Cystic fibrosis liver disease: to transplant or not to transplant?

Biliary cirrhosis complicates some adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) and may require transplantation. Cardio-respiratory disease severity varies such that patients may require liver transplantation, heart/lung/liver (triple) grafts or may be too ill for any procedure. A 15-year experience of adults with CF-related liver disease referred for liver transplantation is presented with patient survival as outcome. Twelve patients were listed for triple grafting. Four died of respiratory disease after prolonged waits (4-171 weeks). Eight underwent transplantation (median wait 62 weeks); 5-year actuarial survival was 37.5%. Four died perioperatively; only one is alive at 8-years. Eighteen patients underwent liver transplant alone (median wait 7 weeks); 1- and 5-year actuarial survival rates were 100% and 69%. Three long-term survivors required further organ replacement (two heart/lung and one renal). Two others were turned down for heart/lung transplantation and four have significant renal impairment. Results for triple grafting were poor with unacceptable waiting times. Results for liver transplant alone were satisfactory, with acceptable waiting times and survival. However, further grafts were required and renal impairment was frequent. The policy of early liver transplantation for adults with CF with a view to subsequent heart/lung or renal transplantation needs assessment in the context of long-term outcome.

Extended ganciclovir prophylaxis in lung transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Positive cytomegaloviral status of the donor or of the recipient adversely affects survival and enhances the development of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) in lung transplant recipients. The role of ganciclovir prophylaxis in cytomegalovirus infection in respect to obliterative bronchiolitis or to BOS development is not known. METHODS: From the Papworth transplant database, we identified 146 patients who received organs from cytomegalovirus-positive donors. We classified patients into 3 groups as follows: Group 1 consisted of 42 patients who underwent transplantation between 1990 and 1992 when no prophylaxis was given; Group 2 consisted of 49 patients who underwent transplantation between 1992 and 1995 when 4 weeks of IV ganciclovir was given as prophylaxis; and Group 3 consisted of 55 patients who underwent transplantation between 1995 and 1998 when cytomegalovirus prophylaxis consisted of IV (1 week) followed by oral ganciclovir for a total of 3 months. Donor management, recipient management during and after surgery, and pharmacotherapy were uniform during the study period. We used survival and regression methods to compare these groups, adjusting for the transplantation type (single lung, double lung, or heart-lung) and for HLA typing. RESULTS: We found a significant difference among all 3 groups in numbers of cytomegaloviral disease episodes in the 1st year after transplantation. The number of rejection episodes in the 3 groups during the 1st post-transplant year gradually decreased from Group 1 to Group 3. We identified no statistically significant benefit in the time to BOS occurrence or in actuarial survival. CONCLUSION: Extended prophylaxis with IV and oral ganciclovir practically abolishes cytomegaloviral disease and is related to a decreased incidence of rejection episodes. However, ganciclovir prophylaxis is not related to a decreased incidence or progression of BOS or survival.

Aortic valve replacement for late infective endocarditis after heart-lung transplantation.

Infective endocarditis is a rare but life-threatening complication of heart and heart-lung transplantation. We describe a 32-year-old woman who developed aortic valvular endocarditis following heart-lung transplantation. Enterococcus was the infective organism. The patient's condition was successfully managed using prolonged intravenous antibiotic therapy and aortic valve replacement.

Atrial transplantation for recurrent cardiac sarcoma.

Cardiac transplantation for sarcomas has met with little success and the surgical treatment remains controversial. We describe the case of a 56-year-old woman who was referred for transplantation after two procedures in which undifferentiated atrial sarcoma was locally excised successfully. The patient underwent atrial homograft transplantation, the first reported to date. Advantages of the procedure include wide atrial resection and no need for immune suppression.

Combined transplantation of the heart, lung, and liver.

Combined transplantation of the heart, lung, and liver may be indicated in patients with either end-stage respiratory failure complicated by advanced liver disease or end-stage liver failure complicated by advanced lung disease. A retrospective review of nine patients who underwent combined heart-lung-liver transplantation in Cambridge (1986-99) was carried out. The 1-year and 5-year actuarial survival was 56% and 42%, respectively. Combined heart-lung-liver transplantation is a feasible option for a few patients and has a 5-year survival similar to heart-lung transplantation but with a lower incidence of acute and chronic rejection.

Improved outcome with organs from carbon monoxide poisoned donors for intrathoracic transplantation.

