Transplantation Reports最新文献

Although the incidence of acute antibody mediated rejection in liver transplantation is low, the consequences of acute antibody mediated rejection can be devastating, often leading to severe fibrotic changes and early graft loss. Conventional treatment modalities for management of moderate-to-severe acute antibody mediated rejection in liver transplant continue to rely on of corticosteroids, plasmapheresis, and intravenous immunoglobulin. However, management of refractory, severe antibody mediated rejection remains without a clear gold-standard approach. This case report describes successful first use of Imlifidase, an Ig-G degrading enzyme, for management of acute refractory antibody mediated rejection following orthotopic liver transplant. This 41-year-old woman developed acute antibody meditated rejection and donor specific antibodies within two weeks of undergoing an A2 to O liver transplant. Following unsuccessful treatment with conventional modalities, treatment with Imlifidase resulted in normalization of liver function, resolution of antibody mediated rejection on surveillance biopsy, and disappearance of donor specific antibodies. Imlifidase could represent a promising treatment for refractory antibody mediated rejection in liver transplantation and warrants further study.

Over the past half a century, kidney transplants have increased significantly and more patients that are elderly are receiving kidney transplants. As a result, the eligibility of patients with prostate cancer who wish to receive a kidney transplant has become a significant issue facing the transplant community. Many questions have arisen because prostate cancer is an extremely variable disease that many times do not harm the patients but at other times, can cause the death of the patient.

If a patient has prostate cancer, should he be allowed to receive a kidney transplant? Should he receive the transplant after treatment for prostate cancer or without such treatment? How should the transplant community determine his eligibility? Most agree that those with high-risk prostate cancer should be treated first and have a waiting period prior to kidney transplant. Almost all low-risk prostate cancer patients are candidates for active surveillance. More and more urologists are doing active surveillance for favorable intermediate risk prostate cancer patients. We believe that all patients who are reasonable candidates for active surveillance based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines for prostate cancer are reasonable candidates for kidney transplant without treatment for prostate cancer. We recommend using a combination of shared-decision making that involves prostate cancer risk-stratification as well as adjunctive tests such as imaging with multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) and genomic testing such as Decipher, Oncotype DX or Polaris, in order to inform whether or not patients with prostate cancer can receive a kidney transplant without treatment for prostate cancer.

Aim

Our objective was to report the outcomes of ABO-incompatible (ABOi) transplants and seek solutions to pretransplant desensitization, peri and postoperative bleeding events, acute rejection and infection-related mortality.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 247 consecutive ABOi kidney transplantations at our center from June 2012 to March 2020. The primary outcomes were patient, graft, and death-censored graft survival over 5 years.

Results

A total of 31 patients received thymoglobulin and 216 patients received basiliximab induction. Patient survival rates with basiliximab induction at 1, 3, and 5 years were 97.8%, 93.5%, and 93.5%, respectively; corresponding graft survival rates were 95.1%, 86.6%, and 85.2%, respectively. Overall, biopsy-proven acute rejection occurred in 11.7% recipients; primarily due to antibody-mediated rejections. Cumulative incidence of graft loss was 7.5% at 5 years and overall incidence of death was 6.07%.

Conclusion

Replacement of filtered plasma by donor group fresh frozen plasma rather than albumin reduced bleeding, IVIG administration, number of plasmapheresis sessions and the need for filters. Thymoglobulin avoidance decreased acute rejection rates. Rapid reduction and lower doses of prednisolone and MMF reduced infectious complications. These steps can help reduce rejection rates, complications and cost (up to USD 7000) comparable to ABO compatible transplantation in other centers as well.

As organ donation under DBD donors has reached a plateau in developed transplantation countries in Europe and the United States, organ donation after DCD donors has been actively promoted. This has led to the introduction of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) after cardiac arrest and withdrawal from life support when the patient is incapable of recovery, enabling the removal and transplantation of multiple organs after cardiac arrest. In Japan, these efforts have not been implemented, and only kidneys have been transplanted from DCD donors after spontaneous cardiac arrest. In addition, the revision of the Organ Transplant Law to allow organ donation under brain death with only family approval has drastically reduced the number of DCD donors. In Japan, efforts are underway to introduce ECMO and to wean patients off life support systems so that multi-organ donation after cardiac arrest will be possible as in Europe and the United States.

The global organ transplant activity remains satisfying less than 10% of the total number of patients in the waiting list. Brain dead donors and living donors have been the most common source of organs used worldwide. Nevertheless, as part of the different measures and policies implemented to increase donation, the use of donors after cardio-circulatory death (DCD), has been propitiated and expanded in the last couple of years. In Europe and North America, DCD programs had increased the number of available donors in up to 30%; but in many countries, the absence of DCD is mainly due to the lack of laws to legislate the process. We aim to report here the result of legal, ethical, procurement and specific organ working groups which met to assess the current regulatory framework, to evaluate the preliminary local experiences; and to produce a document to inform physicians and the community the current status of this program in our country.

