Adult Liver Transplant Candidate Attitudes Toward Graft Sharing Are Not Obstacles to Split Liver Transplantation

Split liver transplantation (SLT) benefits society by increasing the total number of transplants that can be performed, but it is yet unknown if a decreased post-transplant survival (in comparison to whole liver transplantation) would make participation in SLT less appealing to adult liver transplant candidates. A 20-item questionnaire was administered to 50 adult candidates to assess attitudes toward SLT and organ sharing. The overall attitudes of 60% of participants were classified as utilitarian (maximizing benefit to greatest number of candidates), while 26% were classified as self-preserving (maximizing individual benefit) and 14% were undecided. Ninety percent of participants would be willing to share even if expected survival was less than that of whole liver transplantation, and 69% felt that pediatric candidates should have priority over adult candidates. In conclusion, attitudes toward graft sharing and the possibility of compromised survival benefit are not barriers to SLT for most adult liver transplant candidates.     

Randomized Trial of Basiliximab Induction versus Steroid Therapy in Pediatric Liver Allograft Recipients Under Tacrolimus Immunosuppression

Avoidance of corticosteroids could be beneficial after pediatric liver transplantation (LTx). To test this hypothesis, we performed a randomized prospective study to compare immunosuppression with tacrolimus (TAC) and steroids versus TAC and basiliximab (BAS) after pediatric LTx. Seventy-two patients were recruited, 36 receiving TAC and steroids and 36 TAC and BAS. The primary endpoint was the occurrence of the first rejection episode. Secondary endpoints were the cumulative incidence and severity of rejection, patient and graft survival, and incidence of adverse events. Overall 1-year patient and graft survival rates were 91.4% and 85.5% in the steroid group, and 88.6% and 80% in the BAS group (p = NS). Patients free from rejection were 87.7% in the BAS group and 67.7% in the steroid group (p = 0.036). The use of BAS was associated with a 63.6% reduction in incidence of acute rejection episodes. Overall incidence of infection was 72.3% in the steroid group and 50% in the BAS group (p = 0.035). We conclude that the combination of TAC with BAS is an alternative to TAC and steroid immunosuppression in pediatric LTx, which allows for a significant reduction in the incidence of acute rejection and infectious complications.     

Segmental Liver Transplantation from Non-Heart Beating Donors—An Early Experience with Implications for the Future

We report our experience of pediatric liver transplantation with partial grafts from non-heart beating donors (NHBD). Controlled donors less than 40 years of age with a warm ischemia time (WI) of less than 30 min were considered for pediatric recipients. Death was declared 5 min after asystole. A super-rapid recovery technique with aortic and portal perfusion was utilized. Mean donor age was 29 years and WI 14.6 min (range 11–18). Seven children, mean age 4.9 years (0.7–11), median weight 20 kg (8.4–53) received NHBD segmental liver grafts. Diagnoses included seronegative hepatitis, neonatal sclerosing cholangitis, familial intrahepatic cholestasis, hepatoblastoma, primary hyperoxaluria and factor VII deficiency (n = 2).The grafts included four reduced and one split left lateral segments, one left lobe and one right auxiliary graft. Mean cold ischemia was 7.3 h (6.2–8.8). Complications included one pleural effusion and one biliary collection drained percutaneously. At 20 months (10–36) follow-up all children are alive and well with functioning grafts.
Donation after cardiac death is a significant source of liver grafts for adults and children with careful donor selection and short cold ischemic times.     

针刺对急性心肌缺血大鼠血清NO、血浆ET-1、NO/ET-1比值的影响

目的探讨针刺华佗夹脊穴改善急性心肌缺血的作用机制。方法采用大剂量盐酸异丙肾上腺素(ISO.100mg/kg)皮下注射建立大鼠急性心肌缺血模型。选健康SD大鼠40只,随机分为针刺治疗组、针刺预防组、模型组和空白对照组。观察针刺左侧胸4、胸5夹脊穴及左侧足三里穴对急性心肌缺血大鼠血清一氧化氮(NO)、血浆内皮素-1(ET-1)及NO/ET-1比值及ECG的影响。结果针刺治疗能够提高急性心肌缺血大鼠血清NO的含量,降低其血浆ET-1的含量,从而提高NO/ET-1比值。结论针刺华佗夹脊穴具有改善急性心肌缺血大鼠的血管内皮功能,在一定程度上纠正内皮功能紊乱的作用。针刺预防的上述作用不明显。     

Real-time refinement of subthalamic nucleus targeting using Bayesian decision-making on the root mean square measure.

