Clinical Transplants

In this brief report, we summarize activity and trends in liver transplantation within the Penn Liver Transplant Program, including total program activity, recipient characteristics, waitlist time to transplant, graft and patient survival, rate of retransplantation, and multi-organ transplantation activity, as well as post-transplant hospital length of stay. RESULTS: Penn Transplant has performed 2478 total adult liver transplants to date, consisting of 2382 deceased-donor liver transplants and 96 living-donor liver transplants...

Mount Sinai Hospital in New York has a long history in the field of organ transplantation. The first kidney transplant at Mount Sinai was performed in 1967 by the late Dr. Lewis Burrows and the first laparoscopic donor nephrectomy in New York was performed at Mount Sinai in 1996. Over 3000 kidney transplantations have been performed at Mount Sinai. In the early 1990s, the first hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive patient at Mount Sinai underwent a kidney transplant and the first kidney transplant in a patient with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in New York was performed at Mount Sinai in 2001...

The National Transplantation Pregnancy Registry (NTPR) is a unique resource for comprehensive information about parenthood after transplantation. To date, 1461 female solid organ transplant recipients with 2609 pregnancies and 879 male recipients who fathered 1358 pregnancies have participated in the NTPR. Over the first 25 years of the NTPR, pregnancy after transplantation has progressed from a situation where termination was once advised, to a topic of pre-transplant counselling with likelihood for success if established criteria are met...

BACKGROUND: There are limited data on the outcome of diabetic lung recipients, especially in those with new-onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT). METHODS: We studied prevalence of pre-transplant diabetes mellitus (PDM) and cumulative incidence of NODAT in lung recipients using the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network /United Network for Organ Sharing database. Between 2004 and 2011, adult (≥18 years old) recipients transplanted with either first single- or double-lung were included...

Data collected by the United Network for Organ Sharing from all approved United States transplant programs were analyzed; the data included 20,290 adult diabetic patients who received primary pancreas transplants between October 1987 and December 2014. Simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplantation has become the major therapeutic option for diabetes patients. The number of SPKs per year has not increased since 1999; it leveled off or decreased slightly each year. Recipients in the most recent period, 2010-2014, were more likely than recipients in any of the other periods to be non-white, older, male, to have had diabetes longer, to have higher body mass indices; and in this group there were more donor-recipient human leukocyte antigen mismatches...

Cardiac transplantation remains a viable option for those with end-stage heart disease. In the last few years, the number of heart transplants has begun to increase slightly. Over the last 27 years, the major reasons for cardiac transplant remain coronary artery disease and dilated cardiomyopathy. Currently, heart transplants have an average lifespan of 10.5 years. The main United Network for Organ Sharing characteristics correlating with poor allograft survival include repeat transplantation, ischemic time, post-transplant dialysis, and age at the time of transplant...

Historically, the OPTN liver allocation policies have favored candidates listed with MELD exception scores, and the use of exceptions has increased each year since the inception of the MELD era. The implementation of Share 35 and other recent changes in OPTN liver allocation policies have reduced the preference for MELD exception candidates to some extent, but the nature and degree of the impact appears to vary widely from one region to another. This report emphasizes the geographic inequities and regional variations in transplant practices, with a focus on liver transplant candidates with hepatocellular carcinoma exceptions, and highlights the need for strategies to promote equitable organ distribution across geographical regions and patient conditions...

The number of new wait list registrants has increased in the last decade but not to the same magnitude as the increase in the number of end stage renal disease patients in the United States. The number of wait list patients has increased at a much higher pace due to the lack of kidney supply. The overall number of kidney transplants only increased slightly. Paired exchange kidney transplant is a viable source of increasing the availability of kidney transplant and also offers access to transplant to patients with immunologic barriers to their intended donors...

Published reports suggest that engraftment failure after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is closely associated with the presence of donor-specific HLA antibodies (DSA). Herein, we report a single cohort retrospective analysis of 567 cases of HLA mismatched allogeneic HSCT patients from the Lu Dao-pei Hematology Center, transplanted between September 11, 2012, and November 20, 2014. Of these cases, 306 patients underwent HLA class I and II antibody testing within one month before transplantation...

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) provides powerful curative weapons for patients with certain hematological diseases. Great improvements have been made within recent years, particularly in the fields of haploidentical HSCT, allo-HSCT for aplastic anemia, and strategies to overcome relapse and graft versus host disease. This review updates the current state of allo-HSCT in China.

