Duration of Dialysis in Acute Kidney Injury Donors and Transplant Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) kidneys, including those from donors on dialysis, are often underutilized, although there is increasing data available demonstrating good transplant outcomes. To date, data on the duration of donor dialysis and transplant outcomes are limited. STUDY DESIGN: This was a single-center study of deceased donor kidney transplants from 2010 to 2022. The study cohort consisted of recipients of deceased donor kidney transplants from donors with AKI and on dialysis. Three groups were identified based on the predetermined interquartile range of donor dialysis duration: 1 to 2 dialysis days, 3 to 4 dialysis days, and 5 or more dialysis days. RESULTS: During this period, 765 AKI deceased donor transplants were performed, of which 230 were from donors on dialysis. The median dialysis duration was 2 days with a maximum of 13 days. Across the 3 groups, there were no differences in recipient age (p = 0.23) or dialysis vintage (p = 0.70). Donor age (p = 0.86) and kidney donor profile index (p = 0.57) were comparable between the groups. Recipients of deceased donor kidney transplants from donors on dialysis 5 or more days had lower terminal creatinine levels (p = 0.003) and longer cold ischemia times (p = 0.04). Posttransplant, the median length of hospital stay was 3 days for all groups (p = 0.75). There were no differences in delayed graft function occurrence (94.4% vs 86.8% vs 92.1%, p = 0.19), duration of delayed graft function (p = 0.56), or readmissions (p = 0.99). At 1 year posttransplant, the estimated glomerular filtration rate (p = 0.76), patient survival (p = 0.82), or death-censored graft survival (p = 0.28) were comparable. CONCLUSIONS: Excellent outcomes have been observed in AKI deceased donor kidney transplants, including those coming from donors on dialysis. In this small cohort, the duration of donor dialysis did not adversely affect outcomes. Cautious expansion of the donor pool, including donors on dialysis, should be considered given the ongoing organ shortage.

Past, Current, and Future Perspectives on Transplanting Acute Kidney Injury Kidneys.

(1) Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) kidneys have high non-utilization rates due to concerns regarding unfavorable outcomes. In this paper, we aimed to review the past, present, and future opinions on AKI kidneys. (2) Methods: A PubMed search was conducted for topics relevant to AKI kidney transplantation. (3) Results: Current short- and long-term data on AKI kidneys have demonstrated good outcomes including favorable graft function and survival. The role of procurement biopsies is controversial, but they have been shown to be beneficial in AKI kidneys by allowing clinicians to differentiate between reversible tubular injury and irreversible cortical necrosis. Machine perfusion has also been applied to AKI kidneys and has been shown to reduce delayed graft function (DGF). The incidence of DGF increases with AKI severity and its management can be challenging. Strategies employed to counteract this have included early initiation of dialysis after kidney transplantation, early targeting of adequate immunosuppression levels to minimize rejection risk, and establishment of outpatient dialysis. (4) Conclusions: Despite good outcomes, there continue to be barriers that impact AKI kidney utilization. Successful strategies have included use of procurement biopsies or machine perfusion and expectant management of DGF. With increasing experience, better use of AKI kidneys can result in additional opportunities to expand the donor pool.

Outcomes with transplanting kidneys offered through expedited allocation.

INTRODUCTION: Expedited out-of-sequence deceased donor kidney allocation is a strategy to avoid discards after early placement attempts have been unsuccessful. Our study aimed to assess outcomes and characteristics of these transplanted kidneys. METHODS: KDPI matching was performed between expedited allocation (EA) and standard allocation (SA) deceased donor kidney transplants performed at our center. RESULTS: Between 2018 and 2021, there were 225 EA offers, and 189 (84%) were transplanted. EA recipients were older (p = .007) and had shorter dialysis vintage (p < .0001). EA kidneys were likely to be nationally allocated (p < .001), have AKI (p < .0001) and longer CIT (p < .0001). There were no differences in EA and SA time-zero kidney biopsies (ci, p = .07; ct, p = .89; cv, p = .95; ah, p = .79). EA kidneys had more DGF (p = .0006), but there were no differences in DGF duration (p = .83), hospital length of stay (p = .43), 1- and 2-year eGFR (p = .16, p = .99), patient (p = .34), or death-censored graft (p = .66) survival. CONCLUSION: During this study period, our center transplanted 189 kidneys through EA following local-regional declines. These kidneys often came from AKI donors and had more DGF but had similar outcomes to KDPI-matched SA kidneys. Although it has been suggested that EA has the potential to worsen transplant disparities, transplant center level decisions on organ acceptance contribute to these variations.

