Heart transplantation (HTx) has emerged as a pivotal intervention for end-stage heart failure, offering significant improvements in survival and quality of life. This manuscript elucidates the landscape of HTx across Latin America (LATAM) from its advent in 1968 through December 2022, shedding light on its evolution, current practices, and regional disparities.
We distributed a structured questionnaire to the national coordinators or representatives of the Interamerican Council of Heart Failure and Pulmonary Hypertension, collating responses from 20 LATAM nations. This approach facilitated a comprehensive aggregation of regional HTx data.
A total of 12,374 HTx were performed in 166 centers across 16 LATAM countries, with Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia accounting for the majority of procedures. Pediatric transplants represented 9% of the total caseload, and combined organ transplants were reported in 62.5% of the participating countries, underscoring the complexity and breadth of transplant services in the region.
Despite facing infrastructural and logistical challenges, LATAM has demonstrated a robust capacity to conduct high-complexity transplant procedures. The establishment of a structured, regional HTx registry is imperative to enhance data collection and analysis, which in turn can inform clinical decision-making and policy development, ultimately improving patient outcomes across the continent.
The study was conducted to determine the level of frailty, rational medication use, and adherence to immunosuppressive therapy in liver transplant patients and to examine the relationships among them.
The data of the descriptive cross-sectional study were collected between January 2023 and September 2023. Our study included 200 liver transplant recipients. In addition to demographic and medical characteristics, frailty status, rational drug use, and compliance with immunosuppressive therapy were measured in a 15–20 minute questionnaire administration period.
The frailty scores of liver transplant patients were 2.11 ± 1.34, rational drug use scores were 82.88 ± 13.11, and compliance with immunosuppressive therapy scores were 11.12 ± 1.07. The scores for rational drug use and adherence to immunosuppressive therapy were not affected by frailty status, and patients used drugs rationally and adhered to immunosuppressive therapy even when they were frail. It was found that the vulnerability status of the participants was affected by gender and occupational variables, most patients were in the vulnerable group in women and men, and those who did not work were more vulnerable than the other groups.
It was found that liver transplant patients were frail, and frailty did not affect the level of rational drug use and compliance with immunosuppressive therapy.
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a common hematological malignancy. Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) can significantly improve the prognosis of patients with MM, but a variety of complications may occur after transplantation. Retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF) is a rare cause of obstructive nephropathy. Because there are no specific symptoms at the time of onset and the course of the disease is often insidious, special laboratory and instrumental examination methods are usually needed to confirm the diagnosis. This article describes the clinical case of a 50-year-old female patient diagnosed with multiple myeloma. She developed postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) more than 20 days after transplantation and was subsequently diagnosed with retroperitoneal fibrosis. After multidisciplinary collaboration, early transurethral vesicoureteral stent placement was performed, the obstruction was relieved, and her renal function returned to normal. Reports of retroperitoneal fibrosis after multiple myeloma transplantation are relatively rare. This case report advances our understanding of these 2 diseases, and the correlation between MM and RPF warrants further exploration.
Reliable 24-hour preservation is required to optimize the rehabilitation potential of Ex Situ Lung Perfusion (ESLP). Other ESLP protocols include fresh perfusate replacement to counteract an accumulation of deleterious by-products. We describe the results of our reliable 24-hour negative pressure ventilation (NPV)-ESLP protocol with satisfactory acute post-transplant outcomes and investigate perfusate exchange (PE) as a modification to enhance prolonged ESLP.
Twelve pig lungs underwent 24 hours of NPV-ESLP using 1.5L of cellular perfusate (500 mL packed red blood cells and 1 L buffered perfusate). The Control (n = 6) had no PE; the PE (n = 6) had 500 mL replaced after 12 hours of NPV-ESLP with 1000 mL fresh perfusate. Three left lungs per group were transplanted.
Results are reported as Control vs PE (mean ± SEM). Both groups demonstrated stable and acceptable oxygenation during 24 hours of ESLP with final PF ratios of 527.5 ± 42.19 and 488.4 ± 35.38 (P = .25). Final compliance measurements were 20.52 ± 3.59 and 18.55 ± 2.91 (P = .34). There were no significant differences in pulmonary artery pressure after 24 hours of ESLP (10.02 ± 2.69 vs 14.34 ± 1.64, P = .10), and pulmonary vascular resistance only differed significantly at T12 (417.6 ± 53.06 vs 685.4 ± 81.19, P = .02). Percentage weight gain between groups was similar (24.32 ± 8.4 and 45.33 ± 7.76, P = .07). Post-transplant left lung oxygenation was excellent (327.3 ± 14.62 and 313.3 ± 15.38, P = .28). There was no significant difference in % weight gain of lungs post-transplant (22.20 ± 7.22 vs 14.36 ± 9.96, P = .28).
Acceptable lung function was maintained during 24-hour NPV-ESLP and post-transplant regardless of PE.
Myeloproliferative neoplasms can cause primary Budd-Chiari-Syndrome with acute or chronic liver failure necessitating liver transplantation. However, preventing the recurrence remains challenging and the need for post-transplant anticoagulant and cytoreductive treatment is not sufficiently clear. We analyzed the treatment regimens for all patients who presented to our department with PBCS from MPN between 2004 and 2021. Eight patients underwent liver transplantation - 6 of them due to an acute liver failure. Post-transplant, all patients received anticoagulant and 7 patients cytoreductive medication. The mean survival after transplantation was 13.25 years. Liver transplantation shows favorable long-term outcome when combined with post-transplant anticoagulant and cytoreductive treatment.
In lung transplant, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) contains a diagnosis of secondary pulmonary hypertension (SPH). SPH and pulmonary arterial hypertension are treated the same in the allocation scoring system. It is not clear whether utilizing the SPH diagnosis instead of the primary diagnosis is helpful to patients or providers.
Analysis of UNOS data from May 2005 through July 2021, comparing patients listed under the SPH diagnosis with patients listed under COPD and interstitial lung disease (ILD) who met criteria for PH (COPD-PH and ILD-PH, respectively), as well as patients listed under pulmonary arterial hypertension (primary pulmonary hypertension, PPH). Competing-risk analysis examined waitlist and post-transplant outcomes. An exploratory analysis of UNOS spirometry data was performed.
Compared to patients listed under the SPH diagnosis, patients with ILD-PH were more likely to undergo transplantation (adjusted HR: 1.34, 95% confidence interval: 1.16-1.54, P < .001), with no significant difference comparing the SPH diagnosis to PPH or to COPD-PH. Waitlist mortality did not vary between groups. Post-transplant survival was lower in patients with PPH (adjusted HR: 1.35, 95% confidence interval: 1.04-1.75, P = .025), with no significant difference comparing the SPH diagnosis to COPD-PH or ILD-PH. Spirometry failed to demonstrate a clear phenotype within the SPH diagnosis.
In an adjusted analysis, patients with advanced lung disease and secondary PH were more likely to undergo transplantation when listed for ILD than when listed under the SPH diagnosis. The SPH diagnosis is too clinically heterogeneous to be useful in predictive models and should be considered for removal from UNOS.