Outcome in emotionally related living kidney donor transplantation

Background. The growing shortage of cadaver kidneys, the limited possibilities to expand the living related donor pool and the good results obtained in our centre with poorly matched cadaver kidneys, led us in 1991 to begin accepting highly motivated, unrelated, living kidney donors who had a strong emotional bond with the recipients. Methods. Between 1 January 1991 and 1 January 1996, 46 potential living kidney donors and their emotionally related recipients were evaluated. Twenty-three cases were accepted for renal transplantation after thorough somatic and psychological evaluation. The mean post-transplant follow-up until 1 April 1996 was of 28±3 months. Compatible blood groups and a negative cross-match were mandatory, but no minimal HLA matching was required. Results. There was a 50% drop-out rate following the initial screening. The main reasons for not performing transplantation were immunological contraindications in 39% of the cases, somatic in 30.5%, psychological in 26% and socioeconomic in 4.5%. In the accepted group of recipients, 48% (11/23) received transplants without chronic dialysis. Donor survival was 91%; two deaths unrelated to nephrectomy occurred 1 year after donation. The 2-year actuarial recipient and graft survivals were 100% and 91% respectively, compared to 99% (recipients) and 93% (grafts) in the non-HLA-identical living related kidney transplant group, and to 93% (recipients) and 83% (grafts) in the cadaver kidney transplant group. Recipient rehabilitation was completed after 4±1 months. Emotionally related donors returned to work 5±2 weeks after nephrectomy, and no donor regretted his decision, even in the case of failure. Conclusions. Kidney transplantation from emotionally related living donors represents a valuable option, allowing more patients with end-stage renal disease to avoid chronic dialysis. Recipient and graft outcome were superior to cadaver kidney transplantation. Motivated and emotionally related donors should be allowed to donate one of their kidneys provided that they are carefully selected and thoroughly informed.     

Impact of donor age on living related donor kidney transplantation

Two comparable groups of kidney transplant recipients were identified according to the age of their kidney donors. The first group (A) comprised 42 recipients of donors aged < 40 years, and the second group (B) comprised 48 recipients of donors aged > 50 years. The patients were followed for a mean period of 26 months (range 13–50 months). Post-transplant renal function and graft survival were assessed together with the frequency of post-transplant proteinuria and hypertension. More-over, the functional reserve of the grafts was determined by comparing the clearance values, obtained by both isotope and chemical means, before and after a combined infusion of dopamine and an amino acids preparation. The graft function was significantly better in group A according to the serum creatinine levels (µmol/l) at 1 month (107 ± 4.5 vs. 134 ± 10.7, P < 0.01), 12 months (119 ± 5.3 vs. 181 ± 88, P < 0.05) and at last follow-up visit (118 ± 6.2 vs. 223 ± 63, P < 0.03) for groups A and B, respectively. The graft survival in group A was significantly higher than that in group B (100 % vs. 87 % at 1 year, P < 0.05). The graft functional reserve was significantly better in group A than in group B. Post-transplant proteinuria was significantly more frequent in group B recipients (70 % vs. 40 %, P < 0.03). The age of the donors had no impact on the incidence of post-transplant hypertension. These observations suggest that the transplantation of a kidney from an older live kidney donor is associated with an inferior post-transplant outcome.     

Renal transplantation after thoracic duct drainage.

Forty-seven patients treated by at least 28 days of thoracic duct drainage (TDD) before cadaveric renal transplant are compared with 63 patients treated with standard immunosuppression. The TDD patients were begun on half the dosage of steroids, and at 30 days were receiving approximately two-thirds the dose that the non-TDD patients received. Acute rejection occurred in 35% of the TDD group, as compared with 61% of the non-TDD group. Graft survival in the TDD patients was twice as good as the non-TDD patients at all time intervals. The patient survival rates were not significantly different between the two groups. TDD pretransplant favorably affects cadaveric renal allograft survival for at least five years.     

Thoracic duct drainage pretreatment in living related kidney transplantation--long-term results of low dose steroid and azathioprine immunosuppression

The long term results of 28 HLA 1-haploidentical donor kidney transplant recipients receiving preoperative lymphocyte deletion through thoracic duct drainage and low dose of steroid and azathioprine immunosuppressive treatment were presented. The number of removed lymphocytes was 129.9 +/- 38.1 x 10(9) (mean +/- SD) and the duration of thoracic duct drainage pretreatment was 35 +/- 4 days. Graft survival was 96% at 3 months through 2 years, 89% at 3 years and 84% at 5 years. Patient survival was 100% at 3 months through 2 years and 96% at 3 years through 5 years. Fifteen acute rejection crises were observed in 13 patients within the first 3 months postoperatively. There was no irreversible rejection in the first 3 months. Four chronic rejections were observed in 4 patients. Life-threatening infectious disease was observed in 5 patients, diabetes mellitus in 2 and cataract in 4. These results indicated that the reduction of the dose of steroid in post transplant period might have beneficial effects on the long term graft survival of HLA 1-haploidentical kidney transplant patients receiving TDD pretreatment and the conventional immunosuppressive treatment.     

