Progress in Transplantation

An increasing demand for kidney transplantation has enticed some patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) to venture outside their country of residence, but their posttransplant outcomes may be suboptimal.

We compared the risks and clinical outcomes among tourists, or patients who pursue a kidney transplant abroad, versus patients who received a transplant at the Toronto General Hospital (TGH).

A single-center, 1:3 matched (based on age at transplant, time on dialysis, and year of transplant) cohort study was conducted. Forty-five tourists were matched with 135 domestic transplant recipients between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2011. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were fitted to assess graft and patient outcomes.

Among the 45 tourists, the majority (38 of 45) traveled to the Middle East or Far East Asia, and most received living donor kidney transplants (35 of 45). Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models showed that tourists had a higher risk for the composite outcome of acute rejection, death-censored graft failure, or death with graft function (DWGF; hazard ratio [HR] 2.08, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06-4.07). Tourists also showed a higher risk for the individual end points of acute rejection, DWGF, and posttransplant hospitalizations.

Patients going abroad for kidney transplantation may have inferior outcomes compared to domestic patients receiving kidney transplants. Patients who are contemplating an overseas transplant need to be aware of the increased risk of adverse posttransplant outcomes and should be appropriately counseled by transplant professionals during the pretransplant evaluation process.

In the United States, organ donation after circulatory death (DCD) determination is increasing among those who are removed from life-sustaining therapy but is rare when death is unexpected. We created a program for uncontrolled DCD (uDCD).

A comprehensive program was created to train personnel to identify and respond quickly to potential donors after unexpected death. The process termed Condition T was implemented in the emergency department (ED) of 2 academic medical centers. All ED deaths were screened for uDCD potential. Eligible donors included patients with preexisting donor designation who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation, failed to respond, and were pronounced dead.

Over 350 nurses, physicians, perfusionists, organ procurement personnel, and administrators were trained. From February 2009 to June 2010, a total of 18 patients were potential Condition T candidates. Six Condition T responses were triggered. Three donors underwent cannulation, and 4 organs were recovered (3 kidney and 1 liver) from 2 donors. Time from Condition T trigger to perfusion with organ preservation solution ranged from 14 to 22.3 minutes. Perfusion duration was 197 and 221 minutes. No recovered organs were transplanted because biopsies showed prolonged warm ischemia.

It is feasible to create a process to rapidly intervene in the ED for uDCD. However, no organ transplants resulted. The utility and sustainability of an uDCD program in this particular setting are questionable.

Uterine transplantation (UTx).

To explore patients’ knowledge of and attitudes toward UTx before and after a short educational intervention via a video and question and answer (Q&A) session.

Large, in-depth survey investigating patients’ motivations, aims, and beliefs on UTx.

Imperial College London.

Women diagnosed with absolute uterine factor infertility (AUFI) who were seeking information on UTx and had already volunteered to participate in the study.

A semistructured interview involving a brief baseline questionnaire before a Q&A session and a 20-minute video exploring the main risks and benefits for UTx.

Attitudes of self-referred patients with AUFI toward UTx before and after education focusing on UTx. Rank order of importance of key UTx-related issues.

Forty women were interviewed. Following the video presentation and Q&A session, 97.5% (n = 39) would undergo UTx ahead of surrogacy and adoption in full knowledge that the latter 2 options would be ultimately safer for their own well-being and the fact that the graft could fail even prior to conception. All felt that UTx should take place, and 92.5% saw UTx as achievable.

The study demonstrates a keen interest in UTx, partly because other options seem difficult to access. It is worth noting that people appear to be distancing themselves from the risk. This requires careful assessment in any clinical program. This study is the first to demonstrate a qualitative relationship between patients with AUFI and their curiosity and desire for UTx. It paves the way for forming the introduction into the psychological assessment of a potential patient.

A large proportion of liver transplants (LTXs) are performed due to alcoholic liver disease (ALD) in the final stage of organ insufficiency. In order to list patients for LTX, transplant centers commonly require 6 months abstinence from alcohol. However, significant differences have been reported between alcohol intake as indicated by self-report and biochemical markers of alcohol.

In the present study, the usefulness of ethyl glucuronide analysis in hair (hETG) was examined during the evaluation procedure before listing patients with ALD for an LTX.

Cross-sectional survey.

Psychosomatic evaluation.

Seventy patients with ALD prior to listing for an LTX.

According to clinical assessment before listing patients with ALD (n = 233) for an LTX, hETG analysis was only performed in the patients who were assumed to deny or underreport their alcohol consumption (n = 70).

The analysis of hETG by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, clinical interview.

By hETG analyses, 27 (38.6%) of the 70 patients tested positive for ongoing alcohol consumption.

