A National Survey Assessing the Current Workforce of Transplant Pharmacists Across Accredited U.S. Solid Organ Transplant Programs

Integration of pharmacists into multidisciplinary transplant patient care has advanced in recent years, with limited data available to evaluate the current status of the profession. This was a national survey developed as an AST Pharmacy COP initiative. Responses were solicited from pharmacists practicing at U.S. transplant programs based on UNOS listing; 176 participants from 113 centers (41%) responded, with 79% practicing ≤10 years. There is a median of 1.4 pharmacist full‐time equivalents (FTEs) (range 0.1–7.1) for every 100 transplants. The predominant activities performed by pharmacists during the transplant phase include medication review (95%), lab review (92%), allergy review (88%), medication therapy management (92%), bedside rounds (87%), medication education (79%), documentation (71%), and coordinating discharge medications (58%). Similar activities were reported during the other phases, but participation was less common. The involvement of dedicated transplant pharmacists within multidisciplinary care has become standard at a large number of centers, although expansion is still needed to ensure core pharmaceutical care components are provided to all transplant recipients across all centers. These results inform on the typical responsibilities of pharmacists practicing within the field of transplantation and illustrate that the level of pharmacist involvement significantly varies across transplant centers and the phases of transplantation.     

Improving Transplant Patient Safety Through Pharmacist Discharge Medication Reconciliation

Greater than 50% of medication errors are estimated to occur during transitions of care, and solid‐organ transplant recipients are at an increased risk for errors due to significant changes in their medication regimen following transplantation. This prospective, observational study with a historical control group was conducted to evaluate the discharge process for transplant recipients and determine if transplant pharmacist involvement would improve safety. During the prospective period, a total of 191 errors were made on discharge medication reconciliations (n = 64, mean rate 3.0 per patient); however, pharmacists prevented 119 of these errors (1.9 errors per patient). In the retrospective period, none of the 430 errors identified were prevented at the time of discharge (n = 128, p < 0.0001). The 72 errors not prevented at the time of discharge in the prospective cohort were identified by the pharmacist at the patient's first clinic visit (1.1 errors per patient). In the historical cohort, all 430 errors made at discharge persisted until at least the time of the first clinic visit (3.4 errors per patient, p < 0.0001). This study demonstrates that transplant recipients are at a high risk for medication errors and that transplant pharmacist involvement leads to improved safety through the significant reduction of medication errors.     

The role of the pharmacist in the management of the operating room

Pharmacy services have traditionally consisted of dispensing, provision of drug information and inventory management practices. Pharmacist's impact on the implementation of medication safety standards, drug therapy optimization, and other clinical interventions has been adequately reviewed in settings of general wards and considered as standard practice; however, these activities in the operating room have not become the standard practice. In this article, we reviewed the clinical interventions by pharmacists working in the operating room. The five main duties or obligations required of the pharmacists are appropriate drug management, achieving medical economic benefits, mixing injectable drugs, risk management, and provision of drug information. The major information provided to physicians and nurses is on usage, dosage, stability, incompatibility, pharmacological effects and adverse effects. Physicians and nurses require the drug information provided by the pharmacist in the operating room. Furthermore, their requirement for the stationing of pharmacist is extremely high. It is suggested that these services might be quite important in optimizing drug therapy and preventing adverse effects. Additionally, pharmacist can contribute on rational use of drug, safety management, reduction of works of other medical staff, and also the medical economics through pharmaceutical care in operating room as well as in general wards. It is suggested that stationing pharmacists in the operating room might be indispensable for hospital administration in view of the medication safety and cost reduction.     

