OPO Strategies to Prevent Unintended Use of Kidneys Exported for High PRA (>98% cPRA) Recipients.

Since the advent of the Kidney Allocation System (KAS), matched candidates with high (>98%) panel reactive antibody (hPRA) are given priority over local candidates with lower PRA. This often leads to exporting of kidneys. Data for these kidneys are not detailed on routine reports. Twenty-two organ procurement organizations prospectively submitted data from August 2015 to July 2016, describing allocation practices of kidneys to hPRA patients and outcomes of these kidneys. Five hundred twenty out of 6924 procured kidneys were exported for hPRA recipients. Of these, 402 (77.3%) were transplanted into the intended recipient (IR); 100 (19.2%) were transplanted into unintended recipients (UR), and 18 (3.5%) were discarded. The most common reason for use in an UR was a positive crossmatch (XM) (63%). The most common reasons for discard were donor quality (44%) and ischemic time (39%). Prior to kidney export, when tissue crossmatching was done, 96.2% of the kidneys went to the IR, versus 80.7% following virtual CM, versus 56.7% when no crossmatching was performed (p < 0.0001). A significant number of kidneys exported for hPRA patients are not being used in the IR or are being discarded. The most common reason for this is positive tissue XM. We report that unintended use of the kidney was minimized when tissue was shipped and XM results were known prior to exporting the kidney.

Incidence and management of leukopenia/neutropenia in 233 kidney transplant patients following single dose alemtuzumab induction.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and management strategies for post-transplant leukopenia/neutropenia in kidney recipients receiving alemtuzumab induction during the first year following transplantation. METHODS: We prospectively identified 233 adult patients who underwent kidney transplantation with alemtuzumab induction at a single institution. The incidence and severity of leukopenia (white blood cell count [WBC] ≤2500/mm(3)) and neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count [ANC] ≤500/mm(3)) were evaluated at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post-transplantation. We determined any association with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, graft rejection, and infections requiring hospitalization. We also reviewed interventions performed, including medication adjustments, treatment with granulocyte stimulating factor, and hospitalization. RESULTS: The combined incidence of either leukopenia or neutropenia was 47.5% (n = 114/233) with an average WBC nadir of 1700 ± 50/mm(3) at 131.0 ± 8.5 days and an average ANC nadir of 1500 ± 100/mm(3) at 130.4 ± 9.6 days. No significant difference in graft rejection, CMV infection, or infections requiring hospitalization was found in the leukopenia/neutropenia group vs the normal WBC group (P = .3). The most common intervention performed for leukopenia/neutropenia group was prophylactic medication adjustment. Six patients (5.2%) required a change in >1 medication. The majority of these patients also required granulocyte stimulating factor (61.5%; 32/52), with an average of 2.5 doses given. A total of 25 patients (21.9%) required hospitalization due to leukopenia/neutropenia with an average length of stay of 6 days. CONCLUSIONS: Kidney transplant patients receiving alemtuzumab induction required significant interventions due to leukopenia/neutropenia in the first year post-transplantation. These results suggest the need for additional studies aimed at defining the optimum management strategies of leukopenia/neutropenia in this population.

Effect of ischemia-reperfusion on the incidence of acute cellular rejection and timing of histologic hepatitis C virus recurrence after liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Because of a critical shortage of deceased donor (DD) livers, more extended criteria allografts are being utilized; these allografts are at increased risk for ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). We assessed whether, in a large cohort of patients transplanted for hepatitis C virus (HCV) either via a DD or live donor (LD), there was a relationship between the degree of IRI and the frequency and timing of acute cellular rejection (ACR) and histologic HCV recurrence. METHODS: During an 8-year study, patients were separated into four groups based on peak alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and three groups based on severity of IRI on postreperfusion liver biopsy. RESULTS: The mean follow-up time of 433 DD and 44 LD recipients was 1212 days. We noted a strong correlation in DD between peak ALT and the histologic degree of IRI (P = .01). There was no difference in the incidence or grade of ACR among the four groups. There was no correlation between the severity of IRI and the incidence or time to histologic recurrence of HCV. CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of peak ALT correlated with the severity of IRI on postreperfusion liver biopsy. Among this large HCV cohort, there was no correlation between the severity of IRI and the incidence or timing of histologic HCV recurrence or incidence of ACR.