Argentina, a pioneer country in procurement and donation has the regulatory and ethical frameworks to enable the transparent use and access to DCDs’, as well as its implantation for organs and tissues in the whole country. In spite of a very preliminary experience, we are proud to present that the process for using DCD has already started. But this novel process requires to be well understood and perceived by the general public and medical community. Education becomes essential.

Background

Long term outcomes in transplant recipients experiencing recurrent focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) remains poor. Despite early treatment, more than half lose their graft. The aims of this study were to evaluate treatment patterns, outcomes and to evaluate for predictors of treatment failure in recurrent FSGS.

Methods

This was a single center retrospective observational study. Between 1/2014 and 8/2019, 1860 kidney transplantations were performed at UCLA, 100 of which had end stage renal disease due to biopsy-proven FSGS. Comparative statistics were obtained and a multivariate analysis for graft outcomes in patients with recurrence was constructed. The primary outcomes were recurrent FSGS, allograft failure and pheresis dependence.

Results

Twenty-six of the 100recipients experienced FSGS recurrence. Patients with recurrence were younger (34.3 vs. 44.9, p = 0.001) and more likely to have had native nephrectomy (27% vs. 3%, p = 0.001). Gender, race, comorbidities, donor type, previous transplants and rates of rejection were similar between the recurrence and non-recurrence groups. Most patients received plasmapheresis (n = 24) with or without rituximab (11 vs. 13) which allowed for recovery of graft function in 18 patients (75%). Those experiencing a complete recovery required a median of 9 pheresis sessions, while those with graft failure (n = 3) or who became plasmapheresis-dependent (n = 5) required a median of 59 and 158 sessions, respectively. A multivariate analysis was constructed and no additional predictors of graft failure were encountered.

Conclusions

Patients with recurrent FSGS whoexperienced remissiondid so following a short course of plasmapheresis. The patients whose recurrence never resolved or who lost their graft underwent much longer courses of plasmapheresis. If this pattern of early durable response is validated in larger studies, there may be a future when transplant teams discuss the possibility of re-gifting based on treatment response to plasmapheresis following recurrence.

Background

Modern advancements have made organ transplantation an increasingly viable option for patients with organ failure. The resulting increases in patients awaiting transplant has resulted in significant morbidity and mortality due to increasing waiting time for transplant. The use of Donation after Circulatory Determination of Death (DCD) organ donors has been the most successful avenue to address the increased need for organ allografts. This review provides a brief history of DCD organ donation in the United States as represented by the experience of the Houston-based LifeGift Organ Procurement Organization (OPO).

Methods

Organ donation data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) and OPO specific data to include all available DCD donors for LifeGift were obtained for analysis. Trends in DCD donation were analyzed in the context of United Network for Organ Sharing policy.

Results

By the end of 2021 20% of organs donated in the United States were from DCD donors, in a steadily increasing trend since the mid-1990′s. Metrics utilized by UNOS to monitor organ donation rates and OPO performance do not clearly capture potential DCD donors. Individual OPOs have varying success in utilization of DCD donors, with OPOs like LifeGift focusing on increased DCD utilization.

Conclusion

DCD utilization remains the most successful avenue for increasing the deceased donor organ pool in the United States. Increased utilization of DCD organs by transplant centers and focused efforts by OPOs to promote DCD donation can improve the organ shortage nationally. Improved clarity in UNOS metrics can further facilitate OPO performance evaluation and promote further DCD donation in the United States.

How to translate basic research on surveillances for post organs transplantation facilitates the development of new laboratory tools for clinical application. Here, we provide the pertinent guide on how to analyze laboratory data in order to help clinicians to accurately determine the status of allograft in the recipient. We begin by discussing the molecular and cellular events that lead to allograft rejection across innate and adaptive immune responses. We focus on the allograft injury events that occur around the time of transplantation as well as molecular activities that ensue long before observable microscopic abnormalities are evident in biopsied samples. Then, we introduce and comment on new technologies involved in rejection detection from a practical point of view. This review outlines the current diagnostic development, describes unmet needs and challenges, and proposes new approaches for future directions.

After advancement of technical aspects, use of well-established and novel immunosuppressive therapies, and better pre and postoperative care, which resulted in high overall survival rates with liver transplantation, waiting list mortality has become the main issue for pediatric patients with end stage liver disease. Insufficient organ donors have become a challenging issue especially in the pediatric patient population, for whom size match of donor or graft is harder to achieve. In order to expand the donor pool and decrease the gap between the demand and supply of donor organs, use of donation after circulatory death (DCD) donors have been proportionally increased. In this chapter we aim to discuss current practices, issues and outcomes with DCD in pediatric liver transplantation, as well as future strategies for improvement of results.