ABSTRACT
Background: The Chilean allocation system for liver transplantation (LT) uses the MELD/PELD score to prioritize candidates on the waiting list. Aim: To assess if the Chilean allocation system for LT is equitable for pediatric candidates compared to their adult counterparts. Material and Methods: We used the Public Health Institute's registry between October 2011 and December 2017. We analyzed candidates with chronic hepatic diseases listed for LT. The primary outcome was the cadaveric liver transplantation (CLT) rate. Secondary outcomes were death or disease progression in the waiting list and living donor liver transplant (LDLT) rate. Results: We analyzed 122 pediatric and 735 adult candidates. Forty one percent of pediatric candidates obtained a CLT compared to 48% of adults (p = NS). Among patients aged under two years of age, the access to CLT on the waiting list there was 28% of CLT, compared to 48% in adults (p = 0.001). Fifty-seven percent of candidates aged under two years were listed for cholestatic diseases, obtaining a CLT in 18% and requiring a LDLT in 49%. The median time in the waiting list for CLT was 5.9 months in pediatric candidates and 5.1 in adults, while the median time to death in the waiting list was 2.8 and 5.6 months, respectively. The mortality rate at one year in candidates under two years old was 38.1% compared to 32.5% in adults. Conclusions: Pediatric candidates with chronic liver diseases, especially under two years of age, have greater access difficulties to CLT than adults. Half of the pediatric candidates die on the waiting list before three months. The mortality among candidates under two years of age in the waiting list is excessively high.
Subject(s)
Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Humans , Liver Transplantation , Liver Diseases , Severity of Illness Index , Chile/epidemiology , Waiting Lists , Living Donors , Liver Diseases/surgeryABSTRACT
Background: Pancreatic cancer is the tenth most prevalent cancer in world, and represents the fourth cause of cancer death. It has a five year-survival of 5%. Aim: To assess the prognostic value of PET/CT in pancreatic cancer. Material and Methods: Sixty-nine patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma who underwent staging 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT between December 2008 and July 2016 were selected. Gender, age, body-mass index, laboratory tests (Ca 19-9, hemoglobin, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, liver enzymes, lactate dehydrogenase), histological differentiation of tumor, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage, size and 18F-FDG uptake (maximal stan-dardized uptake value [SUVmax]) of the primary tumor, nodal involvement and distant metastasis detected by PET/CT were registered. Survival was assessed using Kaplan-Meier curves, Log Rank test and Cox multivariable analysis. Results: Mortality was 66.7%, during a mean observation time of 18 months (range 20 days-66 months). Curative surgery, lack of metastases detected by PET/CT, histologically well differentiated tumors, and SUVmax ≤ 4.3 were significantly associated with a better specific survival, determined by the Log Rank test. Histological differentiation was the only variable that had a statistically significant prognostic value in the multivariable analysis. Conclusions: The detection of distant metastases and the intensity of primary tumor 18F-FDG uptake during PET/CT provide useful prognostic information in pancreatic cancer patients.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Middle Aged , Aged , Pancreatic Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Adenocarcinoma/diagnostic imaging , Pancreatic Neoplasms/mortality , Pancreatic Neoplasms/pathology , Prognosis , Time Factors , Adenocarcinoma/mortality , Adenocarcinoma/pathology , Survival Analysis , Retrospective Studies , Follow-Up Studies , Radiopharmaceuticals/administration & dosage , Radiopharmaceuticals/pharmacokinetics , Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/administration & dosage , Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/pharmacokinetics , Tumor Burden , Neoplasm Grading , Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography/methodsABSTRACT
Background: Simultaneous kidney and páncreas transplantation (SKPT) is the best alternative for end stage renal disease among patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Aim: To report our experience with SKPT. Material andMethods: Retrospective analysis ofl2 recipients of SKPT transplanted in one center starting in 1994, with a meanfollow-upperiod of6.8years (2-15). Results: Eleven ofl2 recipients were in chronic hemodialysis before SKPT. Mean A, B, DR and HLA mismatch was 4.3. Mean preformed anti HLA antibodies was 3.3 percent. Mean cold ischemia times for páncreas and kidney were 6 and 10 hours, respectively. In the first eight cases, the páncreas was drained to the bladder, and in the last four, an enteric drainage was performed. Eleven recipients were induced with antibodies, and maintenance immunosuppression consisted ofCyclosporine or Tacrolimusplus an antiproliferative agent. Ten year patient survival was 70 percent. Páncreas and kidney survival, defined by insulin and dialysis independence, were 72 and 73 percent respectively. Fifty percent of recipients experienced acute graft rejection (cellular or humoral), with good response to treatment except in one case. Conclusions: This experience shows that SKPT is associated with an excellent patient survival associated to insulin and dialysis independence in 70 percent of patients at 10 years.
