Evaluation of the implementation of a "Pediatric Feasibility Assessment for Transplantation" tool in children and adolescents at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Kidney transplantation remains the treatment of choice for children with kidney failure (KF). In South Africa, kidney replacement therapy (KRT) is restricted to children eligible for transplantation. This study reports on the implementation of the Paediatric Feasibility Assessment for Transplantation (pFAT) tool, a psychosocial risk score developed in South Africa to support transparent transplant eligibility assessment in a low-resource setting. METHODS: Single-center retrospective descriptive analysis of children assessed for KRT using pFAT tool from 2015 to 2021. RESULTS: Using the pFAT form, 88 children (median [range] age 12.0 [1.1 to 19.0] years) were assessed for KRT. Thirty (34.1%) children were not listed for KRT, scoring poorly in all domains, and were referred for supportive palliative care. Fourteen of these 30 children (46.7%) died, with a median survival of 6 months without dialysis. Nine children were reassessed and two were subsequently listed. Residing >300 km from the hospital (p = .009) and having adherence concerns (p = .003) were independently associated with nonlisting. Of the 58 (65.9%) children listed for KRT, 40 (69.0%) were transplanted. One-year patient and graft survival were 97.2% and 88.6%, respectively. Only one of the four grafts lost at 1-year posttransplant was attributed to psychosocial issues. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term outcomes among children listed using the pFAT form are good. Among those nonlisted, the pFAT highlights specific psychosocial/socioeconomic barriers, over which most children themselves have no power to change, which should be systemically addressed to permit eligibility of more children and save lives.

Age-adjusted high-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous stem cell transplantation or conventional chemotherapy with R-MP as first-line treatment in elderly primary CNS lymphoma patients - the randomized phase III PRIMA-CNS trial.

BACKGROUND: Older primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) patients have an inferior prognosis compared to younger patients because available evidence on best treatment is scarce and treatment delivery is challenging due to comorbidities and reduced performance status. High-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HCT-ASCT) after high-dose methotrexate (MTX)-based immuno-chemotherapy has become an increasingly used treatment approach in eligible elderly PCNSL patients with promising feasibility and efficacy, but has not been compared with conventional chemotherapy approaches. In addition, eligibility for HCT-ASCT in elderly PCNSL is not well defined. Geriatric assessment (GA) may be helpful in selecting patients for the best individual treatment choice, but no standardized GA exists to date. A randomized controlled trial, incorporating a GA and comparing age-adapted HCT-ASCT treatment with conventional chemotherapy is needed. METHODS: This open-label, multicenter, randomized phase III trial with two parallel arms will recruit 310 patients with newly diagnosed PCNSL > 65 years of age in 40 centers in Germany and Austria. The primary objective is to demonstrate that intensified chemotherapy followed by consolidating HCT-ASCT is superior to conventional chemotherapy with rituximab, MTX, procarbazine (R-MP) followed by maintenance with procarbazine in terms of progression free survival (PFS). Secondary endpoints include overall survival (OS), event free survival (EFS), (neuro-)toxicity and quality of life (QoL). GA will be conducted at specific time points during the course of the study. All patients will be treated with a pre-phase rituximab-MTX (R-MTX) cycle followed by re-assessment of transplant eligibility. Patients judged transplant eligible will be randomized (1:1). Patients in arm A will be treated with 3 cycles of R-MP followed by maintenance therapy with procarbazine for 6 months. Patients in arm B will be treated with 2 cycles of MARTA (R-MTX/AraC) followed by busulfan- and thiotepa-based HCT-ASCT. DISCUSSION: The best treatment strategy for elderly PCNSL patients remains unknown. Treatments range from palliative to curative but more toxic therapies, and there is no standardized measure to select patients for the right treatment. This randomized controlled trial will create evidence for the best treatment strategy with the focus on developing a standardized GA to help define eligibility for an intensive treatment approach. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German clinical trials registry DRKS00024085 registered March 29, 2023.

