Excellent long-term results in de novo renal transplant recipients treated with proliferation signal inhibitors and reduced calcineurin inhibitors exposure.

BACKGROUND: A new class of immunosuppressants, proliferation signal inhibitors (PSI)--sirolimus and everolimus--has the potential to prevent chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN). This retrospective analysis reports a 6-year practice using PSI at a single center, comparing a regimen based on reduced-dose calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) and PSI versus full-dose CNI and mycophenolic acid (MPA). METHODS: The study population included 70 patients (group A) who received de novo PSI therapy in combination with reduced dose of CNI, standard steroids, and basiliximab induction, and 216 patients (group B) with full-dose CNI, MPA, steroids, and basiliximab induction. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were recorded in the baseline donor and recipient characteristics. A difference was observed in cold ischemia time, which could represent a bias for the analysis. No differences were recorded in actuarial patient survival, delayed graft function, biopsy-proven acute rejection rates, and renal function analysis. A significant difference was recorded in the actuarial graft survival rate at years 2, 3, and 4 (P< .01), as well as overall graft survival rates (P= .025). DISCUSSION: The reduction of cold preservation time seemed to be an important factor to improve both short- and long-term renal function. This regimen revealed a long-term trend toward better renal function and graft survival. The use of PSI with reduced doses of CNI seems to be indicated for suboptimal grafts, especially when a reduced quality of the kidney is associated with prolonged cold ischemia time.

Analysis of posttransplant diabetes mellitus prevalence in a population of kidney transplant recipients.

AIM: The onset of posttransplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) among kidney recipients is associated with an increased risk of graft failure and death. Minimizing the risk of PTDM is a priority for long-term improvement in survival rates. We sought to evaluate the prevalence of PTDM and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) among a population of kidney transplant recipients to identify the risk factors and to evaluate graft and patient survivals. METHODS: We analyzed 250 consecutive Caucasian patients who received kidney allografts in our center between May 2000 and December 2005, with a median follow-up of 32 months (range, 1-78 months). RESULTS: We observed altered glucose metabolism in 17% of patients; specifically, the prevalences of PTDM and IFG were 12.2% and 4.8%, respectively. Patients who developed PTDM or IFG were overweight (BMI, 26.4+/-3.4 and 28.1+/-3.4 kg/m(2), respectively), whereas the normal glucose (NG) group's BMI was 23.8+/-3.5 kg/m(2) (P= .002 and P= .004, respectively). Prevalence of acute rejection was higher in the PTDM and IFG patients compared with the NG patients (60.7%, 63.6%, and 32.1%, respectively; P= .006; P< .04), while no difference was observed in terms of graft and patient overall survival. CONCLUSION: In our series of patients, we showed that being overweight represents a major risk factor for the development of PTDM, which results in an increased acute rejection rate. These results confirmed the importance of appropriate weight control among patients undergoing kidney transplantation, which should also be strictly monitored for all risk factors associated with the development of impaired glucose metabolism.

Long-term outcome of renal transplantation from marginal donors.

Long-term survival of kidneys from suboptimal donors is known to be not as good as that from optimal ones. However, the shortage of donors has led many transplant centers to consider accepting older donors with comorbidities. We analyzed 238 patients who received deceased donor renal transplants in the period 2000-2005. The recipients were matched to be no more than 15 years older or younger than the corresponding donors. Among them 125 received a single and 18 a double transplantation from donors considered marginal, according to UNOS criteria for expanded criteria donor (ECD). Most kidneys were evaluated with a pretransplant biopsy, using the scoring system introduced by Karpinski in 1999. The analysis indicated clearly better results in the non-ECD group: both patients and graft survival rates were 10% higher at 1, 2, and 3 years. However, the ECD group showed satisfactory outcomes, confirming the utility of this procedure. The long-term survival rates of single or double grafts from marginal donors are satisfactory, confirming the practice of allocating kidneys after a preimplantation histological evaluation, allowing expansion of the donor pool and providing older patients access to the waiting lists.