The Role of an Interdisciplinary Transplant Team on Living Donation Kidney Transplantation Program

During the last decades, the disparity between the organ supply and the demand for kidney transplantation in Europe has led to consider living donors as a more acceptable option. In the last 7 years, we have established an interdisciplinary supporting transplant team to increase the rate of living donation. After 2001, the new interdisciplinary transplant team consisted of a transplant surgeon, a nephrologist, a pediatrician, a radiologist, a psychologist, a transplant coordinator, and a transplant nurse. We performed a prospective analysis to examine the effect of implementing this team on our living donation program. Demographic data, the annual number of procedures, the duration of waiting, and the cold ischemia time were evaluated among brain-dead and living donors. From January 2002 until December 2008, the number of patients who were annually on the waiting list increased 42% (from 377 to 536 patients). Consequently, the number of the total kidney transplants increased from 81 to 120 with an annual median of 98 cases. By implementing the interdisciplinary transplant team, a significant increase of living kidney donors was observed: from 18 to 42 cases; median = 27). In the last 7 years, a total number of 796 kidney transplants have been performed: 567 from brain-dead and 229 from living donors. In 2001, the waiting list times for recipients who received grafts from brain-dead versus living donors were 1356 versus 615 days respectively. Compared with 2008, the duration on the waiting list decreased significantly for patients receiving a living donor graft, whereas there was a slight increase for the patients in the brain-dead group: brain death versus living donors: 1407 versus 305 days. The interdisciplinary approach has also reduced the cold ischemia time for the living donor recipients: 3 hours and 42 minutes in 2001 versus 2 hours and 50 minutes in 2008. During the last years, by implementing an interdisciplinary transplant team, supporting living donor procedures has produce a gradual increase in the number of kidney transplants from living donors with a remarkable decrease in waiting and cold ischemia times, the latter presumably influencing graft quality.     

Towards Improving the Transfer of Care of Kidney Transplant Recipients

Kidney transplant recipients require specialized medical care and may be at risk for adverse health outcomes when their care is transferred. This document provides opinion‐based recommendations to facilitate safe and efficient transfers of care for kidney transplant recipients including minimizing the risk of rejection, avoidance of medication errors, ensuring patient access to immunosuppressant medications, avoidance of lapses in health insurance coverage, and communication of risks of donor disease transmission. The document summarizes information to be included in a medical transfer document and includes suggestions to help the patient establish an optimal therapeutic relationship with their new transplant care team. The document is intended as a starting point towards standardization of transfers of care involving kidney transplant recipients.     

The clinical pharmacist as a member of the burn team

Pharmacists are becoming involved increasingly in patient care. At the University of California, San Diego Medical Center, a pharmacist has become a member of the multidisciplinary burn team. Through participation in work rounds and team conferences, the pharmacist has had a considerable beneficial impact on drug therapy, drug dosing, monitoring adverse drug reactions, and total parenteral nutrition. Specific benefits to patient care that the pharmacist provides are discussed and also the benefits derived in using a burn unit as a clinical teaching rotation for pharmacy students. The pharmacist has found his association with the burn unit to be professionally rewarding and the attending surgeons and surgical house staff have found his input to be valuable. The authors encourage other burn units to enlist a pharmacist as part of their burn team.     

Overview of Guidelines for Establishing a Face Transplant Program: A Work in Progress

Since 2005, nine face transplants have been performed in four countries: France, the United States (US), China and Spain. These encouraging short‐term outcomes, with the longest survivor approaching 5 years, have led to an increased interest in establishing face transplant programs worldwide. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to facilitate the dissemination of relevant details as per our experience in an effort to assist those medical centers interested in establishing a face transplant program. In this article, we address the logistical challenges involved with face transplantation; including essential program requirements, protocol details, face transplant team assembly, project funding, the organ procurement organization and the coroner. It must be emphasized that face transplantation is still experimental and its therapeutic value remains to be validated. All surgical teams pursuing this endeavor must dedicate an attention to detail and should accept a responsibility to publish their outcomes in a transparent manner in order to contribute to the international field. However, due to its inherent complexity, facial transplantation should only be performed by university‐affiliated medical institutions capable of orchestrating a specialized multidisciplinary team with a long‐term commitment to its success.     