Rituximab/bendamustine/cytarabine for transplant-eligible patients with mantle cell lymphoma: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Mantle cell lymphoma is considered an aggressive B-cell lymphoma. The optimal induction regimen remains controversial as no randomized controlled trial has compared the efficacy of different induction therapies. METHOD: Herein, we performed a retrospective analysis of the clinical characteristics of 10 patients who received induction treatment consisting of rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) and rituximab, bendamustine, and cytarabine (R-BAC) at Toranomon Hospital between November 2016 and February 2022. RESULT: Although one patient discontinued R-BAC therapy due to a rash, the other nine completed the scheduled chemotherapy. All patients achieved complete response, underwent high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation, and maintained complete remission with a median follow-up of 15 months. Hematological adverse events (AEs) occurred in all patients; however, none developed documented infection. There were also no fatal non-hematological AEs specific to R-BAC. CONCLUSION: R-CHOP/R-BAC may be a good induction therapy for transplant-eligible patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

Pre-transplant cognitive screening is a poor predictor of post-transplant cognitive status.

INTRODUCTION: Transplant centers hesitate to transplant patients with cognitive impairment. It is unclear if pre-kidney transplant (KT) cognitive screening can predict post-KT cognitive function. METHODS: We evaluated pre- to post-KT cognitive function with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in a cohort of 108 patients. We used an adjusted logistic regression model to assess pre- to post-KT changes in cognitive status (continuous variable) and a linear mixed model to assess changes in MoCA scores (categorical variable) pre- to post- KT. RESULTS: The average pre- and post-KT MoCA scores were 25.3 ± 3.0 and 26.4 ± 2.8, respectively. Final pre-KT score did not predict post-KT cognitive status (OR = 1.08; 95% CI: .92-1.26; P = .35). 32% of the patients with a final pre-KT score ≥26 had at least one post-KT score < 26. Conversely, 61% of the patients with a final pre-KT score < 26 had at least one post KT score ≥26. In the linear mixed model analysis, the final pre-KT score was associated with a small, clinically insignificant (ß = .34; 95% CI: .19-.49; P < .001) effect on the post-KT score. CONCLUSION: A low pre-KT MoCA score is not a strong independent predictor of post-KT cognitive function and should not preclude patients from receiving a KT.

Using Administrative Health Care Databases to Identify Patients With End-Stage Kidney Disease With No Recorded Contraindication to Receiving a Kidney Transplant.

Background: Administrative health care databases can be efficiently analyzed to describe the degree to which patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) have access to kidney transplantation. Measures of access to transplantation are better represented when restricting to only those patients eligible to receive a kidney transplant. The way administrative data can be used to assess kidney transplant eligibility in the absence of clinical data has not been well described. Objective: To demonstrate a method that uses administrative health care databases to identify patients with ESKD who have no recorded contraindication to receiving a kidney transplant. Design and setting: Population-based cohort study using linked administrative health care databases in Ontario, Canada. Patients: Adult patients with ESKD approaching the need for dialysis (predialysis) or receiving maintenance dialysis between January 1, 2013 and March 31, 2015 in Ontario, Canada. Measurements: Recipient of a kidney-only or kidney-pancreas transplant. Methods: We assessed more than 80 baseline characteristics, including demographic information, comorbidities, kidney-specific characteristics, and referral and listing criteria for kidney transplantation. We compared these characteristics between patients who did and did not receive a kidney transplant. Results: We included 23 642 patients with ESKD (11 195 who were predialysis and 12 447 receiving maintenance dialysis). Over a median follow-up of 3.2 years (25th, 75th percentile: 1.3, 5.6), 3215 (13.6%) received a kidney-only or kidney-pancreas transplant. Of the studied characteristics available in administrative databases, >97% of patients with one or more of these characteristics did not receive a kidney transplant during follow-up: ESKD-modified Charlson Comorbidity Index score ≥7 (a higher score represents greater comorbidity), home oxygen use, age above 75 years, dementia, living in a long-term care facility, receiving at least one physician house call in the past year, and a combination of select malignancies (ie, lung, lymphoma, cervical, colorectal, liver, active multiple myeloma, and bladder cancer). Using these combined criteria reduced the total number of patients from 23 642 to 12 539 with no recorded contraindications to transplant (a 47% reduction), while the proportion who received a kidney transplant changed from 13.6% (denominator of 23 642) to 24.9% (denominator of 12 539). Limitations: Administrative databases are unable to capture all the complexities of determining transplant eligibility. Conclusion: We identified several criteria available within administrative health care databases that can be used to identify patients with ESKD who have no recorded contraindications to kidney transplant. These criteria could be applied when reporting measures of access to kidney transplantation that require knowledge of transplant eligibility.