Declining Medicare reimbursement in abdominal transplantation from 2000 to 2021.

BACKGROUND: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is a major payer for abdominal transplant services. Reimbursement reductions could have a major impact on the transplant surgical workforce and hospitals. Yet government reimbursement trends in abdominal transplantation have not been fully characterized. METHODS: We performed an economic analysis to characterize changes in inflation-adjusted trends in Medicare surgical reimbursement for abdominal transplant procedures. Using the Medicare Fee Schedule Look-Up Tool, we performed a procedure code-based surgical reimbursement rate analysis. Reimbursement rates were adjusted for inflation to calculate overall changes in reimbursement, overall year-over-year, 5-year year-over-year, and compound annual growth rate from 2000 to 2021. RESULTS: We observed declines in adjusted reimbursement of common abdominal transplant procedures, including liver (-32.4%), kidney with and without nephrectomy (-24.2% and -24.1%, respectively), and pancreas transplant (-15.2%) (all, P < .05). Overall, the yearly average change for liver, kidney with and without nephrectomy, and pancreas transplant were -1.54%, -1.15%, -1.15%, and -0.72%. Five-year annual change averaged -2.69%, -2.35%, -2.64%, and -2.43%, respectively. The overall average compound annual growth rate was -1.27%. CONCLUSION: This analysis depicts a worrisome reimbursement pattern for abdominal transplant procedures. Transplant surgeons, centers, and professional organizations should note these trends to advocate sustainable reimbursement policy and to preserve continued access to transplant services.

Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Alpha Fetoprotein, and Liver Allocation for Transplantation: Past, Present and Future.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading indications for liver transplantation and has been the treatment of choice due to the oncologic benefit for patients with advanced chronic liver disease (AdvCLD) and small tumors for the last 25 years. For HCC patients undergoing liver transplantation, alpha fetoprotein (AFP) has increasingly been applied as an independent predictor for overall survival, disease free recurrence, and waitlist drop out. In addition to static AFP, newer studies evaluating the AFP dynamic response to downstaging therapy show enhanced prognostication compared to static AFP alone. While AFP has been utilized to select HCC patients for transplant, despite years of allocation policy changes, the US allocation system continues to take a uniform approach to HCC patients, without discriminating between those with favorable or unfavorable tumor biology. We aim to review the history of liver allocation for HCC in the US, the utility of AFP in liver transplantation, the implications of weaving AFP as a biomarker into policy. Based on this review, we encourage the US transplant community to revisit its HCC organ allocation model, to incorporate more precise oncologic principles for patient selection, and to adopt AFP dynamics to better stratify waitlist dropout risk.

Monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19 in solid organ transplant recipients.

Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are at high risk for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Studies suggest that early intervention with monoclonal antibody (MAB) treatment directed against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein may reduce the risk of emergency department visits or hospitalization for COVID-19, especially in high-risk patients. Herein, we describe our single-center experience of 93 SOT (50 kidney, 17 liver, 11 lung, nine heart, and six dual-organ) recipients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who were treated with bamlanivimab or casirivimab-imdevimab per emergency use authorization guidelines. Median age of recipients was 55 [(Interquartile range) 44-63] years, and 41% were diabetic. Median time from transplant to MAB was 64 (IQR 24-122) months and median time from the onset of COVID-19 symptoms to the infusion was 6 (IQR 4-7) days. All patients had a minimum 30 days of study follow-up. The 30-day hospitalization rate for COVID-19-directed therapy was 8.7%. Infusion-related adverse events were rare and generally mild. Biopsy-proven organ rejection occurred in two patients, and there were no graft losses or deaths. A comparator group of 72 SOT recipients diagnosed with COVID-19 who were eligible but did not receive MAB treatment had a higher 30-day hospitalization rate for COVID-19-directed therapy (15.3%), although this difference was not statistically significant, after adjustment for age (Odds Ratio 0.49 [95% Confidence Interval 0.18-1.32], p = 0.16). Our experience suggests that MAB treatment, with respect to the available MAB formulations and circulating viral variants present during our study period, may provide favorable outcomes for mild to moderate COVID-19 in SOT recipients.

Mending a Broken Heart: Treatment of Stress-Induced Heart Failure after Solid Organ Transplantation.