Planning Generational Change in a Liver Transplant Team

Liver transplantation (LT) is a demanding and stressful practice. It requires full dedication and great personal sacrifice. It carries with it a long, difficult learning curve. We present the current situation with one LT team and carried out a critical analysis on the current problems in LT units with regard to access to leadership the future generational changes. An LT team has several similarities with a family-owned company. A generation change planning in liver transplantation may address 3 important aspects: the succession of the leader; establishment and reinforcement of the talent pool; and accessibility to the working group. An LT team is manned by highly qualified personnel. The ideal scenario is when the successor surgeon is accepted by every member in a joint agreement; all the surgeons on the team have the potential to be the next team leader; and the working group presents a high level of personal effort and a motivated attitude. There is an ongoing problem in LT units, however—the growing lack of interest from young surgeons to be part of a transplant team. There are many reasons for this, but it primarily involves the high level of dedication required. The formation of a good transplant team, with a pool of high-quality young surgeons and the realization of a proper generational change, could improve its operation and its results in the future.     

Young Transplant Surgeons and NIH Funding

Transplant surgeons have historically been instrumental in advancing the science of transplantation. However, research in the current environment inevitably requires external funding, and the classic career development pathway for a junior investigator is the NIH K award. We matched transplant surgeons who completed fellowships between 1998 and 2004 with the NIH funding database, and also queried them regarding research effort and attitudes. Of 373 surgeons who completed a fellowship, only 6 (1.8%) received a K award; of these, 3 subsequently obtained R‐level funding. An additional 5 individuals received an R‐level grant within their first 5 years as faculty without a K award, 3 of whom had received a prior ASTS‐sponsored award. Survey respondents reported extensive research experience during their training (78.8% spent median 24 months), a high proportion of graduate research degrees (36%), and a strong desire for more research time (78%). However, they reported clinical burdens and lack of mentorship as their primary perceived barriers to successful research careers. The very low rate of NIH funding for young transplant surgeons, combined with survey results that indicate their desire to participate in research, suggest institutional barriers to access that may warrant attention by the ASTS and the transplant surgery community.     

Characteristics and Motivation of Solid Organ Transplant Recipients Attending the Canadian Transplant Games

BackgroundThe Canadian Transplant games (“Games”) were created to increase awareness of organ donation and highlight the importance of staying active and healthy post-transplant. It is unclear what motivates solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients to participate and whether the games serve as an incentive for SOT recipients to increase their physical activity (PA) levels.Objectives1. To describe the characteristics of participants from past games and their motivation for attending and 2. to determine whether there was an interest in participating in goal-based, pre-games exercise training programs.MethodsA web-based questionnaire was sent to adult SOT recipients who were members of the Canadian Transplant Association. The survey included questions about why participants attended, their PA levels, and their interest in a pre-games training program.ResultsOf the 157 participants, more were male than female; the 35-54-year-old age group was the most common; and 62% of respondents received a liver or kidney transplant. The most common reasons for participating in the games were to showcase health post-transplant, promote awareness of organ donation, sports competition, and social reasons. Sixty-five percent of respondents reported that they would be interested in an exercise program to be more physically prepared for the competition.ConclusionPre-games training programs could be developed to motivate participation and help participants achieve higher training intensities and foster social interaction. Directing resources to individuals who do not attend the games and to those who are not physically active should be considered.     

Structural Requirements and Interactions of Transplant Centers

Transplantation of solid organs such as the heart, lung, liver, pancreas, small intestine, and kidney is the only way by which a potentially life-threatening condition can be treated permanently. Transplantation comprises not only the equipment needed to perform the transplantation itself and to offer pre- and postoperative care for the patient but also the know-how of an experienced team of surgeons and all other specialties involved in the care of a transplant candidate (cardiologists, nephrologists, and hepatologists, to name a few). Organ transplantation is a team effort that requires many "wheels to turn" to obtain the successful results we have today. Frequently, enthusiastic individuals try to setup a transplant center "single-handedly." None has succeeded without institutional, financial, and continuous support and in particular without an effectively structured organizational backbone to support the effort. This article summarizes the requirement for a liver transplantation center to perform these procedures and focuses also on ethical considerations.     