Unrelated living donor kidney transplantation

Since 1966, we have performed 41 renal transplants from unrelated living donors (ULD), 39 of which were emotionally related. All donor-recipient pairs included in the present series were AB0-compatible. Recipients included 37 with primary and 4 with secondary transplants; 2 of the latter were diabetics. We compared these results to those of 41 recipients of cadaver donor kidneys matched for age, sex, immunosuppressive regimen, rank, and year of transplant, focusing our attention of the subgroups of patients under cyclosporin A (CyA) therapy (n=24). We found that ULD transplantation was as successful as cadaver transplantation with good HLA matching: at 3 years, graft survival rates were 81% in ULD versus 86% in the control group under CyA. Moreover, grafts from ULD functioned more rapidly (no post-transplant dialysis and 70% of the patients with serum creatinine below 2 mg/dl within 3 days post-transplant). Graft tolerance was equivalent in both groups (50% of the patients experienced no rejection). We conclude that despite poor HLA matching, ULD transplantation with CyA as the basic immunosuppressive agent offers good results: benefiting from the quality of living donor kidney grafts, it helps to alleviate the persistent shortage of cadaver donors.     

老年活体亲属供肾移植的安全性分析

目的 探讨老年活体亲属供肾移植供体、受体的围手术期并发症、疗效及安全性.方法 亲属活体供肾移植132例,分为老年供体组(≥55岁,43例)和中青年供体组(＜55岁,89例);对供受体的住院时间、手术前后血肌酐(SCr)、内生肌酐清除率(CCr)、肾小球滤过率(GFR)、并发症以及受体的急性排斥反应率、人/肾存活率等进行比较分析.结果 2组供者术前SCr分别为(77.67±15.21)、(83.09±15.98)μmol/L,术后7 d分别为(109.54±22.32)、(106.56±23.46)μmol/L,均在正常范围内,2组间各时间点比较差异均无统计学意义(P值均＞0.05).术后3个月2组供者SCr分别为(112.57±20.87)、(104.29±19.43)μmol/L,与术前比较分别上升44.93%和25.51%,老年供体组比中青年供体组供者scr升高更明显.差异有统计学意义(P=0.0268).2组术前CCr分别为(1.63±0.34)、(1.56±0.25)ml/s,术后10 d分别为(0.83±0.29)、(1.11±0.27)ml/s.老年供体组术后3个月CCr为(0.97±0.10)ml/s,中青年供体组为(1.16±0.17)ml/s.2组手术前后CCr变化差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05).老年供体组术后10 d的留存肾GFR为(36.58±13.26)ml/min,术后3个月增加至(52.31±12.74)ml/min,达到原双肾GFR[(73.01±20.96)ml/min]的71.65%.中青年供体组术后10 d GFR为(38.32±10.79)ml/min,术后3个月增至(56.31±12.95)m1/min,达到原双肾GFR[(78.34±20.98)ml/min]的71.88%.手术前后GFR变化差异均无统计学意义,P值均＞0.05.供者手术并发症包括术中脾脏包膜下血肿1例、降结肠破裂1例和切口脂肪液化5例.术前和术后各时间点2组受者SCr水平差异无统计学意义(P值均＞0.05).2组供者平均住院时间分别为(13.2±3.4)和(12.8±2.6)d,P=0.4563.2组受者平均住院时间分别为(23.1±11.9)和(22.3士11.4)d,P=0.6991.老年供体组受者6个月内急性排斥反应发生率为4.7%(2/43),中青年供体组为7.9%(7/89).术后1年内2组各死亡1例,中青年供体组因急性排斥反应移植肾失功1例.结论 老年活体亲属供肾可能存在一定危险性,应予以重视,但供体年龄并非独立风险因素.在严格控制老年供者的纳入标准、对供者进行全面系统评估的情况下,老年供体活体肾移植的供体和受体围手术期并发症/疗效及安全性与中青年供体比较无明显差异.     

ABO-incompatible living related donor kidney transplantation: report of two cases

The courses of two recipients of ABO-incompatible HLA-identical living related donor kidney transplants are described, the first an A into O and the second a B into A. Both patients were prepared by a month of preoperative azathioprine and a week of plasmapheresis to reduce isohemagglutinin titers in one to 1:2 and in the other to 0 at the time of transplant. Both had early mild steroid-reversible rejections, and the first patient has had an uneventful subsequent course 20 months postgrafting on low-dose cyclosporine and prednisone. The second patient developed a further immunologic event at 1 month that may have been isohemagglutinin mediated or may have been rejection but subsided with OKT3 therapy and plasmapheresis. She lost her graft at 5 months despite normal function during attempts to repair a ureteric fibrosis. Neither patient had donor-specific transfusion or splenectomy. This approach is feasible and should be considered for those patients having related but ABO-incompatible donors.     

