Robot-Assisted Kidney Transplantation

This paper describes robot-assisted kidney transplantation (RAKT) from a living donor. The robot is docked between the parted legs of the patient, placed ...

University of Ulsan College of Medicine

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common inherited kidney disease, leading to kidney failure. One of the most serious extrarenal complications of ADPKD is comorbid intracranial aneurysms. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence, rupture rate, and treatment outcomes of intracranial aneurysms in ADPKD.

Intracranial aneurysms in patients receiving kidney transplantation for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

ABO-incompatible (ABOi) and positive crossmatch (XM) kidney transplantation (KT) have been considered immunologically challenging. The present study analyzed the clinical outcomes in XM positive KT based on ABO incompatibility. We used data from the Korea Organ Transplantation Registry, a nationwide database, and a single-center registry. A total of 263 patients with positive XM were divided into an ABO compatible (ABOc) & XM positive (ABOc/XM+, n = 176) group and an ABOi & XM positive (ABOi/XM+, n = 87) group. The overall rejection rate one year after KT was significantly higher in the ABOi/XM+ group than in the ABOc/XM+ group (P < 0.01). A total of four mortalities occurred, all in the ABOi/XM+ patients (P < 0.01). There were no differences in surgical complications or the occurrence of infection-related complications, including BK virus nephropathy. Multivariate analysis indicated that female vs. male (odds ratio (OR), 2.27; P = 0.03), DSA class I (MFI/1000) (OR, 1.10; P = 0.03), DSA class II (MFI/1000) (OR, 1.10; P < 0.01), and ABOi & XM+ status (OR, 2.38; P < 0.01) were significant risk factors for acute rejection during the year after transplantation. Overall graft survival was inferior in ABOi/XM+ patients than in ABOc/XM+ patients (P = 0.02). ABO incompatibility in XM-positive KT patients was found to be a significant risk factor for the development of rejection within one year after transplantation as well as for long-term graft survival. The anti-blood group A, B and anti-HLA antibodies may show synergistic activity.

Effect of simultaneous presence of anti-blood group A/B and -HLA antibodies on clinical outcomes in kidney transplantation across positive crossmatch: a nationwide cohort study.

Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is a life-threatening fungal infection that can occur in kidney transplantation (KT) recipients. A growing number of KT recipients are receiving perioperative treatment with rituximab, which is associated with prolonged B-cell depletion and possible risk of PCP occurrence; however, the optimal prophylaxis duration according to rituximab treatment is yet unknown. We compared the occurrence of PCP and the duration of prophylaxis in KT recipients according to rituximab treatment.

Pneumocystis pneumonia occurrence and prophylaxis duration in kidney transplant recipients according to perioperative treatment with rituximab.

BACKGROUND Kidney donors may be at increased risk for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) as well as cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. In particular, data on long-term safety after kidney donation in Asian populations are lacking. We aimed to assess the safety of live kidney donation in Korean donors by using a matched control group. MATERIAL AND METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study using a hospital-based database (Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea) and a control group from the national health insurance claims database in South Korea. We analyzed the health status of 1608 kidney donors who underwent donation between September 1990 and December 2015, and we compared their characteristics with those of matched 6426 non-donors (1: 4 ratio). We also measured the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) with ⁵¹Cr EDTA and urinary albumin excretion and assessed the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and general health status in 200 volunteer donors. RESULTS Mortality was significantly lower in kidney donors compared with the matched controls (130.2 vs. 185.4 per 100,000 person-years, P=0.02). There was no significant difference in mortality if a donor had hypertension or was a current smoker at the time of donation. There was also no significant difference in ESRD (43.1 vs. 35.2 per 100,000 person-years, P=0.07) between the 2 groups regardless of hypertension and smoking status. Among the 200 donors with measured GFR, 11.5% had GFR values <60 ml/min/1.73 m² at 9.4±5.3 years after donation. Older age (P=0.001) and female sex (P=0.021) were significantly associated with GFR values <60 mL/min/1.73 m². CONCLUSIONS Mortality and ESRD were uncommon in carefully selected kidney donors. However, donors with pre-existing risk factors should be followed up more closely to ensure long-term safety.

Long-Term Outcome of Live Kidney Donation in South Korea.

BACKGROUND Patients receiving ABO-incompatible (ABOi) or human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-incompatible (HLAi) kidney transplantation (KT) require potent immunosuppression and are thus at a higher risk of infectious complications. We evaluated the clinical outcomes of KT stratified by ABO and HLA incompatibilities and identified the factors associated with the clinical outcomes. MATERIAL AND METHODS Recipients who underwent living-related KT between 2012 and 2017 were included and classified into 4 groups: ABO-compatible and HLA-compatible (ABOc/HLAc), HLA-incompatible (ABOc/HLAi), ABO-incompatible (ABOi/HLAc), and ABO-incompatible and HLA-incompatible (ABOi/HLAi). Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were carried out to evaluate the risk factors of acute rejection. Out of the 1732 patients who underwent KT, 1190, 131, 358, and 53 were in the ABOc/HLAc, ABOi/HLAc, ABOc/HLAi, and ABOi/HLAi groups, respectively. RESULTS The ABO/HLAi group showed the lowest 5-year graft survival rate (91.7%). Death-censored graft survival was not significantly different among the groups. The mortality rate from infections was significantly higher in the ABOi/HLAi group (7.5%) than the other groups. Antibody-mediated rejection-free graft survival was the lowest in the ABOi/HLAi group, with significant differences compared with the ABOi/HLAc group (P=0.02) and the ABOc/HLAi group (P=0.03). ABOi/HLAi (hazard ratio [HR], 2.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04-6.65; P<0.01) and combined infection (HR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.45-2.51; P<0.01) were significant risk factors for acute rejection. CONCLUSIONS Patients with both ABO and HLA incompatibilities showed inferior rates of overall patient and graft survival due to infectious complications. Infection was a prominent risk factor of acute rejection following KT after adjusting for possible confounders including ABO and HLA incompatibility.