Lung Transplant Patients on Kilimanjaro

BackgroundAfter its initial difficulties were overcome, lung transplantation became an accepted and effective treatment for end-stage lung disease. Patients can take part in almost all kinds of sports after lung transplantation, including high-altitude mountaineering, which is an extreme sport even for healthy individuals. Several articles have been published about high-altitude tolerance of transplanted patients. However, this was the first high-altitude expedition that included only lung transplant patients.MethodsThe Vienna lung transplantation team organized an expedition in 2017 to conquer the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, which consisted of 10 lung transplanted patients and 24 accompanying medical personnel. The participants were tested before and several times during the hike to evaluate their general and cardiopulmonary status, the severity of altitude sickness, and radio-morphologic changes. The results of the lung transplanted patients were compared to the results of their healthy companions.ResultsThe group started at 2360 meters and reached the 5895-meter-high summit of Mount Kilimanjaro after 6 days on June 18, 2017. Eight transplant patients and 24 escorting medical personnel reached the peak. This means that the success rate was 94%, which is significantly higher than the reported 85% for this route. The 2 transplant patients who did not make the summit turned back on the first and second day because they lacked the necessary fitness for the trip. We did not see a significant difference in the results regarding cardiopulmonary status or the severity of altitude sickness, although we observed mildly higher blood pressure and altitude sickness score results in the lung transplant group.ConclusionBased on our experiences, we can state that a stable patient after lung transplantation who attains the necessary physical fitness can achieve similar or even better physical results than an average healthy individual.     

Encuesta a los jefes de Unidad y residentes de Cirugía sobre la accesibilidad y el trabajo en los equipos de trasplante hepático en España

IntroductionThe access of surgeons to liver transplant teams in Spain is heterogeneous. This study aims to portray the current human resources of Spanish transplant teams, distribution of transplant duties among team members, how transplant team members acquire their skills, their leaders’ view of their future, as well the motivations of Spanish General Surgery residents to choose transplantation as their future career choice.MethodsTwo different surveys were created, one for head surgeons and one for residents, about the number of team members and their training, recruitment, organization of tasks and motivation to work in transplantation. The questionnaires were e-mailed to both the transplant program directors and the surgical residents.ResultsThere are on average 8 surgeons in each transplant unit. More than four surgeons perform the hepatectomy in 54.2% of the groups, while the graft implantation is performed by more than 4 surgeons at just 25% of the centers. Forty-two percent of the transplant chiefs advocated a fellowship training system, and 87.5% believe that generational turnover is guaranteed.Out of 525 residents, 101 responded. Regarding training, 12.8% had no interest in transplantation. Concerning their work preferences, 37.6% were not interested in transplantation because it is excessively demanding, and 52.5% would not like to be part of a liver transplant team in the future.ConclusionsThe generational turnover seems to be guaranteed according to liver transplant program directors. The new generations of surgeons generally opt for other areas of surgery other than transplantation. Studies with a greater number of responses are necessary to validate these results     

Transplant of kidneys with small renal cell carcinoma in incompatible, heavily immunosuppressed recipients

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is considered a contraindication for transplant. However, an increasing number of cases of transplant kidneys with RCC have been reported with encouraging results. We present our experience of two cases of transplanting kidneys with small RCCs. Donors and recipients were aware of the presence and possible consequences of RCC in the transplanted kidney before transplantation. Cases were discussed in the multidisciplinary team meetings. Regular, 6-12 monthly follow-up of donors and recipients was carried out with ultrasonography and/or computed tomography to detect recurrence of RCC or new tumours in the recipients' transplant kidneys or the donors' native kidneys. The outcome was recorded. There were no suspicious masses in the any of the kidneys during the follow-up period. The transplant kidneys are functioning.     

Management of the Patient with a Failed Renal Transplant

The management of the failed renal transplant depends upon the clinical circumstances. In most instances of failure secondary to acute rejection or structural lesions, transplant nephrectomy is necessary. When failure is due to chronic rejection, grafts often can be left in place and removed only for the indications of fever, pain, swelling, infection, or refractory hypertension. Once dialysis has been reinstituted, immunosuppression should be tapered in accordance with standard principles; this often does not result in the need to remove the failed allograft so long as it is clinically quiet. The presence of a nonfunctioning graft does not preclude retransplantation. With the use of cyclosporine, the results of retransplantation are beginning to look similar to the statistics for first transplants. The quality of life in patients who have failed transplantation has not been definitely proven to be worse than that of patients on dialysis or those who have a functioning graft. However, patients with a failed transplant will need emotional support in their readjustment to dialysis.     

