Transplantation proceedings
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Case Reports
Successful Liver Transplantation From a Donor With a Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device for 9 Months.
Organ donor criteria continue to be extended in an attempt to meet growing demands. Patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices are one group of potential donors being considered. One concern with this group is the effect of continuous flow for a prolonged duration, as opposed to normal pulsatile flow, on end-organ function. ⋯ The transplantation was complicated by moderate acute cellular rejection as well as biliary obstruction requiring sphincterotomy and stent placement. After management of those complications, the patient's liver function tests returned to normal values and remained stable at her 6-month post-transplantation follow-up. This case shows that organ transplantation from a donor with a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device for a prolonged period can be performed successfully.
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Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the commonest infectious complication in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). No recommendations exist regarding treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria. We aimed to identify potential risk factors and microbiological profile for UTIs, the role of treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria, and effects on graft outcomes of bacteriuria within the first year post-transplantation. ⋯ Bacteriuria post-kidney transplantation is common, affecting nearly half of KTRs in the first year after transplantation. Treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria may be beneficial to prevent subsequent episodes of symptomatic UTIs.
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Various volatile anesthetics and ischemic preconditioning (IP) have been demonstrated to exert protective effect against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in liver. We aimed to determine whether application of IP under isoflurane and sevoflurane anesthesia would confer protection against hepatic I/R injury in rats. ⋯ The degree of hepatic I/R injury was significantly high in both isoflurane and sevoflurane groups in rats. However, application of IP significantly protected against I/R injury in both volatile anesthetic groups to similar degrees, and upregulation of Bcl-2 might be an important mechanism.
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A major reason for poor long-term kidney transplant outcomes is the development of chronic allograft injury, characterized by interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy. Currently, an invasive biopsy that samples only <1% of the kidney is the gold standard for detecting kidney allograft fibrosis. ⋯ The MRE whole-kidney stiffness values reflected the changes in fibrosis of the kidney allograft as assessed by histologic examination. To our knowledge, this technique is the first observation of change over time in MRE-derived whole-kidney stiffness in an allograft that is consistent with changes in histology-derived fibrosis scores in a single patient.
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Sensitization is associated with a high rate of post-transplantation rejection. A desensitization protocol using therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) was proposed to reduce anti-HLA antibody before transplantation, but there has been limited data regarding the efficacy of pretransplantation TPE in highly sensitized deceased-donor kidney transplantation (DDKT). ⋯ Desensitization with TPE is a reasonable alternative for highly sensitized DDKT. Patients who received pretransplantation TPE had a lower incidence of acute rejection compared to the group that did not receive TPE. However, pretransplantation TPE alone was not effective in the prevention of acute rejection in recipients with DSA.