Is Age an Exclusive Factor for Accepting Liver Donors?

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to assess the viability of livers from older donors ≥80 years of age and to study the evolution of both the graft and the recipient during a minimum follow-up period of 6 months. METHODS: This was a retrospective study (January 2011 to July 2019), including older liver donors, offered by the National Transplant Organization to the Transplant Coordination Team of our hospital. We compared livers excluded exclusively because of donor's age to those that were implanted. The following variables were studied: age, sex, body mass index, cardiovascular risk factors, toxic habits, comorbidities, natremia, use of vasoactive drugs, development of diabetes insipidus, use of antibiotics and length of stay in the intensive care unit. We also conducted a 6-month minimum follow-up of recipients, assessing graft and patient survival. RESULTS: During the period, 130 livers were offered. Of these, 102 (78%) livers were rejected. In 62 (47%), the reason for rejection was age exclusively. Twenty-eight (21%) livers ≥80 years of age were implanted; 2 needed retransplantation. There were no statistically significant differences between livers that were rejected and implanted in the variables detailed above, except for the number of comorbidities, which were lower in the rejected group. During the follow-up period, 7 deaths were registered. CONCLUSION: In our series, liver rejection due exclusively to age was frequent. Recipients of livers that came from older donors had an evolution that is similar to what has been previously described for younger livers. Patients an older age should be evaluated carefully as liver donors before excluding them based exclusively on age criteria.

Transplantation of a heart donated after circulatory death via thoraco-abdominal normothermic regional perfusion and results from the first Spanish case.

BACKGROUND: Controlled donation after circulatory death (cDCD) has emerged as one of the main strategies for increasing the organ donor pool. Because of the ischemic injury that follows the withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies, hearts from cDCD donors have not been considered for transplantation until recently. The ex-situ perfusion of hearts directly procured from cDCD donors has been used to allow the continuous perfusion of the organ and the assessment of myocardial viability prior to transplantation. Based on our experience with abdominal normothermic regional perfusion in cDCD, we designed a protocol to recover and validate hearts from cDCD donors using thoraco-abdominal normothermic regional perfusion without the utilization of an ex-situ device. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the first case of a cDCD heart transplant performed with this approach in Spain. The donor was a 43-year-old asthmatic female diagnosed with severe hypoxic encephalopathy. She was considered a potential cDCD donor and a suitable candidate for multiorgan procurement including the heart via thoraco-abdominal normothermic regional perfusion. The heart recipient was a 60-year-old male diagnosed with amyloid cardiomyopathy. Cold ischemia time was 55 min. The surgery was uneventful. CONCLUSIONS: This case report, the first of its kind in Spain, supports the feasibility of evaluating and successfully transplanting cDCD hearts without the need for ex-situ perfusion based on the use of thoraco-abdominal normothermic regional perfusion opening the way for multiorgan donation in cDCD.

Implementation of a mobile team to provide normothermic regional perfusion in controlled donation after circulatory death: Pilot study and first results.

Normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) in controlled donation after circulatory death is becoming a popular method due to the favorable results of the grafts procured under this technique. This procedure requires experience, and, sometimes, the availability of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machines to implement NRP is limited to tertiary hospitals. In order to provide support with NRP in controlled donation after circulatory death across the different hospitals of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, a mobile NRP team was created. In the first 18 months since its creation, the mobile NRP team participated in 33 procurements across nine different hospitals, representing 72% of all controlled donations after circulatory death in the Autonomous Community of Madrid. NRP was successfully performed in 29 (88%) cases, with a mean duration of 69 ± 27 minutes. A total of 39 kidneys, 12 livers, and 5 bilateral lungs were recovered and transplanted. None of the livers were discarded due to an elevation in transaminases during NRP. A mobile NRP team is a feasible option and, in our series, aided in the optimization and recovery of organs from donors after controlled circulatory death in centers where ECMO technology was not available.

Characteristics and outcome of patients with solid tumour requiring admission to the intensive care unit. Usefulness of three severity score systems.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics and the evolution of patients with solid tumours admitted to the ICU and to identify factors associated with hospital mortality and to evaluate three illness severity scores. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Descriptive study including 132 patients with solid tumour admitted to the ICU (2010-2016). Demographics and cancer-related data, organ failures, life-supporting therapies and severity scores: APACHE II, SOFA and ICU Cancer Mortality Model (ICMM) were collected. RESULTS: There were 58 patients admitted for medical reasons and 74 for scheduled surgery. The ICU and hospital mortality rate were 12.9% and 19.7%, respectively. The medical reason for admission, the number of organ failures, and the need of life-supporting therapies were significantly associated with a higher mortality (p<0.05). In the logistic regression analysis, the three severity scores: SOFA (OR 1.18, 95% IC 1.14-1.48), APACHE II (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.09-1.27), and ICMM (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.02-1.07) were independently associated with a higher mortality (p<0.05). To evaluate the discrimination, the area under the receiver operating characteristics curves (AUROC) were calculated: APACHE II (0.795, 95% CI 0.69-0.9), SOFA (0.77, 95% CI 0.69-0.864) and ICMM (0.794, 95% CI 0.697-0.891). The comparison of AUC ROC after DeLong's test showed no difference between them. CONCLUSION: Hospital mortality was associated with the type and severity of acute illness. The three severity scores were useful to assess outcome and accurate in the discrimination, but we did not find a significant difference between them.

Local low-dose urokinase thrombolysis for the management of haemodynamically stable pulmonary embolism with right ventricular dysfunction.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of local low-dose urokinase thrombolysis (LLDUT) in haemodynamically stable pulmonary embolism with right ventricular dysfunction (RVD). METHODS AND RESULTS: This was a prospective study. LLDUT with a 200,000 IU bolus followed by a 100,000 IU/hr infusion was given. Treatment duration was determined through radiological control performed 48-72 hrs into treatment. A follow-up echocardiogram was performed within seven days after LLDUT completion. Evolution of thrombus burden, pulmonary artery pressures (PAP) and RVD were studied, and haemorrhagic complications and mortality were recorded. Eighty-seven patients were included (62.5±16.5 years). In 67 patients (77%), the baseline echocardiogram showed mild-to-severe RVD, a dilated right ventricle (diameter: 44.4±6.2 mm) and a decreased tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (14 mm [12-17]). Seventy-six patients (87.4%) experienced radiological improvement. Initially high PAP (mmHg) decreased after LLDUT: systolic 52.4 vs. 35.2 (17.2 [95% CI: 14.5-19.9]; p<0.0001), mean 34.2 vs. 23.5 (10.7 [95% CI: 9.0-12.5]; p<0.0001) and diastolic 23.9 vs. 16.0 (7.9 [95% CI: 6.1-9.7]; p<0.0001). Follow-up echocardiography showed overall improvement of RVD. No life-threatening haemorrhagic complications were reported. Six-month survival was 96.5%. CONCLUSIONS: LLDUT rapidly decreased thrombus burden and PAP, improving right ventricular function, and was not associated with any life-threatening complications or pulmonary embolism (PE)- or treatment-related mortality.