[The elusive gift]. / Le don insaisissable.

When the only geno-identical donor is a minor child with autistic type disorders, the question of consent arises. Reflection on the decision to transplant bone marrow in this specific context.

Effect of Lung-Protective Ventilation in Organ Donors on Lung Procurement and Recipient Survival.

Rationale: Previous studies have shown that a lung-protective strategy, which aims at minimizing ventilator-induced lung injury (with low Vt/high positive end-expiratory pressure as the main pillars), in selected potential organ donors after brain death increased lung eligibility and procurement.Objectives: This prospective nationwide cohort study aimed to evaluate the impact of lung-protective ventilation (PV) in nonselected donors on lung procurement and recipient survival after lung transplantation.Methods: We included all reported donors aged 18-70 years after brain death without a lung recovery contraindication and with at least one organ recovered between January 2016 and December 2017. PV was defined as Vt ≤8 ml/kg predicted body weight and positive end-expiratory pressure ≥8 cm H2O. The association between PV at the time of lung proposal (T1) and lung procurement was determined by multivariable logistic regression stratified by propensity score quintile to account for PV and non-PV group differences in baseline characteristics. We studied 1-year survival of recipients from donors with or without PV at T1.Measurements and Main Results: Of 1,626 included lung donors, 1,109 (68%) had at least one lung proposed; 678 (61%) of these had at least one lung recovered. At T1, only 25.6% of donors with at least one lung proposed for lung transplantation were ventilated with a protective strategy. For donors with a lung proposal, the probability of lung procurement was increased with PV at T1 (odds ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.98; P = 0.03). One-year survival did not differ between recipients of lungs from donors with and without PV (82.7%, 95% CI 76.0-87.8% vs. 82.3%, 95% CI 78.5-85.4%; P = 0.94).Conclusions: The use of lung PV in nonselected donors may increase lung procurement. One-year survival did not differ between recipients of lungs from donors with PV or from those without PV.

Performing diagnostic coronary angiography to evaluate high-risk cardiac donors: A French nationwide cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Allograft shortage might be overcome by the use of hearts from expanded-criteria donors (ECD) but their estimated high-risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) results in a limited utilization of these hearts for transplantation. We aimed to determine if performing coronary angiography (CA) in ECD enhances cardiac procurement and to develop a predictive model estimating their probability of absence of CAD. METHODS: We retrospectively used the French National Transplant Registry CRISTAL and considered all donors aged 45 to 70 with ≥ 1 organ harvested between March 2012 and June 2014 to derive a high-risk donor population. Of 515 donors with ≥ 1 CAD risk factor and no obvious contraindication for cardiac procurement, 230 underwent CA. Coefficients estimated by multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate the impact of CA on procurement and build the predictive model. RESULTS: Among CA donors, 133 had CAD, 53 (23%) with at least one stenosis ≥ 50%. Predictors of cardiac graft offer were female gender, age below 60, no cardiac arrest, no intravenous adrenaline/dobutamine requirement and no treated hypercholesterolemia. CA increased the probability of procurement by 9% (p = 0.028). Female gender, non-vascular cause of death, absence of diabetes and BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 (p < 0.05) were associated with a normal CA and used for the prediction model. The area under the ROC curve of the model was 0.70. Specificity for the highest quartile was 82%. CONCLUSION: Performing CA in ECD enhances cardiac procurement. When CA is not feasible, we defined a clinical score allowing accurate estimation of normal CA probability.

Impact of donor coronary angiography on kidney transplantation outcomes.

Coronary angiography (CA) is the gold standard evaluation of coronary artery disease in potential multi-organ donors. This use of iodinated contrast media could lead to contrast-induced acute kidney injury and consequently to delayed graft function (DGF). All patients in France who received a kidney from a 45-70-year-old donor without medical contraindication for cardiac donation and with at least one cardiovascular risk factor were included. Recipients of preemptive kidney transplant or multi-organ transplant, or who died within the first 8 days post-transplantation were excluded. Data were obtained from CRISTAL database. From March 2012 to June 2014, 892 kidneys from 483 donors were transplanted. DGF was reported in 38.9% of the 375 kidney recipients grafted with a kidney from the 217 donors who had CA and in 45.5% of the 440 kidney recipients who received a kidney from the 257 donors without CA. Multivariate analysis showed that CA or repeated injection of iodinated contrast media did not influence the risk of DGF. CA did not increase the risk of primary non-function, the duration of DGF or post-transplantation hospital stay and did not affect the graft function at 1 year. Evaluation of potential multi-organ donors with CA does not affect kidney graft outcomes.

[Beneficence and nonmaleficence in care]. / Bienfaisance et non-malfaisance dans les soins.

Is a medical decision rationally founded on the application of statistically efficient evidence-based medicine procedures fair and right for any given patient? Medical ethics invite us to consider the caregiving action through the prism of guidelines based on autonomy, beneficence/nonmaleficence and justice.

Early tracheotomy versus prolonged endotracheal intubation in unselected severely ill ICU patients.

OBJECTIVE: Although several advantages are attributed to tracheotomy in ICU patients requiring mechanical ventilation (MV), true benefits and the optimal timing of tracheotomy remain controversial. In this study, we compared early tracheotomy (ET) with prolonged intubation (PI) in severely ill patients requiring prolonged MV. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized study. SETTING: Twenty-five medical and surgical ICUs in France. PATIENTS: Patients expected to require MV > 7 days. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Patients were randomised to either (open or percutaneous) ET within 4 days or PI. The primary end-point was 28-day mortality. Secondary end-points were: the incidence of ICU-acquired pneumonia, number of d1-d28 ventilator-free days, time spent in the ICU, 60-day mortality, number of septic episodes, amount of sedation, comfort and laryngeal and tracheal complications. A sample size of 470 patients was considered necessary to obtain a reduction from 45 to 32% in 28-day mortality. After 30 months, 123 patients had been included (ET = 61, PI = 62) in 25 centres and the study was prematurely closed. All group characteristics were similar upon admission to ICU. No difference was found between the two groups for any of the primary or secondary end-points. Greater comfort was the sole benefit afforded by tracheotomy after subjective self-assessment by patients. CONCLUSIONS: The trial did not demonstrate any major benefit of tracheotomy in a general population of ICU patients, as suggested in a previous meta-analysis, but was underpowered to draw any firm conclusions. The potential advantage of ET may be restricted to selected groups of patients.

Endocarditis Caused by Multiply Resistant Bacteroides fragilis: Case Report and Review.

A 78-year-old woman developed fatal endocarditis of her prosthetic aortic valve, caused by Bacteroides fragilis fragilis, and associated with ovarian carcinoma. The strain showed multiple antibiotic resistance, including resistance to beta-lactam agents and combinations with beta-lactamase inhibitors. Seventeen previously described cases of endocarditis caused by Bacteroides spp. have been found in the literature. The mean age of the 18 patients was 50.3 years, the gastro-intestinal tract was the most common site of associated disease, embolism occured in ten cases and eight patients died. Previous isolates showed the antibiotic susceptibility customarily associated with the B. fragilis group.