Attitude and approach of people who live in southeastern Anatolia region on tissue and organ transplantation.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes and the approach of the people living in the southeastern anatolia region and the impact of the lack of education on them. MEASUREMENTS: We used questionnaires consisting of 15 questions that were given to 145 people to be completed in 2 hours. The questionnaire assessed their knowledge, attitudes, and awareness of organ donation. RESULTS: We asked whether they were well-informed about organ donation; 50% did not feel well-informed. CONCLUSIONS: These data confirm the great lack of knowledge about organ donation in the southeastern anatolia region.

The assessment of long-term clinic and laboratory data of living related kidney donors.

Living-donor kidney transplantations are more common in Turkey. The present study, therefore, investigated the structural changes in the remaining kidney and their impacts on the outcomes of 71 donors who underwent nephrectomy. Among 123 screened living-donor transplantations performed between 2001 and 2008, information was available on 71. The study group included 37 female and 34 male donors with ages ranging between 20 and 68 years (mean, 45 ± 9 years). The donors had a median follow-up of 7.2 years. We investigated renal function and creatinine clearance as well as the presence of proteinuria and/or hypertension before versus after nephrectomy. Healthy individuals referred to our blood center were included as the control group. A comparison of pre- versus post-nephrectomy with control group data did not show any significant correlations between serum creatinine levels, creatinine clearances, and the presence of proteinuria relative to post-donation years. In contrast, we identified an increased prevalence of hypertension: Stage 1 in 4 patients before versus 22 subjects after nephrectomy. A key finding of this study was the slight increase in the number of hypertensive donors. Hypertension is, therefore, the most critical parameter to monitor donors in countries with a high proportion of living donors.

Evaluation of efficacy and safety of mycophenolate sodium in patients with de novo and maintenance renal transplantation: results of a multicenter, prospective, observational study.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the effect of enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium (EC-MPS) on patient and graft survivals, the incidence of rejection episodes, and graft function among de novo and maintenance renal transplant recipients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This open label, multicenter, prospective, post-marketing observational study of 470 renal transplantation patients at 23 centers in Turkey includes 331 de novo patients whose mean age was 29.6 ± 13.2 years and 139 maintenance patients of 34.0 ± 13.0 years. The latter subjects had EC-MPS substituted for mycophenolate mofetil or added to the immunosuppressive therapy. Patients were followed for 12 months to evaluate graft function and treatment failure. RESULTS: The most common primary disease requiring transplantation was glomerulonephritis (24.3%). De novo and maintenance groups were similar in terms of overall rejection rates and acute rejection incidence whereas chronic rejection was evident only among the latter cohort (P < 0.001). Time to an acute rejection episode was significantly longer among maintenance rather than de novo patients (220.8 versus 18.7 months; P = 0.015). Overall, 12 and 36 month survival rates were 91.6 ± 1.3% and 86.9% ± 0.3% among subjects experiencing acute rejection versus 99.7 ± 0.2% and 50.3% for those displaying chronic rejection. Among maintenance group no deterioration of renal function was observed after conversion from mycophenolate mofetil to EC-MPS. The incidences of leukopenia, new-onset anemia, or liver dysfunction were similar between de novo and maintenance patients. Gastrointestinal discomfort was more prevalent among the maintenance group, reaching a significant level at the fourth visit (P < 0.05). EC-MPS dose reduction was required in only 16.7% of patients at visit, it was more frequent among the de novo group (17.9 versus 13.8%). CONCLUSION: EC-MPS was an effective adjunctive therapy for de novo as well as maintenance renal transplant recipients in the Turkish population due to a relatively low incidence of dose reductions necessitated by adverse events as well as with an increased likelihood of long-term graft survival.

Ureterovesical malignancy following renal transplantation: a case report.

We present a case of ureterovesical stenosis that developed in 2 of 203 renal transplant patients operated between 1997 and 2005 in our department. In the current case, an ureterovesical region tumor was identified 1.5 years after renal transplantation, while being operated for the correction of ureterovesical stenosis. This report sought to remind physicians about the possibility of a malignancy in patients with ureterovesical stenosis following renal transplantation.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy for renal transplants.

The diagnosis and management of cholelithiasis in renal transplant patients are subjects of debate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in renal transplant patients with symptomatic gallstone disease. The records of 155 kidney transplant patients were reviewed, including 16 patients who, underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Shortest interval time between transplantation and cholecystectomy was 2 years. Surgical morbidity were seen in two patients (12.5%) with no mortality and no graft loss. In conclusion, laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed safely with low morbidity in renal transplant patients who have symptomatic gallstone disease. The morbidity rate is comparable to nontransplant patients.

Bovine and PTFE vascular graft results in hemodialysis patients.

Purpose. There are many reports of patency periods, failure rates, thrombosis and infection attacks connected with vascular grafts. In this article, the results of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and Bovine grafts were compared in a forty-four month period. Methods. 61 vascular grafts (29 PTFE, 32 bovine) were placed in 49 patients. The grafts were compared in different ways, such as survival, complication rates and placement area using life survey analysis. Results. Mean survival time was 17 mo (SE +/- 2.8) for PTFE grafts and 11 mo (SE +/- 1.1) for bovine grafts. A failure rate of 34% due only to graft complications were found in PTFE and 25% in bovine grafts. All graft complications were seen in the first year. Comparison of the cumulative survival rates of the groups were found to be insignificant during the study period and the first year ( p>0.05). Regardless of the type, there was no signif-icant difference between the grafts placed in the forearm and the grafts in the thigh (p>0.05). Conclusions. There is no survival difference between PTFE and bovine grafts. First year of the grafts is important for developing complications.