Results of combined and sequential liver-kidney transplantation.

Experience with combined liver-kidney transplantation (L-KTx) has increased, but controversy regarding this procedure continues because the indications are not clearly defined yet. Between 1984 and 2000, 38 patients underwent simultaneous L-KTx and 9 patients underwent sequential transplantation, receiving either a liver before a kidney or a kidney before a liver. Main indications for a simultaneous procedure were polycystic liver-kidney disease with cirrhosis and coincidental renal failure. The main indications for sequential procedure were cirrhosis caused by viral infection for the liver and glomerulonephritis for the kidneys. Outcomes in these patients were evaluated retrospectively. Regarding simultaneous transplantation, 28 (73.7%) long-term survivors were followed up for 0.7 to 12.5 years. Currently, 24 (63.2%) patients are alive with good liver function. Fourteen patients died; 10 patients died in the early postoperative phase because of septic complications, and most of them were cirrhotic with a poor preoperative clinical status. Currently, 2 of the surviving patients (8%) have returned to dialysis, 4 (17%) have reduced renal function, and 18 (75%) have good renal function. Five liver and 2 kidney retransplantations were performed during the follow-up. In cases of sequential grafting, patients undergoing kidney transplantation in the presence of a previously transplanted stable liver did better than those who underwent liver transplantation after kidney transplantation. When liver transplantation was performed early and electively before substantial worsening, combined L-KTx is a safe procedure offering excellent long-term palliation.

Kidney transplantation in children: impact of young recipient age on graft survival.

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that recipient age may have an effect on renal graft survival due to its potential influence on the competence of the immune system. A comparison of graft survival between children and elderly adults, however, has never been performed. METHODS: Forty patients /=65 years using a case-control analysis. Apart from age, matching criteria were the number of HLA mismatches and the date of transplantation. RESULTS: The mean age differed by 57 years between study and control group (10 +/- 5 vs 67 +/- 2, P < 0.001). There was no difference in the number of initially non-functioning grafts, sex distribution, immunosuppression, number of HLA mismatches on the HLA-DR, -B and -A locus, cold ischaemia time and the number of patients with panel-reactive antibodies. The only difference was a lower donor age in the study group (17 +/- 14 vs 35 +/- 16, P < 0.001) compared with the control group. During the follow-up of 109 +/- 54 and 79 +/- 49 months, respectively, acute rejections were more frequent in the study group (25 vs 12, P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in graft survival between both groups when death with functioning graft was excluded. CONCLUSIONS: This study which compares two groups of patients with a mean age difference of 57 years could not demonstrate an effect of young recipient age on graft survival, though the incidence of acute rejections appeared to be significantly higher in the paediatric population. Thus paediatric renal transplanted patients do not seem to have a disadvantage regarding graft survival due to their young recipient age.

Contrast media nephropathy: intravenous CT angiography versus intraarterial digital subtraction angiography in renal artery stenosis: a prospective randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Spiral computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is a noninvasive method to diagnose renal artery stenosis (RAS). In digital subtraction angiography (DSA), contrast media (CM) is injected directly into the renal artery; in CTA, a greater amount of CM is injected intravenously, potentially leading to an increased incidence of CM nephropathy. METHODS: We investigated 80 patients with suspected RAS randomized to either CTA or DSA prospectively. The following parameters were determined: serum creatinine level and single-shot inulin clearance for evaluation of renal function and urine alpha1-microglobulin and beta-N-acetyl-glucoseaminidase (beta-NAG) as markers for tubular toxicity. Data from 16 patients undergoing angioplasty in the same session were excluded. RESULTS: In the CTA and DSA groups, 163 +/- 13 and 104 +/- 56 mL of CM (mean +/- SD; P < 0.0001) were administered, respectively. Mean serum creatinine levels increased from 1.78 +/- 1.61 to 1.92 +/-1.73 mg/dL (157 +/- 142 to 170 +/- 153 micromol/L; P = 0.00001) in the CTA group and from 1.52 +/- 1.23 to 1.60 +/- 1.28 mg/dL (134 +/- 109 to 141 +/- 113 micromol/L; P = 0.01) in the DSA group. Mean inulin clearance decreased from 63 +/- 28 to 58 +/- 23 mL/min (P = 0.01) and 65 +/- 26 to 62 +/- 26 mL/min (P < 0.01), median beta-NAG levels increased from 4.6 to 6.0 U/g creatinine (P = not significant) and 2.5 to 8.0 U/g creatinine (P < 0.001), and median alpha1-microglobulin levels increased from 13 to 17 microg/g creatinine (P < 0.025) and 11 to 21 microg/g creatinine (P = not significant) in the CTA and DSA groups, respectively. CM nephropathy occurred in 3 of 33 patients in the CTA group and 2 of 31 patients in the DSA group. The increase in creatinine level was reversible in all patients within 7 days. CONCLUSION: On this study, CTA performed for the detection of RAS is not associated with an increased risk for CM nephropathy compared with intraarterial DSA despite a greater dose of CM.