by Christine Pham  , Brett J Pierce  , Simon W Yau  , Jihad Georges Youssef  , Ahmad Goodarzi  and Howard J Huang

Received: 09 July 2021;  Published: 30 August 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2103152

Data supporting the use of belatacept in non-abdominal organs are limited to case series and small cohorts involving patients requiring conversion due to CNI intolerance or contraindication. Review articles summarizing the efficacy of belatacept salvage therapy in lung transplantation have previously been published, however, dosing regimens are highly variable and uniform guidance is lacking. In this article, indications and considerations for belatacept use in lung transplant recipients are reviewed with a specifi [...]

by Sunil Daga  , Adarsh Babu  , Natasha Khovanova  and Robert Higgins

Received: 11 May 2021;  Published: 17 August 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2103151

Antibodies against donor HLA determine access to solid organ transplantation and in many cases the outcome of transplantation, but graft failure is not an inevitable consequence of their presence. Much research has been performed with two main aims – which antibodies represent the highest risk factor prior to transplantation, and second to understand how donor specific HLA antibodies behave after transplantation, with a long-term aim of being able to manipulate their production. HLA antibody incompatible kidney tra [...]

by Oya M. Andacoglu  , Jack Liu  , Abigail L. Brooks  , Amit Blumfield  , Mehul Trivedi  , Shoshana Lehman  , Michael K. Parides  , Enver Akalin  , Jay A. Graham  , Juan P. Rocca  and Stuart M. Greenstein

Received: 17 March 2021;  Published: 20 July 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2103150

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is an excellent indicator of renal function; however, it is rarely evaluated as an endpoint. We investigated donor and recipient factors for associations that might be predictive of mid-term GFR after renal transplantation. We performed a retrospective review of 828 deceased donor renal transplantations performed at Montefiore Medical Center between the years 2009-2015. Donor characteristics included KDPI, [low (80%)], age, graft types [extended criteria (ECD), cardiac death (DCD), [...]

by Hamid Ullah  , Sara Iqbal  , Blanca Lizaola Mayo  and Elizabeth Carey

Received: 31 March 2021;  Published: 20 July 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2103149

Liver transplantation (LT) has grown monumentally in the last 40 years. Sarcopenia has emerged as an independent factor associated with increased mortality in patients with end stage liver disease. In this review we aim to shed light upon recent developments in assessment, clinical implications, management of sarcopenia in patients requiring a liver transplant. We also bring attention to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on sarcopenia which ranges from the disease pathology to the unprecedented preventive measures ta [...]

by Bin Ni  , Nidhi Sharma  , Ashley Rosko  , Don M. Benson  and Yvonne A. Efebera

Received: 12 April 2021;  Published: 09 July 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2103148

Prior to the advent of anti-retroviral therapy (ART), autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) was relatively contraindicated for multiple myeloma (MM) patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to issues associated with stem cell harvest and the risk of opportunistic infections. With the widespread use of ART for control of HIV, ASCT is now the preferred treatment for relapsed lymphoma, the leading hematopoietic malignancy associated with HIV/AIDS. Hence, MM patients with HIV controlled by ART may benefit [...]

by Shalika B. Katugaha  , Amit K. Mahajan  , Meg Fregoso  , Haresh Mani  and Oksana A. Shlobin

Received: 25 October 2020;  Published: 03 July 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2103147

A 65-year-old female with a history of right lung transplantation (LTx) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) 9-years prior complicated by grade 3 bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) was admitted to the hospital for chest pain and dyspnea on exertion (DOE). Her bronchoscopy revealed fluffy, endobronchial lesions that were adherent to the right sided anastomosis resulting in mild obstruction of the right mainstem bronchus. Pathology from biopsies of the endobronchial lesions revealed hyphal fungal org [...]

by Abhijit Jagdale  , C. Adam Banks  , Hayato Iwase  , David K.C. Cooper  and Hidetaka Hara

Received: 29 December 2020;  Published: 30 June 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2102146

It has been speculated that the immunomodulation associated with pregnancy, e.g., decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokines, increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines, upregulation of T regulatory cells (Tregs), is in part due to the effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). In this study, we tested the effect of hCG on proliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) stimulated by irradiated pig PBMCs. Mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) was carried out with human PBMCs as responders and irradiated wild- [...]

by Justin P. Rosenheck  , Mena M Botros  and David R Nunley

Received: 15 March 2021;  Published: 27 June 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2102145

Lung transplantation is a therapeutic option for patients with advanced lung diseases. Lung transplant outcomes have improved over time with improvements in the management of these complex patients. Cytomegalovirus is a common opportunistic organism affecting all solid organ transplant recipients. Characteristics unique to lung transplantation can make this virus difficult to manage, with myriad complications including graft failure and death. Ongoing research into and understanding of cytomegalovirus has opened ex [...]

by Victoria Gómez-Dos-Santos  , Vital Hevia-Palacios  , María Laura García-Bermejo  , Alberto Alcázar-González  , Miren Edurne Ramos-Muñoz  , Laura Salinas-Muñoz  , Elisa Conde-Moreno  , Alejandro Escobar-Peso  , Ana Belén Serrano-Romero  , Ana Saiz-González  , Miriam Menacho-Román  and Francisco Javier Burgos-Revilla

Received: 22 December 2020;  Published: 10 June 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2102144

The efficacy and safety of using high concentrations of oxygen during hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) have not been fully elucidated to date. This study investigated the impact of administering high concentrations of oxygen on renal function during HMP in a porcine donation after circulatory death (DCD), as well as the metabolic and biochemical effects of this method. A randomized nonblinded cohort study was established in a porcine transplant (KT) model mimicking Maastricht type III DCD under oxygen-supplement [...]

by Angela Q Maldonado  , Kristoffer Sjöholm,  , Joshua Lee  , Håkan Olsson  , Christian Kjellman  and Darren E Stewart

Received: 01 April 2021;  Published: 03 June 2021;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.2102143

Prioritization in the US Kidney Allocation System (KAS) has led to an improvement in the rates of transplantation in highly sensitized (HS) patients. However, there is a subset of HS patients who are at a disadvantage, despite prioritization under KAS. The purpose of this study was to describe the transplant rate (TR) by calculated panel reactive antibody (CPRA) of HS candidates before and five years post-KAS to characterize their access to deceased donor transplants and quantify the number of HS candidates who are [...]