Salvage of Pancreas Transplant After Successful Splenic Artery Thrombectomy.

Primary nonfunction due to thrombosis after pancreas transplant is still the leading cause of nonimmunologic graft failure. Early identification of pancreatic graft arterial thrombus and prompt surgical intervention are effective for rescue of graft perfusion and its associated complications. Here, we report a case of successful surgical thrombectomy of the splenic artery, with particular emphasis on clinical presentation, diagnosis, and surgical technique.

Consequences of Recipient Obesity on Postoperative Outcomes in a Renal Transplant: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of obesity is increasing rapidly and globally, yet systemic reviews on this topic are scarce. Our meta-analysis and systemic review aimed to assess how obesity affects 5 postoperative outcomes: biopsy-proven acute rejection, patient death, allograft loss, type 2 diabetes mellitus after transplant, and delayed graft function. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated peer-reviewed literature from 22 medical databases. Studies were included if they were conducted in accordance with the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology criteria, only examined postoperative outcomes in adult patients, only examined the relation between recipient obesity at time of transplant and our 5 postoperative outcomes, and had a minimum score of > 5 stars on the Newcastle-Ottawa scale for nonrandomized studies. Reliable conclusions were ensured by having our studies examined against 2 internationally known scoring systems. Obesity was defined in accordance with the World Health Organization as having a body mass index of > 30 kg/m(2). All obese recipients were compared versus "healthy" recipients (body mass index of 18.5-24.9 kg/m(2)). Hazard ratios were calculated for biopsy-proven acute rejection, patient death, allograft loss, and type 2 diabetes mellitus after transplant. An odds ratio was calculated for delayed graft function. RESULTS: We assessed 21 retrospective observational studies in our meta-analysis (N = 241 381 patients). In obese transplant recipients, hazard ratios were 1.51 (95% confidence interval, 1.24-1.78) for presence of biopsy-proven acute rejection, 1.19 (95% confidence interval, 1.10-1.31) for patient death, 1.54 (95% confidence interval, 1.38-1.68) for allograft loss, and 1.01 (95% confidence interval, 0.98-1.07) for development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The odds ratio for delayed graft function was 1.81 (95% confidence interval, 1.51-2.13). CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis clearly demonstrated greater risks for obese renal transplant recipients and poorer postoperative outcomes with obesity. We confidently recommend renal transplant candidates seek medically supervised weight loss before transplant.

Rescue of Transplanted Kidney Thanks to an Implantable Doppler Probe: Is This the Future?

Observing graft blood supply post kidney transplantation is essential. Compromised graft perfusion must be identified without delay to preserve organ survival. Implantable probes have revolutionised the graft monitoring process in kidney transplantation leading to safe, continuous, and distinct monitoring of blood supply. The Implantable Cook-Swartz Doppler Flow Monitoring System allows immediate salvaging of a compressed kidney. The implantable Doppler probe can easily and effectively identify such cases and save the limited number of organs that are available to today's patients.

Salvage of a Live-Related Transplant Kidney Using an Interposition Polytetrafluoroethylene Vascular Graft: A Unique Case.

We describe a case of polytetrafluoroethylene vascular graft interposition between the internal iliac artery and the renal artery in a live-related kidney transplant. To the best of our knowledge, we present the first case in the literature that describes the salvage of a transplant kidney using this technique.

Transplantation: a brief history.

Developments in transplantation have progressed dramatically over the past century. Current research is underway to optimize immune modulation, genetically engineering animals for xenografting, and breakthroughs are occurring in regenerative medicine. However, pioneering live-donor transplantation has transformed transplantation in the organ shortage, and these contribute an increased proportion of transplanted organs. Live-donor transplantation is associated with better long-term outcomes, and techniques to recover organs have become less invasive. We set out to examine the evolution of transplantation from its historic beginnings to the developments that make it successful today.

Pregnancy in pancreas-kidney transplant recipients: report of three cases and review of the literature.