Stress-induced heart failure, also known as Broken Heart Syndrome or Takotsubo Syndrome, is a phenomenon characterized as rare but well described in the literature, with increasing incidence. While more commonly associated with postmenopausal women with psychiatric disorders, this entity is found in the postoperative patient. The nonischemic cardiogenic shock manifests as biventricular failure with significant decreases in ejection fraction and cardiac function. In a review of over 3000 kidney and liver transplantations over the course of 17 years within two transplant centers, we describe a series of 7 patients with Takotsubo Syndrome after solid organ transplantation. Furthermore, we describe a novel approach of successfully treating the transient, though potentially fatal, cardiogenic shock with a percutaneous ventricular assistance device in two liver transplant patients, while treating one kidney transplant patient medically and the remaining four liver transplant patients with an intra-aortic balloon pump. We describe our experience with Takotsubo's Syndrome and compare the three modalities of treatment and cardiac augmentation. Our series is novel in introducing the percutaneous ventricular assist device as a more minimally invasive intervention in treating nonischemic heart failure in the solid organ transplant patient, while serving as a comprehensive overview of treatment modalities for stress-induced heart failure.

Are drowned donors marginal donors? A single pediatric center experience.

Drowning, a common cause of death in the pediatric population, is a potentially large donor pool for OLT. Anecdotally, transplant centers have deemed these organs high risk over concerns for infection and graft dysfunction. We theorized drowned donor liver allografts do not portend worse outcomes and therefore should not be excluded from the donation pool. We reviewed our single-center experience of pediatric OLTs between 1988 and 2015 and identified 33 drowned donor recipients. These OLTs were matched 1:2 to head trauma donor OLTs from our center. A chart review assessed postoperative peak AST and ALT, incidence of HAT, graft and recipient survival. Recipient survival at one year between patients with drowned donor vs head trauma donor allografts was not statistically significant (94% vs 97%, P=.63). HAT incidence was 6.1% in the drowned donor group vs 7.6% in the control group (P=.78). Mean postoperative peak AST and ALT was 683 U/L and 450 U/L for drowned donors vs 1119 U/L and 828 U/L in the matched cohort. These results suggest drowned donor liver allografts do not portend worse outcomes in comparison with those procured from head trauma donors.

Portosystemic shunt as a bridge to liver transplantation in infants: A comparison of two techniques.

Portosystemic shunts can serve as a bridge to liver transplantation in patients with end-stage liver disease by providing portal decompression to treat life-threatening variceal bleeding and prevent recurrent episodes until an organ becomes available. The conventional TIPS procedure, however, is technically challenging to perform in infants due to the small size of their intrahepatic vasculature. We report two cases of emergent creation of portosystemic shunts as a bridge to liver transplantation in infants with life-threatening variceal bleeding using a conventional TIPS technique in the first case and a percutaneous DIPS technique in the other. Both procedures were successful at reducing the portosystemic pressure gradient and preventing further variceal bleeds until a liver transplant could be performed. The novel percutaneous DIPS procedure is a valuable alternative to the conventional TIPS in infants, as it is better suited for small or challenging intrahepatic vascular anatomy.

An impressive choledochal cyst and its surgical resection.

INTRODUCTION: Choledochal cysts are rare congenital dilations of the biliary tree that can present with non-specific symptoms such as abdominal pain, jaundice, cholelithiasis and pancreatitis. Although most commonly identified in children, they can be found in the adult population. However, because of the non-specific symptoms, this diagnosis may be difficult to make in the adult. A physician therefore must keep this diagnosis within their differential, as it may arise in an unexpected patient population who may present with a convoluted work up. CASE PRESENTATION: In this report, we present the case of a 50-year-old African American woman with recurrent cholelithiasis, cholangitis and eventually obstructive jaundice despite undergoing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy six years prior. Her only work up at that point was a right upper quadrant ultrasound revealing gallbladder sludge, which led to her cholecystectomy. It was the persistence of her symptoms-abdominal pain, cholangitis and obstructive jaundice-previously attributed to chronic cholecystitis and choledocholithiasis that warranted further work up. After multiple physician visits, she was referred to our academic center after an ERCP was performed and she was found to have a dilation of her common bile duct consistent with a choledochal cyst. Furthermore, the ERCP identified multiple bile duct stones within the cyst. This was not identified on her original ultrasound or prior ERCPs. The patient underwent a complete cyst excision with Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy and did well post-operatively. DISCUSSION: This report illustrates how choledochal cysts can be an elusive diagnosis, but may present with repeated infections, recurrent biliary stones, and biliary obstruction despite a cholecystectomy. Had she an MRCP prior to her cholecystectomy, she would likely have avoided multiple surgeries, and years of persistent symptoms. Choledochal cysts are associated with an increased risk of biliary malignancy and therefore cyst excision is the standard of care. CONCLUSION: Although rare, physicians need to keep this diagnosis in mind, and be aware of the clinical and imaging findings consistent with a choledochal cyst in order to facilitate appropriate work up, referral and treatment.