Contexte: Les bases de données administratives en santé peuvent être analysées efficacement pour décrire le degré d'accès des patients atteints d'insuffisance rénale terminale (IRT) à une transplantation. Les mesures de l'accès à la transplantation sont mieux représentées lorsqu'on se limite aux patients admissibles pour recevoir une greffe rénale. On manque toutefois d'information sur la façon dont les données administratives peuvent être utilisées, en l'absence de données cliniques, pour évaluer l'admissibilité à une greffe rénale. Objectif: Démontrer une méthode utilisant les bases de données administratives en santé pour identifier les patients atteints d'IRT sans contre-indication à une greffe rénale. Type d'étude: Étude de cohorte représentative d'une population réalisée en Ontario (Canada) à partir des données administratives en santé. Sujets: Des patients ontariens (Canada) atteints d'IRT qui approchaient le besoin de dialyse (prédialyse) ou qui recevaient des traitements de dialyse d'entretien entre le 1er janvier 2013 et le 31 mars 2015. Mesures: Les receveurs d'une greffe de rein seulement ou de rein-pancréas. Méthodologie: Nous avons évalué plus de 80 caractéristiques initiales, notamment les données démographiques et les comorbidités des patients, et les caractéristiques particulières du rein; en plus des critères d'aiguillage et d'inscription pour une greffe rénale. Ces caractéristiques ont été comparées entre les patients greffés et ceux qui n'avaient pas reçu une greffe. Résultats: Nous avons inclus 23 642 patients atteints d'IRT (11 195 en prédialyse et 12 447 sous dialyse d'entretien). Pendant un suivi médian de 3,2 ans (25e percentile: 1,3 an; 75e percentile: 5,6 ans), 3 215 patients (13,6 %) ont reçu une greffe (rein seulement ou rein-pancréas). Plus de 97 % des patients présentant une ou plusieurs des caractéristiques suivantes, disponibles dans les bases de données, n'avaient pas reçu de greffe rénale pendant le suivi: avoir un score d'au moins 7 à l'indice de Charlson ajusté pour l'IRT (un score élevé représente une plus grande comorbidité), consommer de l'oxygène à domicile, avoir plus de 75 ans, souffrir de démence, vivre dans un établissement de soins de longue durée, avoir reçu au moins un appel du médecin au cours de la dernière année et présenter une combinaison de certaines tumeurs malignes (poumons, lymphome, col de l'utérus, colon, rectum, foie, vessie et myélome multiple actif). L'utilisation de ces critères combinés a réduit le nombre total de patients sans contre-indications à la transplantation de 23 642 à 12 539 (réduction de 47 %), faisant ainsi passer la proportion de patients ayant reçu une transplantation rénale de 13,6 % (dénominateur de 23 642) à 24,9 % (dénominateur de 12 539). Limites: Les bases de données administratives ne sont pas en mesure de saisir toutes les complexités liées à la détermination de l'admissibilité à une transplantation. Conclusion: Nous avons répertorié plusieurs critères disponibles dans les bases de données administratives en santé qui permettent d'identifier les patients atteints d'IRT sans contre-indications à la transplantation rénale. Ces critères pourraient être appliqués lors de la communication de mesures de l'accès à la transplantation rénale qui exigent de connaître l'admissibilité du patient à une transplantation.

CKD Progression From the Time of Estimated GFR-Based Waitlist Eligibility and Racial Disparities in Transplant Access.