The Emotional Labor of the Transplant Coordinator: An Inherent Predicament

Although extensive scholarship has been dedicated to the emotional experiences of transplant patients, little is known about the emotional experiences of transplant coordinators. The present article aims to illuminate the phenomenon of emotional labor invested by transplant coordinators. The transplant coordinator is a key person in the process of obtaining consent for organs for transplantation from deceased or living donors. One of the most taxing phenomena among nurses is emotional labor. Emotional labor is a term that denotes the investment of emotional effort to reach a consonance between one's inner authentic feelings and outward expression of one's emotions. Thirteen experienced transplant coordinators were interviewed for the purpose of unveiling their work-related feelings and emotions. Analysis of their narratives revealed 3 types of emotional labor based on the taxonomy proposed by Theodosius: therapeutic, instrumental, and collegial. Findings show that much emotional labor is invested by these nurses. Emotional labor is usually stressful and has an adverse effect on nurses’ psychological well-being and health, especially when emotions that are not genuinely felt have to be conveyed. Transplant coordinators must fake their emotional expressions to excel in their job. Their job is psychologically taxing, leading in most cases to regret over choosing this job. Implications for research, policy, and practice include a recommendation that transplant unit managers act to help transplant coordinators avoid the painful emotions that accompany the experience of emotional labor. We provide several useful recommendations about how to alleviate and prevent these negative emotions.     

Six National University Consortium in Liver Transplant Professionals Training (SNUC-LT) Program in Japan

Background

There has been no public structured training program for transplant surgeons in Japan. However, such a program is crucial for optimizing liver transplant surgery and training young professionals in liver transplant surgery. A comprehensive training program was recently developed and the underlying concepts, structure and curriculum, and results of this program are described here.

Standing on Both Sides: Analysis of a Transplant Coordinator's Ethical Position Between the Recipient and the Donor's Family

BackgroundWhen an organ is harvested from a deceased donor, how should transplant coordinators handle the issue of contact between the donor's family and the organ recipient?MethodsThe authors—qualified both by their own considerable practical experience and theoretical investigation—discussed various aspects of the problem, relating to the bioethical issues as well as the practical dilemmas that must be clarified and decided.ResultsThey proposed a strategy whereby transplant coordinators can analyze their own philosophical attitude toward the issue and respond accordingly in their work to the needs and preferences of both parties.ConclusionsThe professionals handling the transplant process need training tailored to the bioethical issues relevant to the challenges they are likely to confront. This training must consist not only of theoretical and ethical guidance but also simulations designed to clarify the clinician's own personal belief system and raise awareness and self-reflection of their own biases.     

Transplant immunology

The immune response to an allogeneic transplanted organ is T-cell dependent. It is governed partially by the context in which the T-cell encounters the antigen and can range from apoptosis, anergy, and neglect to full activation. The current armamentarium of immunosuppressive agents acts to inhibit the various steps of this T-cell activation pathway; at the level of the T-cell receptor (monoclonal antibodies such as OKT3), intracellular signally (calcineurine-inhibitors), DNA synthesis (azathioprine), or to cause lymphocyte depletion (ATG, ALG). Most protocols use a combination of agents for induction and maintenance immunosuppression. Although successful in preventing and treating allograft rejection, they are not without side effects. With improved patient and graft survival rates, adverse events such as hypertension, nephrotoxicity, hyperglycaemia, and lymphoproliferative disease become increasingly important issues. Newer drugs (IL-2 receptor antagonists, mycophenolate mofetil, rapamycin) have been introduced in an attempt to spare or avoid these adverse effects. Inducing graft tolerance and long-term drug-free survival is the goal of transplant immunologists. Postulated mechanisms include clonal deletion, anergy, and immunoredirection. Although a number of methods have been tested experimentally, none has been proven to induce tolerance for routine clinical use. Immunosuppression remains the cornerstone of the success of organ transplantation. Until investigators are able to induce tolerance in their transplant recipients or develop a tolerance assay, they would need to continue to tailor their immunosuppressive therapy according to the risk profile of the individual recipient.