Acute Rejection and Infectious Complications in ABO- and HLA-Incompatible Kidney Transplantations.

BACKGROUND Given that pregnancy is an immune-sensitizing event, female kidney transplant recipients who receive allografts from their offspring or husbands may have a higher risk of rejection and graft failure due to pre-sensitization acquired during pregnancy or childbirth. We investigated the association between donor relatedness (i.e., offspring, husband, unrelated) and graft survival among female living-donor kidney transplant (LDKT) recipients with pregnancy histories. MATERIAL AND METHODS From January 2009 to January 2018, a total of 2060 LDKTs were performed at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. After excluding HLA-incompatible transplantation, re-transplantation, and those without a clear history of childbirth, 390 female recipients were included and categorized into group I (offspring-to-mother, n=175), group II (husband-to-wife, n=159), and group III (unrelated, n=56). The primary endpoint was biopsy-proven acute rejection (BPAR) and graft survival. We also evaluated delayed graft function (DGF), death-censored graft failure, and mortality. RESULTS Group I had the lowest number of HLA mismatches (p<0.001), and group II had the highest number of ABO-incompatible transplantations (p=0.005). At 5 years after transplant, graft survival and death-censored graft survival did not significantly differ among the 3 groups (graft survival: 96.0% vs. 95.5% vs. 93.3%, p=0.685; death-censored graft survival: 98.3% vs. 97.5% vs. 100%, p=0.732). Five-year BPAR-free survival showed no significant differences among the 3 groups (88.6 vs. 88.7 vs. 88.6%, p=0.842). Group II had the highest rate of clinical rejection (p=0.103) and DGF (p=0.174), but the difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS Female LDKT recipients with possible pregnancy-related pre-sensitization who received grafts from offspring or husbands did not show significantly worse clinical outcomes than those who received grafts from unrelated donors.

Outcomes of Living-Donor Kidney Transplantation in Female Recipients with Possible Pregnancy-Related Pre-Sensitization According to Donor Relationship.

Laboratory biomarkers that can differentiate non-infectious fever from infectious fever after pancreas transplantation have yet to be discovered. Non-infectious fever was defined as the presence of fever (>38.3°C) in the absence of a documented clinical diagnosis of infection or a positive culture. Among 184 consecutive recipients, a total of 91 recipients developed fever within 1-month post-transplant, of whom 46 had infectious fever and 45 had non-infectious fever at our center between August 2014 and July 2019. The onset of fever was earlier in the non-infectious fever group (14.4 ± 3.7 post-transplant days) compared with the infectious fever group (16.5 ± 5.8 post-transplant days; p = .033). Multivariate analysis showed that serum procalcitonin at the peak of fever could significantly differentiate infectious fever from non-infectious fever (OR 53.378, 95% CI: 6.819-417.802, p < .001). The area under the curve for differentiating between the two groups was 0.853 (95% CI, 0.780-0.926) for procalcitonin and 0.667 (95% CI, 0.549-0.785) for CRP. The best cutoff values of serum procalcitonin and CRP were 0.405 ng/ml (sensitivity, 77.1%; specificity, 80.8%) and 7.355 mg/dl (sensitivity, 66.7%; specificity, 67.3%), respectively. Serum procalcitonin may be useful for differentiating non-infectious fever from infectious fever after pancreas transplantation.

Serum procalcitonin as a biomarker for differentiating between infectious and non-infectious fever after pancreas transplantation.

This study aimed to assess posttransplant changes in insulin sensitivity and β-cell function of pancreas transplant recipients according to the type of diabetes mellitus (DM) and the pretransplant insulin sensitivity measured by the Matsuda Index (MI).

Article	Year
Intracranial aneurysms in patients receiving kidney transplantation for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Acta neurochirurgica\| PubMed ID: 31502043	2019
Effect of simultaneous presence of anti-blood group A/B and -HLA antibodies on clinical outcomes in kidney transplantation across positive crossmatch: a nationwide cohort study. Scientific reports\| PubMed ID: 31796812	2019
Pneumocystis pneumonia occurrence and prophylaxis duration in kidney transplant recipients according to perioperative treatment with rituximab. BMC nephrology\| PubMed ID: 32160881	2020
Long-Term Outcome of Live Kidney Donation in South Korea. Annals of transplantation\| PubMed ID: 32792472	2020
Acute Rejection and Infectious Complications in ABO- and HLA-Incompatible Kidney Transplantations. Annals of transplantation\| PubMed ID: 33020465	2020
Outcomes of Living-Donor Kidney Transplantation in Female Recipients with Possible Pregnancy-Related Pre-Sensitization According to Donor Relationship. Annals of transplantation\| PubMed ID: 33154345	2020
Serum procalcitonin as a biomarker for differentiating between infectious and non-infectious fever after pancreas transplantation. Clinical transplantation\| PubMed ID: 33438286	2021
Lack of Improvement in Insulin Sensitivity After Pancreas Transplantation in Recipients With a High Level of Calcineurin Inhibitors. Pancreas\| PubMed ID: 33939673	2021

Youngmin Ko

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