Prophylactic Fibrinogen Decreases Postoperative Bleeding but Not Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Undergoing Heart Transplantation.

The present study is the premier clinical attempt to scrutinize the practicability of prophylactic fibrinogen infusion in patients undergoing heart transplantation (HT). A total of 67 consecutive patients who had undergone HT between January 2012 and December 2014 were assessed. After exclusion of some patients, 23 patients were given preoperative 2 g fibrinogen concentrate over a period of 15 minutes after the termination of cardiopulmonary bypass pump and complete reversal of heparin, and 30 patients were not given. Some laboratories were measured before general anesthesia and at 6 and 24 hours after surgery. In addition, major adverse events were also evaluated during hospitalization. The mean age of the patients was 39.5 ± 11.4 years, with a predominance of male sex (77.4%). All laboratories at baseline were comparable between groups. The length of hospital stay was longer in the control group compared to the fibrinogen group (20 [16-22] vs 16 [12-19] days; P = .005). There was a trend for patients in the fibrinogen group to have more acute kidney injury (AKI) after surgery (10% vs 30.4%) and less reoperation for bleeding (20% vs 8.7%). The amount of postoperative bleeding was significantly higher in the control group compared to the fibrinogen group ( P < .001). The number of packed red blood cell transfused during 24 hours after surgery was significantly lower in the fibrinogen group ( P < .001). The transfusion of fibrinogen in patients undergoing HT may be associated with reductions in postoperative bleeding, the number of packed red blood cells, and hospital length of stay; however, it may enhance postoperative AKI.

Lymphedema of the Transplanted Kidney and Abdominal Wall with Ipsilateral Pleural Effusion Following Kidney Biopsy in a Patient Treated with Sirolimus: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

BACKGROUND Sirolimus is a mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor, which is used in immunosuppressive treatment regimens in organ transplant recipients. Although mTOR inhibitors are well tolerated, their adverse effects have been reported. Sirolimus treatment in transplant recipients has been reported to be associated with lymphedema of the skin and subcutaneous tissues, and with pleural effusion, but edema of internal organs and organomegaly have not been previously reported. A case is presented lymphedema of the transplanted kidney and abdominal wall with ipsilateral pleural effusion following kidney biopsy in a patient treated with sirolimus. CASE REPORT A 32-year-old woman with a history of end-stage renal disease of unknown etiology had undergone right renal transplantation from an unrelated living donor, eight years previously. She was referred to our hospital with dyspnea, localized abdominal pain, and swelling of the transplanted kidney. The symptoms appeared following a kidney biopsy and the replacement of cyclosporin with sirolimus four months previously. On examination, she had localized swelling of the abdominal wall overlying the transplanted kidney, and a right pleural effusion. Hydronephrosis and nephrotic syndrome were excluded as causes of kidney enlargement. Following the withdrawal of sirolimus therapy her symptoms resolved within three months. CONCLUSIONS A case is described of lymphedema of the transplanted kidney and abdominal wall with ipsilateral pleural effusion following kidney biopsy attributed to her change in anti-rejection therapy to sirolimus. This case report should raise awareness of this unusual complication of sirolimus anti-rejection therapy and its possible effects on the lymphatic system.

Amyloidosis as a Renal Complication of Chronic Granulomatous Disease.

Chronic granulomatous disease is a rare primary immunodeficiency disorder, which leads to increased susceptibility to recurrent infections and severe inflammatory manifestations.  There have been reports regarding different aspects of genitourinary involvement in chronic granulomatous disease, some of which are hydronephrosis, granulomatous cystitis, and glomerulonephritis, but among these complications, amyloidosis is rather rare. We report a patient with chronic granulomatous disease that developed amyloidosis later in the course of the disease.

Continuous renal replacement therapy versus furosemide for management of kidney impairment in heart transplant recipients with volume overload.

