Jaime Torrente

Increasing the donor pool using en bloc pediatric kidneys for transplant.

Objectives. En bloc pediatric kidney transplants (EBPKT) are still a subject of controversy. The aim of this study was to determine whether acceptable long-term graft survival and function can be achieved in EBPKT compared with the transplant of single, cadaveric, adult donor kidneys. Methods. A retrospective review was conducted of 66 recipients of en bloc kidneys from cadaveric pediatric donors and 434 patients who underwent transplantation with a single kidney from an adult donor between January 1990 and May 2002 at the authors’ hospital. The recipients were well-matched demographically. Both transplant groups were analyzed for short- and long-term performance in terms of transplant outcome and quality of graft function. Results. Overall death-censored actuarial graft survival rates at 1 and 5 years were 89.2% and 84.6% in the adult kidney transplants (AKT) and 83.3% and 81.1% in EBPKT, respectively (P =0.56). In the EBPKT group, graft function was improved over that observed in AKT. Vascular thrombosis was the most common cause of graft loss in EBPKT. Acute rejection occurred more frequently in AKT and Cox’s regression analysis indicated that undergoing an AKT was a predictive factor for acute vascular rejection (adjusted risk ratio, 3.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.4–10.2; P =0.001). Conclusions. Overall graft survival was similar in both groups, vascular complications were the main cause of graft loss in EBPKT, and the EBPKT showed excellent long-term graft function and a low incidence of acute rejection.

A 2 year evaluation of diabetic patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Nineteen diabetic patients with end-stage renal disease on CAPD were evaluated over a 2 year period. All but one patient was insulin-dependent, with a mean age of 47.7 years. Average time on CAPD was 16.1 months (range, 2-28 months). Thirteen patients were followed for more than 12 months, and nine for more than 18 months. The mean training period was 22.9 days. Good blood glucose control was obtained with intraperitoneal (IP) insulin in all of the patients. Mean blood glucose levels of 125 +/- 23.08 mg/dl were achieved with 103 +/- 38.5 U/day of regular IP insulin. Glycosalated hemoglobin decreased from a mean of 12.7 +/- 2.35% before CAPD to 10.08 +/- 0.97% during CAPD. Peritoneal creatinine clearance remained stable during the study period, with a concommitant decrease (P less than 0.001) in the mean residual renal creatinine clearance. The incidence of peritonitis was one episode per 7.8 patient-months. Average length of hospitalization was 33.24 days/year. Visual acuity remained stable after 1 year in 73% of the 26 eyes evaluated. No amputations were required in more than 2 years of follow-up. Actuarial survival was 100% at 1 year and 86% at 2 years, and the technique survival of CAPD was 91 and 79%, respectively. These results demonstrate that CAPD is a good dialysis procedure for treating diabetic patients with chronic renal failure, and it offers the advantage of controlling glycemia better than other dialysis methods.