Selective use of hETG based on the clinical interview rather than widespread screening is a possible way to detect excessive alcohol consumption in patients with ALD in the transplant setting. The primary evaluation of a patient’s situation in its entirety should remain the superordinate standard procedure. An interdisciplinary approach to transplant candidates with an ALD is asked for.

Past research suggests the information exchanged from transplant centers to potential living kidney donors is, in many cases, suboptimal. The purpose of this study was to assess donors’ perceptions of the information provided while considering living donation.

Semistructured telephone interviews conducted with 81 past living donors seen at 1 mid-Atlantic transplant center assessed the extent to which living kidney donors deemed Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)-mandated information useful to making a decision about donation and to which more information was or would have been desired before donating. Understanding of and satisfaction with the information was also assessed.

Participants were primarily white (67.9%), females (67.9%), with an average age of 57.8 years. Perceived usefulness ranged from a mean of 3.1 for the confidentiality of the transplant center’s communication to 4.1 for postoperative care and short-term medical risks of donation. Donors of minority descent as well as those with more education and less income found the information provided most useful. Few donors desired additional information about the right to opt out of (8.6%) or decline (13.6%) donation; however, most wanted more information regarding the risk of being refused health, disability and/or life insurance after donating (77.8%), and insurance coverage for future health problems (66.7%).

This study revealed limited usefulness of certain CMS-mandated topics and a desire for additional information about donation. Efforts to standardize the informed consent process should incorporate donors’ perspectives as to the specific topics, quantity of information, and the mode of communication found most useful when considering living donation.

Hypomagnesemia is a frequent finding in kidney transplant patients and plays a causal role in insulin resistance and diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the pretransplant magnesium (Mg) level is a risk factor for the development of new-onset diabetes after kidney transplantation (NODAT) and the presence of relationship between pretransplant hypomagnesemia and the development period of NODAT.

Four hundred and nineteen nondiabetic renal transplant recipients were evaluated retrospectively. The patients were divided into NODAT and non-NODAT groups. The time of diagnosis of patients with NODAT was divided into 0 to 3, 3 to 6, 6 to 12 months, and after 12 months. Patients’ characteristics and pretransplant Mg levels in NODAT were compared with non-NODAT, and it was investigated whether pretransplant hypomagnesemia was a risk factor for the development of NODAT.

Totally 70 (16.6%) patients (36 female [F], mean age 51.7 ± 8.2 years) were diagnosed with NODAT. Three hundred and forty-nine patients (115 F, mean age 43.2 ± 12.5 years) did not have NODAT. Pretransplant mean Mg level was 1.97 ± 0.40 mg/dL in patients with NODAT, while it was 2.5 ± 0.45 mg/dL in non-NODAT patients (P < .001). Serum Mg level was found to be similar in subgroups according to the development period of NODAT (P = .07). When patients were stratified according to quartiles of Mg level, the frequency of NODAT was significantly higher in patients in the lower quartile (Mg < 2.1 mg/dL; P < .001). Older age, high body mass index, and low pretransplant serum Mg levels were established as risk factors for developing NODAT. According to the quartile of Mg level, the risk of developing NODAT was highest in the lowest quartile.

Pretransplant hypomagnesemia is an independent risk factor of NODAT. Therefore, it is necessary to closely monitor the Mg levels in the posttransplant period.

Sleep quality affects health and self-management in chronic illness. Limited research has examined patterns and predictors of sleep quality and its impact on self-management and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among lung transplant recipients (LTRs).

The aims of this study were to identify the patterns, predictors, and impact of poor sleep quality on self-management behaviors and HRQOL the first year after lung transplantation.

Secondary analysis of 75 LTRs who participated in a randomized controlled trial. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was administered at baseline, 2, 6, and 12 months after transplant; 12-month PSQI was dichotomized categorizing good versus poor sleepers. Predictors were measured at the time of transplant; self-management and HRQOL were measured at 12 months. Logistic regression identified predictors of poor sleep. Correlations examined poor sleep quality, self-management behaviors, and HRQOL.

Sleep quality was relatively stable during the first year, and 24 of the 75 (32%) of the sample met criteria for poor sleep quality at 12 months. The only multivariate predictor of poor sleep was female gender (odds ratio = 3.421; P = .026); the mental component of HRQOL was the only outcome associated with poor sleep (r = −.348; P < .01).

Nearly one-third of LTRs reported persistent poor sleep through year 1. More females reported poor sleep quality, and sleep quality was inversely related to mental HRQOL by 12 months. Knowledge of these relationships may help identify LTRs at the greatest risk for poor sleep and guide strategies to promote sleep and optimize HRQOL.

Kidney transplant recipients have great risk for gaining significant weight (upward of 10 kg) in the first year posttransplant. Clinical depression can occur in response to life situations and is associated with weight gain.