Kidney tubular damage caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury is considered the major cause of delayed graft function (DGF) after renal transplantation. It is not clear whether early generated de novo donor specific antibodies (DSA) play a role in DGF. Here, we report 2 cases of renal transplant with DGF, which seems to be associated with de novo DSA. When the early produced de novo DSA are not potent enough to mediate acute rejection, they may cause mild intra-graft injury, which has a significant impact on the degree of DGF and its recovery...

BACKGROUND: Three strategies have been previously proposed to treat or prevent antibody-mediated rejection (AMR): (1) inhibition/depletion of antibody producing cells; (2) removal/blockage of antibodies; and, (3) inhibition of antibody-mediated tissue injury. Here we test the efficacy of lymphocyte-depleting agent antithymocyte globulin (ATG) and triple therapy of rituximab, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), and plasmapheresis in treating AMR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five biopsy-proven AMR patients were enrolled in this acute AMR treatment study...

UNLABELLED: Background: It is now clear that antibody- mediated rejection (AMR) is a major cause of graft failure. To avoid AMR, transplantation is preferably performed in non- or low-sensitized patients. For patients with pre-existing HLA antibodies due to pre-transplant sensitization or those with de novo HLA antibodies due to transplantation, elimination or reduction of HLA antibodies becomes critical to prevent AMR. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial, we test the efficacy of a combination therapy of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI), low- dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), and anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) with or without plasmapheresis (PP) in treating patients with HLA antibodies...

BACKGROUND: The presence of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related gene-A (MICA) antibodies after transplantation is correlated with rejection episodes, proteinuria, and renal allografts loss. We assessed the clinical value of high-dose tacrolimus on post-transplant HLA and MICA antibodies and proteinuria after renal transplantation. METHODS: Post-transplant sera of 310 renal transplantation patients who were negative for antibodies prior to transplant were tested by Luminex flow cytometry for HLA antibodies and MICA antibodies posttransplant...

This study aims to analyze the clinical application of HLA donor specific antibodies (DSA) detected by Luminex single antigen beads and to discuss the impact of early intervention on renal function in DSA positive kidney transplant patients. In 64 cases of living-related renal transplantation, DSA was detected using Luminex single antigen bead assays before and after transplantation. The positive recipients were given intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and increased doses of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). The relationship between DSA and renal function was analyzed...

We used a simple point-based algorithm to identify patients who might benefit from desensitization because of their higher risk of antibody-mediated chronic rejection and graft failure. Points were assigned to known but easily determined risk factors (panel reactive antibody, flow crossmatch, delayed graft function) and calculated immediately after deceased donor kidney transplantation. Point totals were used to identify: 1) which patients would receive desensitization; and, 2) which regimen each patient would receive...

There is limited data on the rate of late antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) in unselected transplant cohorts. Here, we investigated the prevalence and characteristics of ABMR in a large cohort of long-term kidney allograft recipients. Patients were screened in the context of a randomized controlled trial (BORTEJECT study; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01873157) designed to investigate the impact of bortezomib on the course of late ABMR. The study (initiation in October 2013) includes a cross-sectional ABMR screening (key inclusion criterion: functioning graft at ≥ 180 days) to identify 44 recipients eligible for inclusion in the intervention trial...

A new clinical diagnostic schema is needed for the diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) in kidney transplant recipients due to the limited utility of C4d staining, lack of standardized quantitative tests for donor specific antibodies, and potential new diagnostic markers. The treatment of AMR remains controversial because previous studies included heterogeneous treatment modalities, small sample sizes, and short follow-up time. At the University of Michigan Transplant Center, 26 patients were diagnosed with AMR based on our diagnostic protocol including C4d-negative AMR in thesetting of graft dysfunction and Banff tissue injury type II (capillaritis) or type III (arteritis)...

BACKGROUND: Transplantation continues to be challenging in highly sensitized patients. Herein, we compared induction immunosuppression (IS) based on immunologic risk stratification and desensitization with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). METHODS: Of the 42 highly sensitized kidney and 3 kidney-pancreas transplant recipients who underwent IVIG for desensitization from 2008-2014, 10 (Control group) received standard induction IS with antithymocyte globulin, basiliximab, and methylprednisolone, and 35 (Rituximab group) received standard IS with rituximab ± IVIG ± plasmapheresis...

Kidney allograft damage resulting from donor-specific anti-HLA antibody (DSA) activity has been identified as a key component of long-term graft attrition. DSA that persists following acute antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) episodes and/or DSA associated with chronic graft dysfunction have been shown to be particularly pathogenic. Despite the significantly negative effects of DSA on graft survival, there are currently no accepted treatment modalities. We have previously reported our experience using a regimen of high-dose (5 mg/kg) intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment over 6 months for kidney recipients with detectable DSA either following an acute AMR episode or in association with chronic graft dysfunction...