Lessons Learned from the Amputation of a Bilateral Hand Grafted Patient due to Psychiatric Disorders

The importance of psychosocial aspects in upper extremity transplantation (UET) has been emphasized since the beginning of the vascularized composite allotransplantation era. Herein a long-term UET failure mainly due to psychiatric disorders is reported. A young woman amputated in 2004 (electrocution) underwent bilateral UET in 2007. At the time of transplantation the patient underwent a psychological evaluation, which did not completely consider some traits of her personality. Indeed, she had an anxious personality and a tendency to idealize. The trauma of amputation, the injuries associated with the accident, and the short delay between the accident and the transplantation elicited vindictiveness, entitlement, and impulsivity. Following transplantation, she had a high anxiety level, panic attacks, depression, and hypomanic episodes. She was poorly compliant to the rehabilitation program and the immunosuppressive treatment. She developed 13 acute rejection episodes (reversed by appropriate treatment) but neither clinical signs of chronic rejection nor donor specific antibiodies. She developed many severe complications due to the treatment and the psychiatric disorders. At her request, after many interviews, the allografts were removed in 2018. Pathological examination and an angiography performed post-amputation revealed signs of graft vasculopathy of varying severity, in the absence of clinically overt chronic rejection. This case highlights the need to detect during the initial patients’ assessment even mild traits of personality disorders, which could herald psychiatric complications after the transplantation, compromising UET outcomes. It further confirms that skin and vessels are the main targets of the alloimmune response in the UET setting

Stress urinary incontinence after holmium laser enucleation of prostate: incidence and risk factors

Background and objective: To evaluate the incidence and the risk factors of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) during the first year following Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP). Materials and methods: Our monocentric and retrospective study includes 155 patients who underwent HoLEP for benign prostatic hyperplasia. Surgeries were performed by 2 expert surgeons. The continence was evaluated before and after surgery at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. The predictive factors of SUI were analysed using logistic regression. Results: The SUI rate at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months was respectively 7.3%, 8.1%, 3.4% and 2.7%. SUI remained present in 4 patients (2.6%) at 12 months. The mean International Consultation Incontinence Questionnaire Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-SF) score for patients with SUI was respectively 11.69 ± 5.28, 8.70 ± 4.24, 1.81 ± 3.53 and 8 ± 4.24 at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months (p 30 (Odds Ratio (OR), 4.69; 95% Confidence Interval (CI), 1.51–14.52; p = 0.007) and patients over 70 years old (OR, 16.23; 95% CI, 1.96–134.09; p = 0.010) were respectively identified as independent risk factors for SUI at 1 and 3 months. Conclusions: SUI after HoLEP is transitory in most cases. It is favoured by a high BMI and an age over 70. These criteria should be considered before choosing the operative technique and preventive measures must be taken in high-risk patients

First World Consensus Conference on pancreas transplantation: Part II - recommendations.

Funder: Fondazione Pisa, Pisa, Italy; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007368Funder: Tuscany Region, Italy; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100009888Funder: Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, ItalyFunder: University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100007514The First World Consensus Conference on Pancreas Transplantation provided 49 jury deliberations regarding the impact of pancreas transplantation on the treatment of diabetic patients, and 110 experts' recommendations for the practice of pancreas transplantation. The main message from this consensus conference is that both simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPK) and pancreas transplantation alone can improve long-term patient survival, and all types of pancreas transplantation dramatically improve the quality of life of recipients. Pancreas transplantation may also improve the course of chronic complications of diabetes, depending on their severity. Therefore, the advantages of pancreas transplantation appear to clearly surpass potential disadvantages. Pancreas after kidney transplantation increases the risk of mortality only in the early period after transplantation, but is associated with improved life expectancy thereafter. Additionally, preemptive SPK, when compared to SPK performed in patients undergoing dialysis, appears to be associated with improved outcomes. Time on dialysis has negative prognostic implications in SPK recipients. Increased long-term survival, improvement in the course of diabetic complications, and amelioration of quality of life justify preferential allocation of kidney grafts to SPK recipients. Audience discussions and live voting are available online at the following URL address: http://mediaeventi.unipi.it/category/1st-world-consensus-conference-of-pancreas-transplantation/246