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: Equations for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) that incorporate a term for race assign a higher value to Black individuals compared to non-Black individuals for the same sex, age, and serum creatinine concentration. This difference may contribute to racial disparities in kidney transplant access. We sought to (1) compare time from meeting a transplant eligibility threshold of eGFR ≤20 mL/min/1.73 m2 to kidney failure with replacement therapy (KFRT) among Black, Hispanic, and White patients, and (2) assess the impact of incorporation of race into eGFR expressions on establishment of waitlist eligibility and time from eligibility to KFRT. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: Using the OptumLabs Data Warehouse, we assembled a cohort of 40,042 White, 8,519 Black, and 3,569 Hispanic patients having at least one eGFR value between 20 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 within the preceding 2 years and an incident outpatient eGFR of ≤20 mL/min/1.73 m2 between 2008-2018, using the CKD-EPI creatinine equation that includes a term for race coded as Black or non-Black. We then reassembled a Black patient cohort based on incident eGFR ≤20 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 11,269) estimated using the same CKD-EPI equation but coding Black patients as non-Black. EXPOSURE: Race/ethnicity. OUTCOME: Time to KFRT. ANALYTICAL APPROACH: Unadjusted and adjusted Fine-Gray models; linear regression to compute eGFR slopes. RESULTS: By 3 years, the cumulative incidence of KFRT was 20.5% among White patients, 40.9% among Hispanic patients, 36% among Black patients whose GFR was estimated using a race term coded as Black, and 28.7% among Black patients whose GFR was estimated using a race term coded as non-Black. In fully adjusted analyses including 11,269 Black patients with an eGFR ≤20 mL/min/1.73 m2 based on coding them as non-Black, KFRT risk remained greater among Black (HR, 1.28 [95% CI, 1.15-1.43]) and Hispanic (HR, 1.66 [95% CI, 1.18-2.31]) patients than among White patients. Based on slopes of eGFR decline, coding Black patients as non-Black would allow earlier waitlist activation by an estimated median of 0.5 [interquartile range, 0.27-1.23] years. LIMITATIONS: Inability to exclude individuals who would not be kidney transplant candidates if comprehensively evaluated. CONCLUSIONS: A uniform eGFR threshold provides less opportunity for being placed on the transplant waitlist among Black and Hispanic patients. For many Black patients, estimation of GFR as if their race category were non-Black would allow substantially earlier waitlisting but would not eliminate their shorter time to KFRT and reduced opportunity for preemptive transplantation compared with White patients.

Recipient Obesity and Kidney Transplant Outcomes: A Mate-Kidney Analysis.

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: The impact of extreme recipient obesity on long-term kidney transplant outcomes has been controversial. This study sought to evaluate the association of various levels of recipient obesity on kidney transplantation outcomes by comparing mate-kidney recipient pairs to address possible confounding effects of donor characteristics on posttransplant outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: Nationwide observational cohort study using mate-kidney models. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: In analysis based on the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network/United Network of Organ Sharing database, 44,560 adult recipients of first-time deceased-donor kidney transplants from 2001 through 2016 were paired by donor. PREDICTORS: Recipient body mass index (BMI) categorized as 18-25 (n = 12,446), >25-30 (n = 15,477), >30-35 (n = 11,144; obese), and >35 (n = 5,493; extreme obesity) kg/m2. OUTCOMES: Outcomes included patient survival, graft survival, death-censored graft survival, delayed graft function (DGF), and hospital length of stay. ANALYTICAL APPROACH: Conditional logistic regression and stratified proportional hazards models were used to compare outcomes as odds ratios and hazard ratios (HRs), adjusted for recipient and transplant factors, using recipients with a BMI >35 kg/m2 as a reference. RESULTS: At a median follow-up of 3.9 years, adjusted odds ratios for DGF were 0.42 (95% CI, 0.36-0.48), 0.55 (95% CI, 0.48-0.62), and 0.73 (95% CI, 0.64-0.83) for BMI 18-25, >25-30, and >30-35 kg/m2, respectively (P < 0.001 for all). Death-censored graft failure was less frequent for BMI ≤25 and >25-30 kg/m2 (HRs of 0.66 [95% CI, 0.59-0.74] and 0.79 [95% CI, 0.70-0.88], respectively; P < 0.001 for both), but not for BMI >30-35 kg/m2 (HR, 0.91 [95% CI, 0.81-1.02]; P = 0.09). Length of stay and patient survival did not differ by recipient BMI. LIMITATIONS: Observational study with limited detail regarding potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Despite an increased risk of DGF likely unrelated to donor organ quality, long-term transplant outcomes among recipients with a BMI >35 kg/m2 are similar to those among recipients with a BMI >30-35 kg/m2, supporting a flexible approach to kidney transplantation candidacy in candidates with extreme obesity.

KDOQI US Commentary on the 2020 KDIGO Clinical Practice Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Candidates for Kidney Transplantation.