The beneficial effects of thoracic duct drainage in HLA-1 haplotype identical kidney transplantation

The beneficial effects of pre-treatment thoracic duct drainage on graft survival in living related kidney transplantation are presented. Since July 1980 lymphocyte depletion through thoracic duct drainage has been used as pre-treatment therapy in 39 HLA-1 haplotype identical living related kidney transplant patients. Thoracic duct drainage was maintained for 29 to 49 days (mean 36 days) before transplantation and 52 to 215 times 10(9) cells (mean 130 times 10(9) cells) were removed. Postoperative immunosuppression consisted of azathioprine and steroids. Actuarial graft survival was 100 per cent at 3 months, 97 per cent at 6 months through 2 years, 92 per cent at 3 years and 57 per cent at 4 years after transplantation. Patient survival was 100 per cent at 3 months, 97 per cent at 6 months through 3 years and 86 per cent at 4 years. Pre-treatment thoracic duct drainage maintained for more than 28 days could have a significant role on the improvement of the graft survival in HLA-1 haplotype identical kidney transplantation.     

活体肾移植血管重建69例临床分析

目的 介绍活体肾移植血管重建的临床经验.方法 自2005年12月至2008年11月共行活体肾移植69例,供者手术均采用十一肋间小切口开放手术.58例单支肾动脉除2例外均采用肾动脉与髂外动脉端侧吻合重建血管,用4 mm打孔器作髂外动脉开口;6例副肾动脉分别采用原位（肾下极副肾动脉）或离体腹壁下动脉（肾上极副肾动脉）重建血管;3例双支肾动脉根据两支动脉口径不同采用不同方法重建血管;2例3支肾动脉采用受者离体髂内动脉重建血管.结扎多支肾静脉中较小的肾静脉只吻合其较大的主干,当两支肾静脉口径相近时,则将其整形为一个开口后吻合.结果 所有血管吻合均一次完成,开放血流时吻合口均通畅;所有供者和受者术后均恢复顺利,受者未发生血管重建相关并发症;随访1个月～3年,供受者均存活, 受者除1例血肌酐250～300 μmol/L外,68例血肌酐维持在70～150 μmol/L.结论 该活体肾移植血管重建方式安全、实用、操作方便,多支供肾动脉及多支供肾静脉均能较好重建,移植肾功能良好.     

Ethical issues in living donor kidney transplantation

The ethical issues of living donor kidney transplantation, which is the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage renal failure, are the focus of intense debate. Some of those issues are related to the safety of the operation for the donor, and others are related to the motivation of the donor, the approach to and evaluation of the donor, donation by strangers, the commercialization of donation, surrogate consent for donation, and the acceptance of minors as donors. The lack of clear consensus regarding these issues results in differences in practice, not only among countries but also among transplant centers. We believe that after an open debate, agreement on certain generally accepted principles can be achieved. Such an agreement would protect potential donors and recipients and would ensure the future of living donor kidney transplantation.     

Thoracic duct drainage pretreatment and low dose cyclosporine and low dose steroid immunosuppressive treatment in living related kidney transplantation

The results of 20 HLA 1-haploidentical donor kidney transplant patients treated with preoperative lymphocyte deletion through thoracic duct drainage and low dose of cyclosporine and steroid immunosuppressive therapy, were presented. The number of removed lymphocytes was 114 +/- 36 X 10(9) (mean +/- SD) and the duration of thoracic duct drainage was 35 +/- 7 days. Graft survival was 100% at 3-9 months and 89% at 1-2 years after transplantation. Patient survival was 100% at 3-9 months and 89% at 1-2 years. A patient died from lung cancer (adenocarcinoma) in the 9th posttransplant month. Acute rejection was not seen in 20 patients during the first 3 months. Life-threatening infectious disease was never seen either. Diabetes mellitus was observed in 1 patient. No other complications were observed. These results indicated that thoracic duct drainage and low dose cyclosporine and steroid postoperative immunosuppressive treatment might yield complete success in HLA 1-haploidentical kidney transplant patients.     

Potential benefits of living donor kidney transplantation

Living donor kidney transplantation is the best therapeutic option for endstage renal failure. In spite of being an underused option in our country, it acquires an important role reducing the waiting lists for transplantation because cadaver donation is not enough. Living donor kidney transplantation offers multiple advantages when compared with cadaver donor transplantation: longer graft and patient survival on the short, mid and long-term; the fact that a scheduled procedure allows us to optimize donor and receptor's conditions; and ischemia time between nephrectomy and transplantation can be shortened to a minimum. A good initial function without need of dialysis (up to 90%) and lower incidence of rejection, which diminishes the need of antirejection drugs, should also be emphasized.     

Glomerular disease and living donor kidney transplantation

Glomerular diseases are an important and frequent cause of renal transplant graft loss in the mid-long term, mainly due to primary renal disease recurrence. Glomerular diseases have particular connotations in living donor kidney transplantation, due to the risk of primary disease recurrence and subsequent graft loss, and also the risk of development of glomerular disease related donors have for their genetic similitude. The incidence of glomerular disease recurrence after transplantation varies with type, being especially frequent in IgA nephropathy and type II membranous proliferative glomerulopathy. The difference between histological and clinical recurrence should always be established, being much more frequent the first. Renal biopsy is the essential diagnostic test to detect and confirm the existence of glomerular disease after transplant, with immunofluorescence study being necessary to determine the type of glomerular disease.