Friedrich K. Port

Report of the Crystal City Meeting to Maximize the Use of Organs Recovered from the Cadaver Donor

A consensus meeting to develop guidelines that would improve the recovery and transplantation of organs from the cadaver donor was held on 28–29 March 2001, in Crystal City, Virginia, sponsored by the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the American Society of Transplantation. The crisis in organ supply persists and the continuing shortage presents a compelling responsibility for the transplant community to maximize the use of organs procured from cadaver donors.

The Report of a National Conference on the Wait List for Kidney Transplantation

In March, 2002, over 100 members of the transplant community assembled in Philadelphia for a meeting designed to address problems associated with the growing number of patients seeking kidney transplantation and added to the waiting list each year. The meeting included representatives of nine US organizations with interests in these issues. Participants divided into work groups addressing access to the waiting list, assigning priority on the list, list management, and identifying appropriate candidates for expanded criteria donor kidneys. Each work group outlined problems and potential remedies within each area. This report summarized the issues and recommendations regarding the waiting list for kidney transplantation addressed in the Philadelphia meeting.

Mortality comparison for diabetic ESRD patients treated with CAPD versus hemodialysis

Selection of treatment options for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) has been a focus of much investigation. The treatment of patients with ESRD due to diabetic nephropathy falls primarily into three categories according to the United States Renal Data System Report [1] on prevalent patients treated as of December 31, 1990. Whereas, almost 1 in 5 patients had a functioning transplant, the dialysis group was treated primarily with center hemodialysis (82 percent) and CAPD (12 percent). Only 6 percent of diabetic dialysis patients were on other forms of peritoneal dialysis, home hemodialysis or unknown therapy. Diabetic patient survival following cadaveric renal transplantation was recently compared to that of transplant candidates on dialysis documenting superior outcomes for transplant recipients [2]. Comparative mortality risks according to selection of CAPD versus center hemodialysis (HD), however, have remained controversial and are the focus of this report specifically for patients with diabetic ESRD.