Antibody-mediated rejection diagnosed in early protocol biopsies in high immunological risk kidney transplant recipients.

BACKGROUND: Renal transplant recipients with donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies are at an increased risk of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). Early protocolized renal biopsies may serve as a strategy to improve diagnosis in this patient population. METHODS: We evaluated 155 highly sensitized renal transplant recipients with cPRA class I + II > 90% pre-transplant from 2015 to 2022. Patients with protocol biopsies within the first two weeks post-transplant were included. RESULTS: A total of 122 patients were included in the study. Of these, 13 (10.6%) were diagnosed with very early antibody-mediated rejection (veABMR) within the first two weeks post-transplant. This corresponds to 52% (13/25 patients) of all ABMR cases reported during the follow-up of this population. The graft survival rates at one and three years were significantly lower in patients with veABMR (p < 0.001) compared to patients without rejection in the early protocol biopsy. In terms of severity, the veABMR cohort exhibited a hazard ratio (HR) of 10.33 (95% CI 3.23-33.06; p < 0.001) for graft failure. The presence of donor-specific antibodies (DSA) class II on the day of transplantation and a higher percentage of eplet mismatch (EpMM), particularly EpMM DQA1, correlated with the development of veABMR. CONCLUSION: Early protocol biopsies play a pivotal role in the early detection of veABMR in high-risk immunological patients. Patients with veABMR face significant risks of graft loss, despite early treatment of rejection.

Challenges in perioperative blood transfusions in kidney transplantation and the need for Patient Blood Management.

BACKGROUND: Anemia is highly prevalent in end-stage chronic kidney disease patients, increasing their risk of receiving blood transfusions during and on the days after a kidney transplant (KTx) surgery. However, there is currently a lack of data that thoroughly describes this phenomenon in this population, the associated risk factors, and how they could benefit from the application of Patient Blood Management (PBM) guidelines. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observational study. All adult patients who received a KTx between January 1st, 2020, and December 31st, 2021, were included and followed up to six months after transplantation. Those who received a multiorgan transplant, whose data was missing in the electronic health records, and who had primary non-function were excluded. We recorded donor and recipient characteristics, cold ischemia time, preoperative hemoglobin concentration, iron status deficiency biomarkers, incidence of delayed graft function and biopsy-proven graft rejections, and graft function at discharge and 6 months after transplantation. RESULTS: We found that a high amount (39%) of KTx recipients required at least one blood transfusion during the perioperative period. And that 1) most of these patients had anemia at the time of transplantation (85.4%), 2) iron status upon admission was associated with the transfusion of more blood units (3.9 vs 2.7, p=0.019), 3) surgical reintervention (OR 7.28, 2.35-22.54) and deceased donor donation (OR 1.99, 1.24-3.21) were associated with an increased risk of transfusion, and finally, 4) there was an association between a higher number of blood units transfused and impaired kidney graft function six months after hospital discharge (1.6 vs 1.9, p=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, PBM guidelines should be applied to patients on the KTx deceased donor waiting list and especially those scheduled to receive a transplant from a living donor. This could potentially increase the utilization efficiency of blood products and avoid transfusion-related severe adverse effects.

Remdesivir in kidney transplant patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Remdesivir is the only antiviral treatment that has been shown to be useful against SARS-CoV-2 infection. It shorts hospitalization time compared to placebo. Its effects in Kidney transplant (KT) patients are limited to some published cases. METHODS: We performed a retrospective observational study that included all KT patients admitted between August 01, 2020 and December 31, 2020 with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia who received remdesivir. The objective of this study was to describe the experience of a cohort of KT patients treated with remdesivir. DISCUSSION: A total of 37 KT patients developed SARS-CoV-2 infection, 7 of them received treatment with remdesivir. The rest of the patients did not receive the drug due to either CKD-EPI less than 30 mL/min or they did not present clinical criteria. In addition to remdesivir, all pacients received dexamethasone and anticoagulation therapy. 4 were men, the median age was 59 (53-71) years. Median time from transplantation was 43 (16-82) months. Chest X-rays of all patients showed pulmonary infiltrates and required low oxygen flow therapy upon admission, requiring high flow nasal therapy in 3 cases. Only 2 cases presented deterioration of the graft function, not requiring hemodialysis in any case, and all recovered renal function at hospital discharge. 2 patients rise up 1.5 times the liver function test. No patient died or required admission to the critical care unit. Median days of admission was 12 (9-27) days. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the use of remdesivir could be useful in KT patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia without side effects. Additional studies are necessary with a larger number of patients to improve the knowledge of this drug in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

[Remdesivir in kidney transplant patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia]. / Remdesivir en pacientes trasplantados renales con neumonía por SARS-CoV-2.

Background: Remdesivir is the only antiviral treatment that has been shown to be useful against SARS-CoV-2 infection. It shorts hospitalization time compared to placebo. Its effects in kidney transplant (KT) patients are limited to some published cases. Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study that included all KT patients admitted between August 1st, 2020 and December 31st, 2020 with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia who received remdesivir.The objective of this study was to describe the experience of a cohort of KT patients treated with remdesivir. Discussion: A total of 37 KT patients developed SARS-CoV-2 infection, 7 of them received treatment with remdesivir. The rest of the patients did not receive the drug due to either CKD-EPI less than 30 mL/min or they did not present clinical criteria. In addition to remdesivir, all patients received dexamethasone and anticoagulation therapy. 4 were men, the median age was 59 (53-71) years. Median time from transplantation was 43 (16-82) months. Chest X-rays of all patients showed pulmonary infiltrates and required low-oxygen flow therapy upon admission, requiring high-flow nasal therapy in 3 cases. Only 2 cases presented deterioration of the graft function, not requiring hemodialysis in any case, and all recovered renal function at hospital discharge. 2 patients rise up 1.5 times the liver function test. No patient died or required admission to the critical care unit. Median days of admission was 12 (9-27) days. Conclusions: Our study suggests that the use of remdesivir could be useful in KT patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia without side effects. Additional studies are necessary with a larger number of patients to improve the knowledge of this drug in SARS-CoV-2 infection.