BACKGROUND: The success of intrathoracic organ transplantation has lead to a growing imbalance between the demand and supply of donor organs. Accordingly, there has been an expansion in the use of organs from nonconventional donors such as those who died from carbon monoxide poisoning. We describe our experience with 7 patients who were transplanted using organs after fatal carbon monoxide poisoning. METHODS: A retrospective study of the 1,312 intrathoracic organ transplants between January 1979 and February 2000 was completed. Seven of these transplants (0.5%) were fulfilled with organs retrieved from donors after fatal carbon monoxide poisoning. There were six heart transplants and one single lung transplant. The history of carbon monoxide inhalation was obtained in all of these donors. RESULTS: Five of 6 patients with heart transplant are alive and well with survival ranging from 68 to 1,879 days (mean, 969 +/- 823 days). One patient (a 29-year-old male) died 12 hours posttransplant caused by donor organ failure. The patient who had a right single lung transplant did well initially after the transplant, but died after 8 months caused by Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. All those recipients who were transplanted from carbon monoxide poisoned donors and ventilated for more than 36 hours, survived for more than 30 days. Moreover, these donors were assessed and optimized by the Papworth donor management protocol. CONCLUSIONS: Carbon monoxide poisoned organs can be considered for intrathoracic transplantation. In view of the significant risk of donor organ failure, a cautious approach is still warranted. Ideally, the donor should be hemodynamically stable for at least 36 hours from the time of poisoning and on minimal support. A formal approach of invasive monitoring and active management further improves the chances of successful outcome.

A UK trial-based cost--utility analysis of transmyocardial laser revascularization compared to continued medical therapy for treatment of refractory angina pectoris.

OBJECTIVE: Transmyocardial laser revascularization (TMLR) is used to treat patients with refractory angina considered unsuitable for conventional forms of revascularization. Using patient specific data from a single centre UK randomised-controlled trial, we aimed to determine whether, from a UK National Health Service (NHS) perspective, TMLR plus standard medical management is cost-effective when compared with standard medical management alone. METHODS: One hundred and eighty-eight patients assessed as having refractory angina, and not suitable for conventional forms of revascularization were randomized to receive TMLR and medical management (94) or medical management alone (94). Costs to the UK NHS of TMLR (where appropriate), and all secondary sector health care contacts and cardiac-related medication in the 12 months following randomization, were collected. Patient utility as measured using the EuroQol EQ-5D questionnaire was combined with 12-month survival data to generate quality adjusted life years (QALYs). RESULTS: The mean cost per patient over the year from hospitalization for TMLR was 11,470 pounds sterling and for medical management alone was 2586 pounds sterling, giving a cost difference of 8901 pounds sterling (95% confidence interval (CI) 7502 pounds sterling--10,008 pounds sterling: P < 0.0001). The mean QALY difference, in favour of TMLR was 0.039 (95% CI -0.033 to 0.113: P = 0.268). This gives an incremental cost per QALY of over 228,000 pounds sterling. Analysis of stochastic uncertainty and of sensitivity to gross changes in key parameters consistently produces very high costs per QALY. CONCLUSIONS: The policy implications are clear: for such patients TMLR is an inefficient use of UK health service resources. This conclusion would not be changed by considerable improvements in effectiveness or reductions in cost.

Pulmonary vein augmentation for single lung transplantation.

We describe a simple method of augmenting pulmonary veins using the donor pericardium in lung grafts which have been procured without an adequate donor left atrial cuff. The method allows making use of lungs procured with suboptimal surgical technique, such as those with short atrial cuffs or completely separated superior and inferior pulmonary veins. We also have applied it equally successfully on the right lung.

A model for analyzing the cost of the main clinical events after lung transplantation.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this project was to model clinically important events experienced by lung transplant patients (from the day after transplant to 5 years or death) and costs associated with these events, and to assess the economic impact of different immunosuppression therapies. METHODS: The population comprised 356 lung transplant patients (223 heart-lung, 102 single lung and 31 double lung) transplanted between April 1984 and December 1997. All patients received a cyclosporine-based triple-immunosuppression protocol. We designed a Markov model that included 3 time periods (0 to 6, 7 to 12, and 13 to 60 months), 5 clinical states (well, acute rejection, cytomegalovirus infection, non-cytomegalovirus infection and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome), and death. For the well state, cost elements were immunosuppression, prophylaxis, and routine clinic visits. For all other states, cost elements were diagnosis, treatment, and bed days/visits. We excluded costs of the procedure. RESULTS: The monthly costs associated with the well state decreased over time, from pound sterlings 1,778 ($2,658) in the first 6 months to pound sterlings 503 ($752) in months 7 to 12 and pound sterlings 350 ($523) after the first 12 months. The cost per event of the acute states remained reasonably constant over the 3 periods: pound sterlings 1,850 ($2,766) for rejection, pound sterlings 3,380 ($5,053) for cytomegalovirus, and pound sterlings 2,790 ($4,171) for other infections. The average cost per patient, discounted at 6%, over 5 years was pound sterlings 35,429 ($52,966) (95% range, pound1,435 [$2,145] to pound67,079 [$100,283]). This estimate is most sensitive to changes in immunosuppression. Substituting tacrolimus for cyclosporine increased 5-year costs by 5%; substituting mycophenolate mofetil for azathioprine increased 5-year costs by 26%. CONCLUSIONS: This model is valuable in estimating the effect of new immunosuppression agents on the costs of follow-up care.