Outcomes in AB0 Incompatible Living Donor Kidney Transplantation: A Case - Control Study.

Background: Patients waiting for a kidney transplant by far exceed available organs. AB0 incompatible living donor kidney transplantation (AB0i LDKT) represents an additional therapeutic strategy, but with higher risk for complications. We aimed at evaluating outcomes of AB0i LDKTs compared to compatible (AB0c) controls at our Institution. Methods: Retrospective matched case - control study (1:2) comparing AB0i vs. AB0c LDKTs from March 2012 to September 2021. Considered outcomes: graft function, acute rejection, sepsis, CMV infection, BK virus reactivation, death-censored graft survival, patient survival. Results: Seventeen AB0i LDKTs matched to 34 AB0c controls. We found excellent graft function, comparable in the two groups, at all considered intervals, with an eGFR (ml/min/1.73 m2) of 67 vs. 66 at 1 year (p = 0.41), 63 vs. 64 at 3 years (p = 0.53). AB0i recipients had a statistically significant higher incidence of acute rejection, acute antibody-mediated rejection and sepsis within 30 days (p = 0.016; p = 0.02; p = 0.001), 1 year (p = 0.012; p = 0.02; p = 0.0004) and 3 years (p = 0.004; p = 0.006; p = 0.012) after surgery. There was no difference in CMV infection, BK virus reactivation, death-censored graft survival between the two groups. Patient survival was inferior in AB0i group at 1 and 3 years (88.2 vs. 100%; log-rank p = 0.03) due to early death for opportunistic infections. AB0i LDKTs spent longer time on dialysis (p = 0.04) and 82.3 vs. 38.3% controls had blood group 0 (p = 0.003). Conclusions: AB0i LDKT is an effective therapeutic strategy with graft function and survival comparable to AB0c LDKTs, despite higher rates of acute rejection and sepsis. It is an additional opportunity for patients with less chances of being transplanted, as blood group 0 individuals.

Kidney transplantation from living donor with monolateral renal artery fibromuscular dysplasia using a cryopreserved iliac graft for arterial reconstruction: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Aging and mortality of patients on waiting lists for kidney transplantation have increased, as a result of the shortage of organs available all over the world. Living donor grafts represent a significant source to maintain the donor pool, and resorting successfully to allografts with arterial disease has become a necessity. The incidence of renal artery fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) in potential living renal donors is reported to be 2-6%, and up to 4% of them present concurrent extra-renal involvement. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of renal transplantation using a kidney from a living donor with monolateral FMD. Resection of the affected arterial segment and its subsequent replacement with a cryopreserved iliac artery graft from a deceased donor were performed. No intraoperative nor post-operative complications were reported. The allograft function promptly resumed, with satisfying creatinine clearance, and adequate patency of the vascular anastomoses was detected by Doppler ultrasounds. CONCLUSION: Literature lacks clear guidelines on the eligibility of potential living renal donors with asymptomatic FMD. Preliminary assessment of the FMD living donor should always rule out any extra-renal involvement. Whenever possible, resection and reconstruction of the affected arterial segment should be taken into consideration as this condition may progress after implantation.

Mortality from cancer is not increased in elderly kidney transplant recipients compared to the general population: a competing risk analysis.

BACKGROUND: The impact of cancer on death of elderly kidney transplant recipients has been extensively investigated, but with conflicting results. Unlike their younger counterparts, in elderly kidney transplant recipients cardiovascular and infectious disease may outweigh cancer in causing the patient's death. METHODS: Using competing risk analysis on a large retrospective cohort of kidney transplant recipients, we estimated the cause-specific cumulative incidence and hazard of death in different age categories and calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) to compare mortality rates with the general population. RESULTS: Six thousand seven hundred eighty-nine kidney transplant recipients were followed-up for a median of 9 years. Ten years after transplantation, in transplant recipients aged 20-39, 40-59, and 60+, the cumulative incidence of cancer-related death was 0.6 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.3-1.0), 2.9 (2.3-3.6) and 5.3% (3.5-7.5), whereas the SMR was 9.1 (5.5-15.0), 2.0 (1.6-2.5), and 0.8 (0.6-1.0), respectively. At variance with young recipients, the hazard and the cumulative incidence of cardiovascular-related death in elderly recipients was well above that of cancer-related death. CONCLUSIONS: Relative to the general population, cancer-related death is increased in young but not in elderly kidney transplant recipients because of the more marked increased incidence of competing cause of death in the latter category.