Obituary: Jean-Michel "Max" Dubernard (1941-2021)

Jean Michel Dubernard (Max to his friends) passed away on 11 July 2021. He was on vacation with his wife Camille and some of his grandchildren. His death was sudden and unexpected

Greffes de main et de visage : quels sont les enjeux éthiques?

International audienc

Immunopathology of rejection: do the rules of solid organ apply to vascularized composite allotransplantation?

International audiencePURPOSE OF REVIEW: As both the number of vascularized composite allotransplants (VCAs) recipients and the duration of their follow-up are limited, immunopathology of VCA rejection remains incompletely understood. VCAs have several immunological peculiarities, which make inaccurate a direct extrapolation of all rules established for solid organs. RECENT FINDINGS: Despite their bone marrow content, VCA do not induce chimerism in recipient and are therefore not spontaneously tolerated. Skin compartment of VCA contains a high density of antigen-presenting cells (APCs), some with self-renewal capacity. Donor APCs are responsible for continuous direct allosensitization of recipient's T cells that explains the high incidence of skin T-cell-mediated rejection and their occurrence beyond 1 year.Regenerative capability of the skin prevents the development of chronic rejection of this compartment as long as immunosuppression is maintained. In contrast, VCA can develop graft arteriosclerosis, which could be because of T cell and/or chronic antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). VCA recipients can indeed develop donor-specific antibodies (DSA). Whether DSA can also trigger acute AMR of VCA remains to be clarified. SUMMARY: A better understanding of the specificities of the immunopathology of VCA rejection should pave the way for the rationalization of immunosuppressive strategies aiming at optimizing long-term outcome

Does machine perfusion decrease ischemia reperfusion injury?

International audienceIn 1990's, use of machine perfusion for organ preservation has been abandoned because of improvement of preservation solutions, efficient without perfusion, easy to use and cheaper. Since the last 15 years, a renewed interest for machine perfusion emerged based on studies performed on preclinical model and seems to make consensus in case of expanded criteria donors or deceased after cardiac death donations. We present relevant studies highlighted the efficiency of preservation with hypothermic machine perfusion compared to static cold storage. Machines for organ preservation being in constant evolution, we also summarized recent developments included direct oxygenation of the perfusat. Machine perfusion technology also enables organ reconditioning during the last hours of preservation through a short period of perfusion on hypothermia, subnormothermia or normothermia. We present significant or low advantages for machine perfusion against ischemia reperfusion injuries regarding at least one primary parameter: risk of DFG, organ function or graft survival

An integrated view of immune monitoring in vascularized composite allotransplantation

Purpose of review Vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) has several immunological peculiarities that imply a specific immune monitoring. Here, we provide an integrated view of current procedures of immune monitoring in VCA and potential complementary approaches learned from organ transplantation. Recent findings Because the skin is highly immunogenic and is the main target of the alloimmune response, immune monitoring in VCA essentially relies on visual inspection and pathological examination of for-causes and protocol skin biopsies. Light microscopical and immunohistochemical analyses enable us to identify skin lesions that are characteristic, but not specific, of allograft rejection. Complementary approaches of immunological assessment may assist in reinforcing the diagnosis of rejection and preventing over-immunosuppression or under-immunosuppression. Such approaches can inform either on the patient's global immune status or more specifically on the B-cell-mediated or T-cell-mediated immune responses against donor antigens. Summary Strategies that integrate both the current 'gold standards' of monitoring in VCA and a complementary multilayer immunological assessment are likely to provide the highest precision for the personalized determination of the recipients' immunological status. The objective is a tailored adaptation of immunosuppressive treatment