Seventy-three pregnancies in 43 women with SPK have now been described by the US National Transplantation Pregnancy Registry (NTPR) (established in 1991), which contains self-reported data from questionnaires and hospital records. These women have high rates of complications despite normoglycaemia and restoration of renal function. We describe the pregnancies of three SPK recipients in the UK managed in joint renal obstetric clinics and discuss the antenatal and postnatal complications specific to SPK transplants.

End-stage vascular access: direct intra-atrial insertion of a dialysis catheter.

Central venous occlusions are a frequent problem in hemodialysis patients. We describe the case of a patient with end-stage vascular access in whom we successfully inserted a direct intra-atrial dialysis line during coronary artery bypass grafting. This technique could be a significant contribution to patients in whom alternative vascular access options are exhausted.

Relationship between vessel size and vascular access patency based on preoperatively ultrasound Doppler.

Vascular access is a critical issue in the management of patients with end-stage renal failure and is the leading cause of hospitalization in this group of patients. The object of this study was to find out whether it would be possible to predict vascular access patency rates based on preoperative Doppler assessment of vessel size. Furthermore, this study sought to define the relationship between access flow rate and access patency. This was a prospective cohort conducted at St. Mary Hospital, London, between 2002 and 2005, where a group of 83 patients who underwent venous and arterial Doppler prior to creation of arteriovenous access underwent regular postoperative assessment at 3-month intervals of their access using flow rate and usability of the access as outcome measures. The collected data showed a positive correlation between vein size and access patency rate. Preoperative vein diameters of 1.5-3.9 mm showed a patency rate of 71.08% at follow-up at 13.8 months (range, 12-42 months). Although large-sized vessels are correlated with long-term patency, smaller vein diameters (1.5-2 mm) were found to have an acceptable patency rate at 20% over 12 months. Furthermore, data indicated a positive correlation between access flow rate and access patency, with flow rates of above 700 ml/min being associated with a patency rate of 70% at 12-month follow-up.

Justifying a third pancreas transplant: a case report.

Early pancreas graft failure after simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant can occur in up to 20% of recipients. Results after pancreas retransplant continue to improve, with results comparable to primary pancreas transplants. We describe an unusual case of a third pancreas transplant in which a remnant of a previous arterial Y-graft was used for the arterial anastomosis, and we discuss the factors used to justify the decision to do a third pancreas transplant.

Autogenous brachio-cephalic arterio-venousautogenous brachio-cephalic arterio-venous fistulae: effect of age, diabetes,fistulae: effect of age, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and anticoagulation on theatherosclerosis, and anticoagulation on the long-term outcomelong-term outcome.

Age, diabetes, and generalized atherosclerosis are thought to be limiting factors forAge, diabetes, and generalized atherosclerosis are thought to be limiting factors for creating an autogenous arterio-venous fistula (AVF) unlike the use of anticoagulants. Wecreating an autogenous arterio-venous fistula (AVF) unlike the use of anticoagulants. We retrospectively assessed the effect of these factors on the outcome of 75 autogenousretrospectively assessed the effect of these factors on the outcome of 75 autogenous brachio-cephalic AVFs created between January 1, 2002 and August 31, 2005. Differentbrachio-cephalic AVFs created between January 1, 2002 and August 31, 2005. Different groups of patients were compared and the longevity of the AVFs was calculated. Fifty-twogroups of patients were compared and the longevity of the AVFs was calculated. Fifty-two percent of the patients were >65 years old, 41.3% werepercent of the patients were >65 years old, 41.3% were diabetic, 48% were arteriopaths,diabetic, 48% were arteriopaths, and 41.3% were not using anticoagulants. The maximum follow-up was 35 months (mean,and 41.3% were not using anticoagulants. The maximum follow-up was 35 months (mean, 11.2 +/- 10.3 months; median, 7 months). The success rate of the operation was 93.3% (mean 11.2 +/- 10.3 months; median, 7 months). The success rate of the operation was 93.3% (70 patent AVFs); 79.3% of the AVFs were functioning at 35 months. Age >65 years old,patent AVFs); 79.3% of the AVFs were functioning at 35 months. Age >65 years old, diabetes, generalized atherosclerosis, and the lack of use of anticoagulants were notdiabetes, generalized atherosclerosis, and the lack of use of anticoagulants were not associated with an increased rate of technical failures or a decreased long-term patencyassociated with an increased rate of technical failures or a decreased long-term patency rate of the AVFs.rate of the AVFs.