Evaluation of patients for kidney transplant candidacy is a comprehensive process that involves a detailed assessment of medical and surgical issues, psychosocial factors, and patients' physical and cognitive abilities with an aim of balancing the benefits of transplantation and potential risks of surgery and long-term immunosuppression. There is considerable variability among transplant centers in their approach to evaluation and decision-making regarding transplant candidacy. The 2020 KDIGO (Kidney Disease: Improving Guidelines Outcome) clinical practice guideline on the evaluation and management of candidates for kidney transplantation provides practice recommendations that can serve as a useful reference guide to transplant professionals. The guideline, covering a broad range of topics, was developed by an international group of experts from transplant and nephrology through a review of literature published until May 2019. A work group of US transplant nephrologists convened by NKF-KDOQI (National Kidney Foundation-Kidney Disease Quality Initiative) chose key topics for this commentary with a goal of presenting a broad discussion to the US transplant community. Each section of this article has a summary of the key KDIGO guideline recommendations, followed by a brief commentary on the recommendations, their clinical utility, and potential implementation challenges. The KDOQI work group agrees broadly with the KDIGO recommendations but also recognizes and highlights the decision-making challenges that arise from lack of high-quality evidence and the need to balance equity with utility of organ transplantation.

Clinical impact of the CONUT score and mogamulizumab in adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma.

Accurate risk assessment to determine the eligibility for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) in patients with adult T cell leukemia (ATL) is necessary to improve survival outcomes. The controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score predicts prognosis in several tumors; however, the prognostic significance of the CONUT score in ATL remains unclear. The present study investigated the correlation between the CONUT score and the survival outcomes of transplant-eligible ATL patients. Mogamulizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against C-C chemokine receptor 4, was recently identified as a promising salvage chemotherapy agent for transplant-ineligible ATL patients. We therefore evaluated the efficacy of mogamulizumab in transplant-ineligible ATL patients. Patients diagnosed with aggressive ATL (acute lymphoma of unfavorable chronic type) between January 2008 and March 2017 at Saga University Hospital, Japan, were retrospectively enrolled. Of 54 patients, 25 were < 70 years of age and 14 received allo-HCT. The median overall survival (OS) and non-relapse mortality (NRM) rate at 1 year among patients receiving allo-HCT were 1685.5 days and 30% in those with a CONUT score 0-3 (n = 10) and 184.5 days and 100% in those with a score ≥ 4 (n = 4) (p = 0.017, OS; p = 0.064, NRM). Older patients who received mogamulizumab had a significantly longer OS (n = 12, median 432 days) than those who did not receive mogamulizumab (n = 17, median 199 days) (p = 0.018). The CONUT score was identified as a prognostic tool for transplant-eligible ATL patients, and mogamulizumab improved OS in transplant-ineligible ATL patients.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for sickle cell disease: Progress and challenges.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) presents challenges to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), including donor availability and morbidity with age/disease severity. However, severe SCD causes irreversible organ damage that HSCT can mitigate. This benefit must be balanced against preparative regimen toxicity, graft-versus-host disease, and mortality risk. We review efforts to balance HSCT complications with the promise of cure, and knowledge gaps that warrant further investigation. We highlight the burden of SCD, HSCT risks and benefits, and SCD families' approach to this balance. We emphasize the necessity for information exchange to ensure a joint decision-making process between providers and patients.

Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation for Patients with Early Progression of Follicular Lymphoma: A Follow-Up Study of 2 Randomized Trials from the German Low Grade Lymphoma Study Group.

Patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) and progression of disease (POD) within 24 months after frontline treatment (POD24) have poor overall survival (OS). The optimal salvage treatment for these patients is unknown. We assessed the role of high-dose therapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) in transplant-eligible patients. We analyzed 162 patients with advanced-stage FL who had received frontline treatment within the GLSG1996 or GLSG2000 trials. All patients had POD at age ≤ 65 years and had not received a prior transplant. Second-line treatment was not specified by study protocols. Survival was calculated from time of second-line treatment. Eighteen patients (11%) progressed (n = 16) or died (n = 2) during cytoreductive second-line treatment (considered "cytoreduction failure"); none received ASCT, and their median second-line OS was <1 year. A total of 113 patients had POD24 (70%), whereas 49 had POD after 24 months (30%). Sixty-three patients without cytoreduction failure received ASCT (39%), and 81 received no transplant (50%). In patients with POD24, a significant survival benefit was associated with ASCT with a 5-year second-line progression-free survival for ASCT versus no transplant of 51% versus 19% (hazard ratio, .38; 95% confidence interval, .24 to .62; P < .0001) and a 5-year second-line OS of 77% versus 59% (hazard ratio, .54, 95% confidence interval, .30 to .95; P= .031). Thus, ASCT is an effective treatment option for transplant-eligible patients with high-risk FL as identified by POD24 and should be evaluated in prospective clinical trials.