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/surgery , Kidney Failure, Chronic/surgery , Kidney Transplantation/mortality , Pancreas Transplantation/mortality , Chile , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/physiopathology , Epidemiologic Methods , Kidney Failure, Chronic/physiopathology , Kidney Transplantation/adverse effects , Pancreas Transplantation/adverse effects , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
We report the case of a 60 year old woman with multiple pancreatic nodules found on abdominal computed tomography. Thirteen years earlier she had undergone a left nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. The patient underwent surgery with a preoperative diagnosis of multifocal metastatic or neuroendocrine tumor. At surgery, two metastatic nodules of renal cell carcinoma were found and excised. After four years of follow up there is no evidence of recurrence.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Carcinoma, Renal Cell/secondary , Kidney Neoplasms/pathology , Pancreatic Neoplasms/secondary , Magnetic Resonance ImagingABSTRACT
We report a 33 year-old female with a diagnosis of halothane-induce fulminant hepatic failure who was subjected to a liver transplant with an ABO-incompatible graft. The patient received a therapeutic protocol that included total plasma exchange, splenectomy and quadruple immunosuppression. After 5 years, the patient remains asymptomatic and with normal liver enzymes, while she has been treated with low dose of immunosuppressive drugs. This case demonstrates an example of how the immunological process of accomodation opens the possibility of using ABO-incompatible organs as a definitive grafts.
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , ABO Blood-Group System/immunology , Blood Group Incompatibility/immunology , Graft Survival/immunology , Liver Failure, Acute/blood , Liver Transplantation , Liver Failure, Acute/surgery , Liver Transplantation/immunology , Liver Transplantation/methods , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
Although the use of cadaveric split or living donor liver transplantation is a valid option for liver transplants, they have several complications, being the "small-for-size syndrome" one of the most frequent. This entity is mainly due to the incapacity that the graft has to meet the blood drainage demands. We report a 61 year-old patient with sub-acute liver failure, transplanted with a partial liver graft that developed hyperbilirubinemia, ascites and liver function deterioration. A meso-caval shunt was performed, after which the ascites resolved, serum bilirubin normalized and the synthetic function of the liver improved. After one month, a follow-up CT seen showed the absence of blood flow in the shunt, possible due to the reduction of the hyper-perfusion of the liver. The clinical and biochemical condition of the patient continued improving despite the lack of flow through the shunt.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Hepatic Veins/surgery , Hyperbilirubinemia/surgery , Liver Transplantation/adverse effects , Anastomosis, Surgical/methods , Hepatic Veins/physiopathology , Hyperbilirubinemia/etiology , Liver Transplantation/methods , Regional Blood Flow/physiology , SyndromeABSTRACT
Liver transplantation is an excellent therapeutic option for terminal liver disease. During the last decades the results of liver transplantation have improved significantly with a patient survival rate of nearly 90 percent at one year and 80 percent at 5 years of follow-up. The main indications for liver transplantation include: end-stage liver disease associated to cirrhosis, acute liver failure, and hepatic tumors (mainly hepatocarcinoma). The absolute contraindications for a transplant are less frequent than in the past, and include: severe co-morbidity (cardiac or pulmonary), sepsis, advanced HIV disease and extra-hepatic malignancy. This document presents a Consensus of the main groups performing liver transplantation in Chile, about its indications and contraindications. It also reviews general aspects of liver transplantation, including the selection and referral of liver transplant candidates, allocation of organs and the evaluation of severity of liver disease.