Pericardial Effusion After Renal Transplantation: Timing and Clinical Characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Pericardial effusion and tamponade have been recognized as potentially serious complications in patients who have undergone renal transplantation. Our study aims to analyze the association between sirolimus and the development of pericardial effusion in renal transplant recipients. METHODS: This is a single-center retrospective study of 585 consecutive patients who underwent renal transplantation between 2005 and 2016. The study included 82 patients (14%) who developed new pericardial effusion after transplantation. Baseline demographics, medical comorbidities, medication use, echocardiographic parameters, and time to occurrence of effusion were assessed. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on timing of effusion development: early onset, ≤4 years after transplantation (51%); and late onset, >4 years after transplantation (49%). We examined the likelihood of immunosuppressant use and timing of effusion development using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of the cohort was 55.1 ± 11.5 years, 58.5% were men, 81.7% were white, and mean time from transplantation to the development of effusion was 4 ± 3.1 years. There were no significant differences between the early and late effusion groups in the demographic characteristics and medical comorbidities. However, sirolimus therapy was more common in the late effusion group. Furthermore, after adjusting for comorbidities, sirolimus use was associated with greater risk for developing late-onset effusion, adjusted odds ratio of 3.58 (95% confidence interval 1.25-10.20, P = .017). CONCLUSION: Pericardial effusion is prevalent in renal transplant recipients. In our cohort, treatment with sirolimus was associated with late-onset pericardial effusion. Awareness of pericardial disease in this population is important, and further studies are needed to identify predisposing factors.

Use of levosimendan in acute and advanced heart failure: short review on available real-world data.

Published data have shown potential advantages of levosimendan in the management of acute decompensated heart failure and advanced heart failure when standard medical therapies threaten hemodynamics and organ perfusion are unable to alleviate clinical symptoms. Levosimendan distinguishes itself from other catecholaminergic inotropes by its three mechanisms of action: positive inotropy, vasodilation, and cardioprotection. In addition, its pharmacokinetics allow for a longer duration of action from the metabolite OR1896 allowing for further cardiovascular therapeutic effects for several days, even after discontinuation of the parent drug.

Pericardial Effusion Associated With Sirolimus Use After Renal Transplantation: A Single-Center Case Series.

Pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade following renal transplantation have been recognized as a potentially serious complications associated with the use of sirolimus for immunosuppression. Our study aims to analyze the development of sirolimus-associated pericardial effusion. Patients who underwent renal transplantation at our institution between 2001 and 2014 were reviewed and the correlation between sirolimus exposure and pericardial effusion was determined. Nineteen out of 792 patients who received a renal transplant over this 14-year period (incidence 2.4%) developed symptomatic pericardial effusion (determined by the need for pericardiocentesis or a pericardial window). All patients had a pre-transplantation cardiac workup, including echocardiogram, which did not reveal the presence of pericardial effusion. Our cohort of patients is mostly male (57.9%) and Caucasian (73.7%), which is consistent with the makeup of transplant recipients at our center. The mean age was 52.42 years at the time of transplantation. The development of symptomatic pericardial effusions occurred at a mean of 5.06 (.5-9.8) years after renal transplant while on sirolimus therapy. Sirolimus levels at diagnosis were 5.19-7.47 ng/mL. No significant pericardial effusion (resulting in tamponade physiology) recurred after therapeutic intervention, including cessation of sirolimus with or without pericardial drainage. This study is the largest single-center report of the possible association between pericardial effusion in renal transplant recipients who received sirolimus. Due to the widespread use of sirolimus in organ transplantation, clinicians must remain vigilant for this potential cardiac complication.