Donor-transmitted cancer in kidney transplant recipients: a systematic review.

The transmission of cancer from a donor organ is a rare event but has important consequences. Aim of this systematic review was to summarize all the published evidence on cancer transmission in kidney recipients. We reviewed published case reports and series describing the outcome of recipients with donor-transmitted cancer until August 2019. A total of 128 papers were included, representing 234 recipients. The most common transmitted cancers were lymphoma (n = 48, 20.5%), renal cancer (42, 17.9%), melanoma (40, 17.1%), non-small cell lung cancer (n = 13, 5.6%), neuroendocrine cancers comprising small cell lung cancer (n = 11, 4.7%) and choriocarcinoma (n = 10, 4.3%). There was a relative lack of glioblastoma and gastrointestinal cancers with only 6 and 5 cases, respectively. Melanoma and lung cancer had the worst prognosis, with 5-years overall survival of 43% and 19%, respectively; while renal cell cancer and lymphomas had a favorable prognosis with 5-years overall survival of 93 and 63%, respectively. Metastasis of cancer outside the graft was the most important adverse prognostic factor. Overall reporting was good, but information on donors' cause of death and investigations at procurement was often lacking. Epidemiology of transmitted cancer has evolved, thanks to screening with imaging and blood tests, as choriocarcinoma transmission have almost abolished, while melanoma and lymphoma are still difficult to detect and prevent.

Direct Revascularization with Autotransplant Technique for a True Aneurysm of the Renal Artery 20 Years after Kidney Transplantation.

BACKGROUND: True degenerative aneurysm of renal artery represents a very rare evolution in kidney transplantation. The cases presented in the literature are usually perianastomotic or mycotic pseudoaneurysm related to surgical technical defects or local infections. CASE REPORT: Herewith, we present the case of a voluminous true aneurysm developed in a young patient transplanted at our hospital 20 years before. All follow-up ultrasounds were always normal until the last disclosing a voluminous aneurysm of the transplanted renal artery. The subsequent angio-CT-scan confirmed the presence of a 52-mm saccular dilatation of the renal artery. For the complex anatomy, the endovascular approach was excluded, and a surgical revascularization was staged. We treated this lesion with the autotransplant technique, preserving the transplanted kidney, resecting the aneurysm, and performing a direct anastomosis after cold perfusion of the kidney. CONCLUSIONS: The autotransplant technique demonstrated to be a safe and effective approach in this challenging and very unusual situation.

Abdominal aortic endograft infection: report of two cases and review of the literature.

Endovascular prosthesis infection after exclusion of an abdominal aortic aneurysm is a rare, dramatic event and its diagnosis and treatment are extremely complex. This particular complication has been less well explored in the literature than others such as endoleaks, migration or stent rupture. The incidence of aorto-iliac stent-graft infection is almost 0.7%, while the infection rate in open surgery varies from 0.6% to 3%. Moreover, the infection can be early when it arises within 4 months of the implant or late when it arises after 4 months. Since 1991 only 94 cases of endograft infections have been reported in the world literature, to which our two cases need to be added, making a total of 96 cases. The first of our patients was diagnosed with an early infection that was successfully treated by explanting the infected graft followed by aortic reconstruction with a homograft. Six months after the operation the patient died of cardiac failure. The second case was a late infection which developed 8 years after the first intervention in a patient with chronic renal failure treated with dialytic therapy. After aneurysmectomy and stent-graft removal, a bifurcated dacron silver graft was implanted. The patient died of cardiogenic shock 40 days after surgery. The surgical treatment of this serious complication is associated with high perioperative morbidity and mortality rates and requires very careful planning of the operation.