Transplant eligibility for patients with affective and psychotic disorders: a review of practices and a call for justice.

BACKGROUND: The scarcity of human organs requires the transplant community to make difficult allocation decisions. This process begins at individual medical centers, where transplant teams decide which patients to place on the transplant waiting list. Each transplant center utilizes its own listing criteria to determine if a patient is eligible for transplantation. These criteria have historically considered preexisting affective and psychotic disorders to be relative or absolute contraindications to transplantation. While attitudes within the field appear to be moving away from this practice, there is no data to confirm that eligibility criteria have changed. MAIN BODY: There are no nationwide guidelines detailing the manner in which affective and psychotic disorders should impact transplant eligibility. Individual transplant centers thus form their own transplant eligibility criteria, resulting in significant inter-institution variability. Data from the 1990s indicates that the majority of transplant programs considered certain psychiatric illnesses, such as active schizophrenia, to be absolute contraindications to transplantation. A review of literature reveals that no comprehensive data has been collected on the topic since that time. Furthermore, the limited data available about current practices suggests that psychiatric illness continues to be viewed as a contraindication to transplantation at some transplant centers. In light of this finding, we review psychiatric literature that examines the impact of affective and psychotic disorders on transplant outcomes and conclude that the presence of these disorders is not an accurate predictor of transplant success. We then discuss the requirements of justice as they relate to the creation of a just organ allocation system. CONCLUSION: We conclude that transplant eligibility criteria that exclude patients with affective and psychotic disorders on the basis of their psychiatric diagnosis alone are unjust. Just listing criteria must incorporate only those factors that have a causative effect on posttransplant morbidity and mortality. Justice also demands that we eliminate current inter-institution practice variations in favor of national transplant eligibility criteria. Given the limited data available about current practices, we call for an updated study investigating the manner in which affect and psychotic disorders impact transplant eligibility determinations.

Outcomes after stroke complicating left ventricular assist device.

BACKGROUND: Stroke is one of the leading complications during continuous flow-left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) support. Risk factors have been well described, although less is known regarding treatment and outcomes. We present a large single-center experience on stroke outcome and transplant eligibility by stroke sub-type and severity in CF-LVAD patients. METHODS: Between January 1, 2008, and April 1, 2015, 301 patients underwent CF-LVAD (266 HeartMate II [HM I], Thoratec Corp, Pleasanton, CA; 35 HeartWare [HVAD], HeartWare International Inc, Framingham, MA). Stroke was defined as a focal neurologic deficit with abnormal neuroimaging. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) definition excluded sub-dural hematoma and hemorrhagic conversion of an ischemic stroke (IS). Treatment in IS included intra-arterial embolectomy when appropriate; treatment in ICH included reversal of coagulopathy. Stroke severity was measured using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Outcomes were in-hospital mortality and transplant status. RESULTS: Stroke occurred in 40 patients: 8 ICH (4 HM II, 4 HVAD) and 32 IS (26 HM II, 6 HVAD). Among 8 ICH patients, there were 4 deaths (50%), with NIHSS of 18.8 ± 13.7 vs 1.8 ± 1.7 in survivors (p = 0.049). Among 32 IS patients, 12 had hemorrhagic conversion and 5 were treated with intra-arterial embolectomy. There were 9 deaths (28%), with NIHSS of 16.2 ± 10.8 vs 7.0 ± 7.6 in survivors (p = 0.011). Among the 32 IS patients, 12 underwent transplant, and 1 is awaiting transplant. No ICH patients received a transplant. CONCLUSIONS: In-hospital mortality after stroke is significantly affected by the initial neurologic impairment. Patients with IS appear to benefit the most from in-hospital treatment and often make sufficient recovery to be able to progress to transplant.