To explore the association between demographic characteristics, weight change, and depression posttransplantation.

Secondary data analysis on longitudinal data collected for a larger observational study. Demographic characteristics, weight, and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) data were obtained at baseline (BL) (time of transplantation), 6, and 12 months posttransplant. The CES-D scores were compared among time points using means, standard deviations, correlations, t tests, and chi-square as well as by multiple regression modeling.

Regional transplant center in the mid-south United States.

Forty-seven kidney transplant recipients (55% female, 57% African American, mean age 52.5 years). Weight change ranged from −18.1 to +24.8 kg.

In all, 62% reported baseline CES-D scores indicative of depression, with lower scores indicating less psychological distress at 6 and 12 months (47% and 49%, respectively). We found no significant differences among CES-D scores at any time point. Regression models found age, race, gender, and weight change to be predictive of CES-D scores at 6 months (P = .04, R ² = .137). Age was the most influential (P = .008), with older individuals more likely to obtain higher CES-D scores. Since the experience of depression is common at transplant and during the first year, it is important that transplant recipients be evaluated for depression early in the recovery period.

Nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) are increasingly utilized in health care. However, their roles in liver transplantation (LT) have not been investigated.

In this study, we reviewed the employment and development of NPs and PAs and their impact on our deceased-donor LT (DDLT) program.

We found a safe and efficient way to utilize NPs and PAs in a DDLT program. Since the beginning of our program, Model of End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores have increased significantly, suggesting patients are sicker at the time of transplant, and wait times of patients have become longer. With the incorporation of NPs and PAs, we found that length of stay (LOS) was not affected. The overall median warm ischemic time did not increase. Outcomes of LT for both patient and graft survival actually improved and remain at or above the expected values. These results collectively support the usefulness and validity of NPs and PAs in a DDLT program.

We have determined that surgical and medical NPs and PAs are essential for optimal patient outcomes. They facilitate a better learning experience for residents and fellows on their transplant rotations. Further investigations to assess the roles of these providers and their impact on the education of residents and fellows in transplantation are warranted. Further transplant hepatology education programs and/or fellowships are recommended to assist in the education and professional development of transplant NPs and PAs.

Hispanic dialysis patients often encounter barriers to learning about living kidney donation and transplantation. Effective culturally targeted interventions to increase knowledge are lacking. We developed a culturally targeted educational website to enhance informed treatment decision making for end-stage kidney disease.

A pretest/posttest intervention study was conducted among adult Hispanic patients undergoing dialysis at 5 dialysis centers in Chicago, Illinois. Surveys included a 31-item, multiple-choice pretest/posttest of knowledge about kidney transplantation and living donation, attitudes about the website, Internet use, and demographics. The intervention entailed viewing 3 of 6 website sections for a total of 30 minutes. The pretest/posttest was administered immediately before and after the intervention. Participants completed a second posttest via telephone 3 weeks thereafter to assess knowledge retention, attitudes, and use of the website.

Sixty-three patients participated (96% participation rate). Website exposure was associated with a mean 17.1% same day knowledge score increase between pretest and posttest (P < .001). At 3 weeks, participants’ knowledge scores remained 11.7% above pretest (P < .001). The greatest knowledge gain from pretest to 3-week follow-up occurred in the Treatment Options (P < .0001) and Cultural Beliefs and Myths (P < .0001) website sections. Most participants (95%) “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that they would recommend the website to other Hispanics.

Web-based education for patients undergoing dialysis can effectively increase Hispanics’ knowledge about transplantation and living kidney donation. Study limitations include small sample size and single geographic region study. Dialysis facilities could enable website access as a method of satisfying policy requirements to provide education about kidney transplantation.

Kidney transplantation (KTX) is considered the treatment of choice for most individuals with end-stage kidney disease. The purpose of this study was to assess the employment status and social participation after successful KTX.

This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. Eligible participants were patients who received a transplant ≥1 year ago and who were previously on hemodialysis (HD) for ≥1 year. Two hundred individuals participated in this study.

A significant number (93.5%) of patients reported they were working prior to HD versus 35% while on HD. Only 14% reported receiving disability benefits prior to HD versus 75% receiving disability while on HD. Comparing transplant recipients with pre-HD patients, 35.5% versus 93.5% reported working, and 74.5% versus 14% reported receiving disability benefits, respectively. After transplant, patients were more likely to join recreational clubs, travel frequently, and participate in recreational/religious activities and social events than when they were on HD.

Posttransplant, these individuals are more likely to participate in social and leisure activities, but the majority did not resume employment and continued to receive disability payments. Future studies could explore barriers to employment in patients who underwent successful transplantation and the causes and factors as to why these individuals continue to receive disability benefits.