Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation最新文献

Purpose of review: Medical intestinal rehabilitation is a part of the very complex management of patients with intestinal failure. The goal is to achieve enteral autonomy and minimize need for parenteral nutrition and hydration. In this manuscript, we will review the strategies to achieve this goal with dietary optimization and pharmacologic interventions.

Recent findings: We will review the most updated recommendations on medical management of patients with intestinal failure.

Summary: Medical intestinal rehabilitation is just a portion of a multistep strategy that aims to minimize need of parenteral support in patients with intestinal failure, with the ultimate goal of achieving enteral autonomy. This needs to be done by a multidisciplinary team via dietary and pharmacologic optimization.

Purpose of review: This review will focus on the epidemiological data, risk factors, and management of stroke before and after kidney transplant. Stroke is highly prevalent in waitlisted patients as well as kidney transplant recipients and is associated with impaired transplant outcomes. Multiple traditional, nontraditional, and transplanted risk factors increase the risk of stroke.

Recent findings: Although the risk of stroke is reduced after kidney transplantation compared with remaining on dialysis, the morbidity and mortality from stroke after transplantation remain significant.

Summary: Early screening for risk factors before and after a kidney transplant and following the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) management guidelines could minimize the incidence of stroke and transplant outcomes.

Purpose of the review: This review describes the sex disparity in liver transplantation (LT) and explains its underlying causes.

Recent findings: There is a small but persistent sex disparity in transplant rate and waitlist mortality that disappears once women are listed as Status 1. Allocation systems that could replace the Model for End Stage Liver Disease (MELD)-Na with scores less reliant on serum creatine and muscle mass have the potential to alleviate part of the sex disparity. Women perform worse on frailty assessments and are more likely to have nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). A diagnosis of NASH is compounding risk factor for frailty.

Summary: Women remain disadvantaged in their access to LT despite multiple evolutions of the allocation system. An allocation system that relies less heavily on serum creatinine could partially alleviate the sex disparity. As NASH becomes more prevalent and frailty becomes more important in listing decisions, we may also need to carefully consider differences in the manifestations of frailty between the genders.

Purpose of review: As policies governing liver transplantation (LT) continue to change and influence clinical practice, it is important to monitor trends in equitable access and outcomes amongst patients. The purpose of this review is to closely examine recent advances and findings in health equity research in LT over the last 2 years; specifically evaluating inequities at the different stages of LT (referral, evaluation, listing, waitlist outcomes and post-LT outcomes).

Recent findings: Advancements in geospatial analysis have enabled investigators to identify and begin to study the role of community level factors (such as neighborhood poverty, increased community capital/urbanicity score) in driving LT disparities. There has also been a shift in investigating center specific characteristics that contributes to disparities in waitlist access. Modification to the current model for end stage liver disease (MELD) score policy accounting for height differences is also crucial to eradicating the disparity in LT amongst sexes. Lastly, Black pediatric patients have been shown to have higher rates of death and worse posttransplant outcome after transitioning to adult healthcare.

Summary: Although, there have been some advances in methodology and policies, inequities in waitlist access, waitlist outcomes and posttransplant outcomes continue to be pervasive in the field of LT. Future directions include expansion of social determinants of health measures, inclusion of multicenter designs, MELD score modification and investigation into drivers of worse posttransplant outcomes in Black patients.

Purpose of review: Kidney transplantation in low-weight recipients (<15 kg) is a challenging surgery with special characteristics. We proposed to perform a systematic review to determine the postoperative complication rate and the type of complications after kidney transplantation in low-weight recipients (<15 kg). The secondary objectives were to determine graft survival, functional outcomes, and patient survival after kidney transplantation in low-weight recipients.

Methods: A systematic review was performed according to preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Medline and Embase databases were searched to identify all studies reporting outcomes on kidney transplantation in low-weight recipients (<15 kg).

Results: A total of 1254 patients in 23 studies were included. The median postoperative complications rate was 20.0%, while 87.5% of those were major complications (Clavien ≥3). Further, urological and vascular complications rates were 6.3% (2.0-11.9) and 5.0% (3.0-10.0), whereas the rate of venous thrombosis ranged from 0 to 5.6%. Median 10-year graft and patient survival were 76 and 91.0%.

Summary: Kidney transplantation in low-weight recipients is a challenging procedure complicated by a high rate of morbidity. Finally, pediatric kidney transplantation should be performed in centers with expertise and multidisciplinary pediatric teams.

Purpose of review: To summarize the current state of liver transplantation (LT) for unresectable colorectal liver metastases (uCRLM), and to address future directions.

Recent findings: The Norwegian secondary cancer (SECA) I and SECA II studies demonstrated that after LT the 5-year survival of a highly selected group of patients with uCRLM could be as high as 60% and 83%, respectively. After long-term follow-up, the 5- and 10-year survival was shown to be 43% and 26%, respectively. Furthermore, data has accumulated in other countries and a North American study reported a 1.5-year survival of 100%. In addition, steady growth has been demonstrated in the US, with 46 patients transplanted to date and 19 centers enrolling patients for this indication. Lastly, although recurrence is almost universal in patients with a high tumor burden, it has not been an accurate surrogate for survival, reflecting the relatively indolent nature of recurrence after LT.

Summary: Growing evidence has shown that excellent survival and even cure can be achieved in highly selected patients with uCRLM, with survival rates far superior than in patients treated with chemotherapy. The next step is to create national registries to standardize selection criteria and establish the optimal approach and best practices for incorporating LT for uCRLM into the treatment armamentarium.

Purpose of review: Pregnancy in solid organ transplantation (SOT) is a very complex part of transplant medicine wherein there is scarce information available in the literature. Solid organ transplant recipients often have comorbidities, such as hypertension and diabetes, which add additional risk to a pregnancy.

Recent findings: We present this review article on the various aspects of different types of immunosuppressant medications used in pregnancy with added inputs on contraception and fertility after transplant. We described the antepartum and postpartum considerations and discussed the adverse effects of the immunosuppressive medications. Maternal and fetal complications of each SOT have been also discussed in this article.

Summary: This article will serve as the primary review articles for the use of immunosuppressive medications during pregnancy with consideration during pregnancy after SOT.

Purpose of review: With the inherent therapeutic limitations of gut transplantation, the concept of surgical gut rehabilitation was introduced to restore nutritional autonomy in pediatric patients. With favorable outcomes in these young patients, there has been increasing interest in the applicability of gut rehabilitative surgery to a growing population of adults with gut failure due to various etiologies. We aim to review the current status of surgical gut rehabilitation for adult gut failure patients in the era of multidisciplinary gut rehabilitation and transplantation.

Recent findings: Indications for surgical gut rehabilitation have been gradually expanding, with gut failure after bariatric surgery recently added. Serial transverse enteroplasty (STEP) has been used with favorable outcomes in adult patients, including those with intrinsic intestinal disease. Autologous gut reconstruction (AGR) is the most frequently used surgical rehabilitative method; its outcome is further improved with conjunctive use of bowel lengthening and enterocyte growth factor as a part of comprehensive gut rehabilitation.

Summary: Accumulated experiences have validated the efficacy of gut rehabilitation for survival, nutritional autonomy, and quality of life in adults with gut failure of various etiology. Further progress is expected with growing experience around the world.