Comparison between spousal donor transplantation treated with anti-thymocyte globulin induction therapy and, living related donor transplantation treated with standard immunosuppression.

The worldwide shortage of organs available for transplantation has led to the use of living-unrelated kidney donors. In this context, spouses represent an important source of organ donors. We compared the allograft outcomes of spousal donor transplantation (SDT) with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) induction therapy and living related donor transplantation (LRDT) with triple immonosuppression and basiliximab, in addition. Among the 335 living and deceased donor kidney transplantations performed between April 2001 and June 2010, there were 274 living donor kidney transplantations including 34 SDT and 240 LRDT. The minimum follow-up period was 36 months. All recipients of SDT received ATG (1.5 mg/kg) induction therapy, which was stopped five to seven days after surgery. Maintenance immunosuppression included tacrolimus (TAC), mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and prednisolone. LRDT recipients received triple immunosuppressive protocol consisting of cyclosporine or TAC, MMF and prednisolone, in addition to basiliximab. There was a significant difference between the two groups in recipient age, while pre-operative duration on dialysis, recipient sex and donor age and sex were not significantly different. There was also a significant difference between the two groups in the number of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatches. The 1-, 3- and 5-year graft survival rates of SDT were 94.1%, 88.2% and 79.4%, respectively, and the frequency of acute rejection episodes was 5.8% (two cases). The 1-, 3- and 5-year graft survival rates of LRDT were 95.8%, 91.6% and 83.3%, respectively, with the frequency of acute rejection being 16.2%. The graft survival rates of SDT were as good as LRDT, while the acute rejection rates in SDT were lower than in LRDT, although the difference was not statistically different (P = 0.13).

Immediate and long-term high levels of plasma homocysteine after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in patients with renal stone disease.

BACKGROUND: Plasma homocysteine levels increase in patients with chronic renal failure. Numerous studies have demonstrated that kidney function is one of the most important determinants of plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) concentration. In this study we aimed to evaluate the relationship between tHcy levels and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) for patients with renal stones and to see if the change in homocysteine levels continued if renal dysfunction improved. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study consisted of 20 patients who underwent first-time ESWL for renal stones. Every patient gave 3 blood samples at 24 h before surgery and at 2 days and at 3 months after ESWL for measurement of plasma levels of tHcy, creatinine, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. RESULTS: The 20 patients (12 male, 8 female) had a mean age of 42.8 ± 11.7 years. tHcy levels showed a statistically significant increase from 9.4 ± 1.4 to 18 ± 4.8 and 11.2 ± 2.1 at 2 days and at 3 months, respectively. Serum creatinine also showed a statistically significant increase compared to baseline at 2 days and at 3 months after ESWL. CONCLUSION: After first-time ESWL, the increase in serum levels of creatinine and tHcy due to renal injury, such as ischemia/reperfusion injury, may be severe and continue for a long period, such as 3 months. According to baseline levels, the increase in homocysteine levels as an indicator of oxidant stress was more severe than the creatinine levels after ESWL for renal stones. Our patients were first-time ESWL patients; however, in patients who undergo EWSL more than once long-term high tHcy levels should also be considered as renal.

Cyclosporine, tacrolimus and sirolimus retain their distinct toxicity profiles despite low doses in the Symphony study.

BACKGROUND: Reducing side effects of immunosuppressive regimens has become a priority in transplantation medicine because of the large number of patients and grafts that succumb to infection in the short term and cardiovascular disease in the long term. The Symphony study was a 12-month prospective, randomized, open-label, multi-centre, four parallel arm study that aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of low-dose immunosuppressive regimens compared with a standard-dose regimen in renal transplant recipients. This sub-analysis focuses on specific toxicities observed with the low-dose regimens. METHODS: Adult patients (n = 1645) scheduled to undergo renal transplantation received low-dose cyclosporine (CsA), tacrolimus (Tac) or sirolimus (SRL) in addition to daclizumab induction or standard-dose cyclosporine without induction. All patients received mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids. We evaluated the incidence of adverse events (AEs), tested specific group differences and assessed the relationship of selected AEs with drug levels. RESULTS: The four arms had similar incidences of AEs, but serious AEs were more common with low-dose SRL and led to more discontinuations. Infections were the most common AEs, with the highest incidence in the standard-dose CsA group, in particular, cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. Low-dose Tac had the most reports of new-onset diabetes, leucopenia and diarrhoea. Low-dose SRL negatively influenced triglycerides, wound healing, lymphocele and anaemia. We found only weak relationships between specific AEs and drug levels. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the low doses, CsA, Tac and SRL retained distinct and different toxicity profiles. These findings may be of relevance for tailoring specific immunosuppressive regimens to patients with particular needs.

Patient tolerance during cystoscopy: a randomized study comparing lidocaine hydrochloride gel and dimethyl sulfoxide with lidocaine.

PURPOSE: Cystoscopy is one of the most common examinations in urologic outpatient clinics. Various anesthetic approaches have been used to make cystoscopy more tolerable for patients. The aim of the present prospective randomized study was to evaluate the efficacy of lidocaine hydrochloride gel compared to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) with lidocaine in rigid cystoscopy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male patients requiring 17F rigid cystoscopy were eligible for inclusion in this study. A total of 140 patients were divided into two groups: group 1 (n=70) received approximately 11 mL of 2% lidocaine gel intraurethrally, while in group 2 (n=70) approximately 10 mL of 40% DMSO with an amount of lidocaine equal to that in the lidocaine gel was smeared around the scope and external urethral meatus. A penile clamp was placed for 15 minutes and 5 minutes in group 1 and group 2, respectively. Immediately after cystoscopic examination pain was scored on a 10-cm visual analog scale. RESULTS: The mean pain scores after the procedure for group 1 and group 2 were 3.9+/-1.1 and 2.1+/-1.0, respectively. The pain scores were significantly lower for group 2 than for group 1 (P=0.015). No patients needed additional anesthetic agents or sedatives due to insufficient analgesia, and there were no serious side effects in either group. CONCLUSIONS: Our study has shown that DMSO with lidocaine gel causes significantly less delivery discomfort in the male urethra than lidocaine hydrochloride gel. The advantages of DMSO with lidocaine are the mixture takes less time to act and had lower pain scores.

Iliac artery stenosis as a cause of posttransplant renal failure and claudication.

Iliac artery stenosis (IAS) is a rare complication after renal transplantation. We demonstrate a case of ipsilateral external IAS proximally to anastomosis in a kidney recipient, which manifested with renal failure and claudication, and was successfully treated with endovascular stent placement.