The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a major target for treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery. Microelectrode recording (MER) is used in many cases to identify the target nucleus. A real-time procedure for identifying the entry and exit points of the STN would improve the outcome of this targeting procedure. We used the normalized root mean square (NRMS) of a short (5 seconds) MER sampled signal and the estimated anatomical distance to target (EDT) as the basis for this procedure. Electrode tip location was defined intraoperatively by an expert neurophysiologist to be before, within, or after the STN. Data from 46 trajectories of 27 patients were used to calculate the Bayesian posterior probability of being in each of these locations, given RMS-EDT pair values. We tested our predictions on each trajectory using a bootstrapping technique, with the rest of the trajectories serving as a training set and found the error in predicting the STN entry to be (mean +/- SD) 0.18 +/- 0.84, and 0.50 +/- 0.59 mm for STN exit point, which yields a 0.30 +/- 0.28 mm deviation from the expert's target center. The simplicity and computational ease of RMS calculation, its spike sorting-independent nature and tolerance to electrode parameters of this Bayesian predictor, can lead directly to the development of a fully automated intraoperative physiological procedure for the refinement of imaging estimates of STN borders.     

Delusion symptoms are associated with ApoE ε4 allelic variant at the early stage of Alzheimer''s disease with late onset

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with mixed cognitive and behavioural clinical manifestations. The possession of apolipoprotein-E (ApoE) epsilon4 allelic variant is one of the most important risk factors for developing late-onset AD (LOAD). In this study we analysed the relationship between the entire range of behavioural symptoms, cognitive deficit, and sociodemographic characteristics and ApoE epsilon4 allele possession with multivariate logistic regression models in LOAD patients. Patients included (n = 171) were consecutively admitted in a memory clinic for the first diagnostic visit. Levels of behaviour and cognition within the last month were assessed by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory and Mini Mental State Examination. Presence of clinically significant psychosis, delusions and hallucinations at the early stage of the illness, from the onset to the first visit, was measured with diagnostic criteria. ApoE epsilon4 allele possession was associated with increased levels of delusions within the last month from the first visit (OR 1.23; 95% CI 1.01-1.50; P < 0.05) and with the presence of categorical delusions at the early stage until the first visit (OR 3.11; 95% CI 1.21-8.01; P < 0.02). In this study, which considers the entire range of behavioural expressions in LOAD patients at the early stage of the illness, the relationship between behaviour and ApoE epsilon4 allele is confirmed for delusions only.     

Parkinson's disease in Africa: A systematic review of epidemiologic and genetic studies.

Parkinson's disease (PD) occurs worldwide, but little is known about PD in Africa. We systematically reviewed publications on PD in Africa, with emphasis on epidemiologic and genetic studies. Articles published between 1944 and December 2004 were identified using several strategies. The studies emanated from 13 African countries (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Togo, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Zimbabwe, and South Africa). The publications fell into four categories: clinical series (n = 17), prevalence studies (n = 7), incidence studies (n = 1), and genetic studies (n = 3). The clinical series documented the occurrence of PD in Africa and described its clinical characteristics. The prevalence studies suggested some intracontinental geographic variation in PD prevalence. Overall, the prevalence figures and the incidence rates of PD in Africa appeared lower than those reported for European and North American populations. Few genetic studies of PD have been reported from Africa, and none in blacks. There are no case-control or cohort studies of PD reported from Africa. This review provides a summary of PD research in Africa over the past 60 years and highlights the information gaps and potential areas for future research.     

造血干细胞移植后慢性移植物抗宿主病相关的膜性肾病一例

目的 总结造血干细胞移植后慢性移植物抗宿主病（cGVHD）相关的膜性肾病的诊疗体会。方法 为1例急性淋巴细胞白血病患者施行HLA全相合的无关供者外周血造血干细胞移植，术后应用甲氨喋呤和他克莫司（FK506）预防GVHD。术后第19d发生急性GVHD，经甲泼尼龙治疗逆转。分别于术后182d、235d停用FK506和泼尼松，5d后患者出现cGVHD表现，肝功能异常，并伴肾病综合征的相关表现，病理诊断为膜性肾病Ⅱ期，遂给予FK506和泼尼松治疗，同时辅以利尿、降脂等措施。结果发生膜性肾病时，患者的尿蛋白＋＋＋＋，白细胞75个／μl，上皮细胞359．5个／pl，病理性管型＋，管型计数为167个／μl，24h尿蛋白定量为4．28g；肾组织活检，无肾小球硬化，肾小球体积稍大，部分血管袢受压，开放欠佳，肾小球基底膜轻微增厚，外观呈僵硬感，系膜基质轻、中度增殖；间质区部分肾小管扩张，肿胀、变性，未见明显间质纤维化和炎症细胞浸润；Masson染色可见基底膜上皮侧嗜复红物沉积；免疫荧光检查，IgG＋＋＋，C3＋＋＋，IgA＋＋，沿毛细血管袢呈颗粒状节段性分布，系膜区呈团块状分布；IgM、Clq、CA均阴性。电镜下可见肾小球基底膜上皮下沉积物，并有基膜增厚，毛细血管系膜基质轻度增生。经泼尼松和FK506治疗，2个月后尿蛋白转阴。结论 造血干细胞移植后出现肾病综合征或蛋白尿，应考虑GVHD相关膜性肾病的可能，肾穿刺活检有助于诊断，糖皮质激素和FK506治疗有效。