Cytomegalovirus infection with multiple colonic perforations in a renal transplant recipient.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) continues to be potentially the most important pathogen affecting organ transplant recipients. Severe gastrointestinal complications have been reported to occur in about 10% of renal transplant recipients, sometimes with dramatic presentations. We report the case of a 57-year-old CMV-seropositive woman with end-stage renal failure who developed CMV-related colonic multiple perforation 30 days after cadaveric CMV-positive renal transplantation. CMV pp65 antigenemia test and CMV-PCR had always been negative on all the weekly controls routinely performed in the postoperative period. Only after the sudden onset of this complication did the antigenemia and PCR become positive. The relationship between infection and perforation has been established beyond any doubt, as the histology of the resected colonic segment revealed florid CMV infection with evidence of typical inclusions in both macrophages and endothelial cells. Colonic perforations are often fatal in transplant recipients because of inability to contain the perforation, and only a rapid diagnosis and an aggressive surgical treatment can improve the prognosis.

Kidney transplantation from donors aged 65 years or more as single or dual grafts.

AIM: The organ shortage and aging donor population force transplant centers to accept donors previously considered unusable for kidney transplantation. We report the experience of two Italian transplant centers with single (SKTx) and dual (DKTx) kidney transplantation from donors aged 65 years or more. METHODS: The study population comprised 75 SKTx (mean donor age 70.5 years) and 28 DKTx (mean donor age 75.0 years). Kidneys from donors with a calculated admission creatinine clearance <50 mL/min, a Karpinski's score on kidney biopsy between 5 and 7, or both were allocated to DKTx. Grafts with better function or lower biopsy scores were employed for SKTx. RESULTS: Delayed graft function occurred in 45.3% of SKTx and in 39.3% of DKTx. After a mean follow-up period of 30.0 +/- 19.5 months, the acute rejection rate was 24.0% in SKTx and 7.1% in DKTx. Mean serum creatinine was 1.8 +/- 0.9 and 1.8 +/- 1.3 mg/dL in SKTx, and 1.8 +/- 1.6 mg/dL and 1.3 +/- 0.2 mg/dL in DKTx at 1 and 5 years, respectively. Patient survival was 93.3% and 91.2% in SKTx, and 92.9% and 92.9% in DKTx at 1 and 5 years, respectively. Graft survival was 92.0% and 88.3% in SKTx, and 89.3% and 89.3% in DKTx at the same time intervals. Keeping preservation time below 16 hours and avoiding calcineurin inhibitors were both associated with improved graft survival and function. CONCLUSION: Careful donor selection, short preservation time, and tailored immunosuppression allow safe and efficient use of elderly donor kidneys.

[Cervical esophageal perforation caused by a foreign body: a clinical case]. / Perforazione esofagea cervicale da corpo estraneo: caso clinico.

The Authors report a case of cervical esophageal perforation from foreign body. Comparing their experience with data from literature, they point out the diagnostic importance of both X-ray studies, in order to demonstrate the site of the lesion, and CT scans, to have accurate information on perilesional infective complications (abscesses). Early surgical treatment, with primary closure of perforation and adequate drainage, associated with antibiotics and enteral or total parenteral nutrition, allows good results in most cases.

Conversion of stable kidney transplant recipients from a twice-daily to once-daily everolimus regimen.

Once-daily everolimus administration is a further option to improve compliance to immunosuppressive therapy. We randomized 23 stable kidney transplant recipients already on everolimus therapy to receive a single daily morning dose or to continue the twice-daily regimen. The everolimus levels evaluated after 2 weeks showed a slight reduction from 5.13 +/- 1.61 ng/mL at baseline to 4.76 +/- 1.61 ng/mL, which was not statistically significant. After 2 weeks we also evaluated cyclosporine (CsA) levels together with renal function parameters, neither of which showed episodes, any difference between the converted versus twice-daily groups. We did not record any adverse event, such as an infection, an acute rejection episode, or graft loss, over the 6-month study period. Single dosing of everolimus is possible and safe and may achieve better patient compliance to multiple-drug immunosuppressive therapy.