Uterine allotranspiantation in the rabbit model using a macrovascular patch technique.

The uterus and its blood supply en bloc were successfully harvested with an aortic-caval macrovascular patch in animal and human cadaveric models. The objective of this study was to assess the technical feasibility of uterine allotransplantation in the rabbit. Six uterine allotransplants were performed. This involved harvesting the uterine allograft with an aortic-caval vascular patch en bloc in the donor. After 1 hour of cold ischemic storage, the uterine allograft was transplanted to the recipient using an aortic-aortal cava-caval end to side anastomosis. Our 6 rabbit recipients surgically survived the procedure. After postmortem and histological analyses in the short term, all of the uteri appeared viable with no evidence of graft vessel thromboses. Postoperative complications included limb paraplegia, pulmonary emboli, and intraperitoneal hemorrhage. The feasibility of uterine allotransplantation using a macrovascular patch, in anatomical and surgical terms, has been proven. Further research will lead to a successful program of fertility restoration.

Quiescent interplay between inducible nitric oxide synthase and tumor necrosis factor-alpha: influence on transplant graft vasculopathy in renal allograft dysfunction.

A healthy endothelium is essential for vascular homeostasis, and preservation of endothelial cell function is critical for maintaining transplant allograft function. Damage to the microvascular endothelial cells is now regarded as a characteristic feature of acute vascular rejection, an important predictor of graft loss. It is also linked with transplant vasculopathy, often associated with chronic allograft nephropathy. Large bursts of nitric oxide in infiltrating monocytes/macrophages modulated by inducible nitric oxide synthase are considered pivotal in driving this mechanism. Indeed, it has been shown recently that increased circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in the rejecting kidneys are largely responsible for triggering inducible nitric oxide synthase expression. This in turn suggests that several structural and functional features of graft rejection could be mediated by tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Despite the large body of evidence that supports immunologic involvement, knowledge concerning the cellular and biochemical mechanisms for nephritic cell dysfunction and death is incomplete. The role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in mediating pathophysiological activity of inducible nitric oxide synthase during transplant vasculopathy remains contentious. Here, we discuss the effect of inducible nitric oxide synthase and tumor necrosis factor-alpha interaction on progressive damage to glomerular and vascular structures during renal allograft rejection. Selective inhibition of inducible nitrous oxide synthase and tumor necrosis factor-alpha as a potential therapy for ameliorating endothelial dysfunction and transplant graft vasculopathy is also discussed.

Graft pancreatitis: literature review.

Graft pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease leading to autodigestion of the gland. The failure of the pancreatic graft can be attributed to immunological or nonimmunological causes. It consists of a premature activation of pancreatic proenzymes. When complications such as bleeding or leaks have already occurred, surgical correction should be considered. The aim of this review is to draw the attention of surgeons to the complications that can easily be avoided.

Acute renal failure in patients with ischemic heart disease: causes and novel approaches in breaking the cycle of self-perpetuating insults abrogated by surgery.

At present, there seems to be diametrically opposing views on the causes of acute renal insufficiency in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD) elective for cardiac revascularization. In this review, we examined recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of acute renal failure in patients with IHD and surgery-induced acute phase reaction. Emphasis is given to the cellular and molecular mechanisms that contribute to the initiation and progression of inflammation. We evaluated the different pharmacological, technical, and surgical strategies used to improve the outcome of patients with IHD with impaired renal dysfunction and analyzed the influence of renal insufficiency on long-term results after surgery.