OBJECTIVES: It is unknown whether continuous renal replacement therapy or furosemide therapy is superior in heart transplant recipients who are in postoperative kidney insufficiency and volume overload. This prospective non-randomized, controlled trial investigated the efficacy of the two methods after transplantation. METHODS: We assigned heart transplant recipients 18 years of age or older who were oliguric (urine output < 400 ml/day); had volume overload and estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m(2) of body surface area calculated with the use of the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease equation, to designed initiation of intervention. We followed 30 patients for up to 30 days. The primary outcome was estimated glomerular filtration rate status after intervention. RESULTS: Between January 2010 and April 2012, a total of 30 adults (mean age: 37 years; 18 men and 12 women) were assessed for entry in this trial. Continuous renal replacement therapy, when compared with furosemide, was associated with a significant increase in estimated glomerular filtration rate of patients after intervention 61 ± 4.5 vs 55 ± 8.5l ml/min/1.73 m(2) (P = 0.02). Moreover, the mean glomerular filtration rate at discharge time for the continuous renal replacement therapy group was 72 ± 7.3 and 58 ± 7.4 ml/min/1.73 m(2) for the furosemide group (P < 0.001). During the follow-up period, 6 of 15 patients in the continuous renal replacement therapy group (40%) and 4 of 15 in the furosemide group (26.6%) died (P = 0.43). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, continuous renal replacement therapy in heart transplant recipients with reduced kidney function was associated with an improvement in estimated glomerular filtration rate status in comparison with furosemide.

Uremic pleuritis in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients are predisposed to several complications associated with pleural effusion. In addition, uremia can directly cause pleuritis. However, there are inadequate data about pathogenesis and natural course of uremic pleuritis. In this study, 76 chronic HD patients with pleural effusion admitted to the Respiratory Center of Masih Daneshvari Hospital, in Tehran, Iran between June 2005 and May 2011 were evaluated to figure out the etiology of their pleural disease. Among these patients, patients with uremic pleuritis were identified and studied. The rate of uremic pleuritis was 23.7%. Other frequent etiologies of pleural effusion were parapneumonic effusion (23.7%), cardiac failure (19.7%), tuberculosis (6.6%), volume overload, malignancy, and unknown. In patients with uremic pleuritis, dyspnea was the most common symptom, followed by cough, weight loss, anorexia, chest pain, and fever. Compared to patients with parapneumonic effusion, patients with uremic effusion had a significantly higher rate of dyspnea and lower rate of cough and fever. Pleural fluid analysis showed that these patients had a significantly lower pleural to serum lactic dehydrogenase ratio, total pleural leukocytes, and polymorphonuclear count compared to patients with parapneumonic effusion. Improvement was achieved in 94.1% of patients with uremic pleuritis by continuation of HD, chest tube insertion or pleural decortication; an outcome better than the previous reports. Despite the association with an exudative effusion, inflammatory pleural reactions in patients with uremic pleuritis may not be as severe as infection-induced effusions. Owing to the advancement in HD technology and other interventions, outcome of uremic pleuritis may be improved.

Hemophagocytic [corrected] lymphohistiocytosis associated with nephrotic syndrome and multi-organ failure.

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is still an important elusive and misdiagnosed condition despite of improved knowledge. Nephrotic syndrome associated with HLH is not a common feature and has been rarely reported in hemophagocytic syndrome. We report a 27-year-old man with HLH who progressed to multi-organ failure as well as nephrotic-range proteinuria, generalized edema, and hypoalbuminemia.

Pheochromocytoma crisis due to glucocorticoid administration: a case report and review of the literature.

We report a patient who presented with two episodes of severe hypertension after intramuscular injection of betamethasone. The first attack was associated with pulmonary edema, while the second attack was associated with high anion gap metabolic acidosis, renal failure, hyperglycemia, and hypokalemia. The attacks led to the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma, which was confirmed by appropriate diagnostic tests. The tumor was excised successfully and the patient is presently asymptomatic.We believe that these episodes were initiated by glucocorticoid injection, an event reported in a few cases. We briefly review potential mechanisms resulted in hypertensive crisis in such patients.