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This study sought to determine the extent to which race is a risk factor for adverse events, long-term mortality, and whether off-pump surgery (OPCAB) modifies that risk. METHODS AND RESULTS: The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Database at Emory Healthcare affiliated hospitals was queried for all primary isolated CABG records from 1997 to 2007...

BACKGROUND: With the recent advent of percutaneous valve therapy, an increased need for the evaluation of outcomes after open aortic valve replacement (AVR) in elderly patients is warranted. This study compares the short- and long-term survival outcomes of octogenarians after AVR with younger age groups in the modern surgical era. METHODS: A retrospective review was performed on patients who underwent isolated, primary AVR from 1996 to 2006 at the Emory Healthcare Hospitals...

Bioinformatics and Genomics are closely related disciplines that hold great promises for the advancement of research and development in complex biomedical systems, as well as public health, drug design, comparative genomics, personalized medicine and so on. Research and development in these two important areas are impacting the science and technology.High throughput sequencing and molecular imaging technologies marked the beginning of a new era for modern translational medicine and personalized healthcare. The impact of having the human sequence and personalized digital images in hand has also created tremendous demands of developing powerful supercomputing, statistical learning and artificial intelligence approaches to handle the massive bioinformatics and personalized healthcare data, which will obviously have a profound effect on how biomedical research will be conducted toward the improvement of human health and prolonging of human life in the future...