Multiorgan retrieval and preservation of the thoracic and abdominal organs in Maastricht III donors

This editorial describes the indications and technical aspects of the simultaneous retrieval of thoracic and abdominal organs in Maastricht III donors as well as the preservation of such organs until their implantation.©The Author(s) 202

RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Cirgía mínimamente invasiva de tiroides y paratiroides

Bajo el término de cirugía mínimamente invasiva de tiroides y paratiroides se engloban una serie de procedimientos terapéuticos orientados a la solución de la patología endocrina responsable de la enfermedad, con una agresión quirúrgica limitada y con resultados estéticos y confort postoperatorio superior al estándar del abordaje convencional. Su aplicación ha venido de la mano del desarrollo de nuevos métodos de imagen y de instrumentos que permitan realizar disección, en espacios muy limitados. A diferencia de la cirugía clásica de tiroides y paratiroides donde la técnica quirúrgica tiene amplias posibilidades de aplicación, en el abordaje cervicoscópico las indicaciones son más limitadas y se establecen en relación con las características de cada paciente. Con respecto a la patología tiroidea el tamaño del nódulo constituye el principal factor limitante, ya que en tamaños superiores a 3 cm los beneficios del procedimiento no son tan evidentes. Sin embargo, en la cirugía paratiroidea se dispone de un potencial superior dado que el adenoma responsable de la enfermedad se encuentra con frecuencia en posiciones anatómicas muy asequibles para este tipo de procedimientos. Por tanto, en pacientes con ausencia de patología tiroidea asociada, con patología unilateral basada en la información de la gammagrafía sestamibi y preferentemente en localizaciones inferiores, el abordaje cervicoscópico puede cumplir los requisitos antes expresados de eficacia, confort postoperatorio y corta estancia. Palabras clave. Tiroides. Paratiroides. Hiperparatiroidismo primario. Adenoma paratiroides. PTHi

Cold ischaemia time: is too long really too bad?. Studies using a porcine kidney ex-vivo reperfusion model

Introduction: Post-ischaemic hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) may be beneficial in recovery of marginal kidney grafts. The full capacity of conventional HMP (with passive oxygenation) to recondition an organ has not been realised. We investigated whether HMP can ameliorate ischemic damage caused by extremely prolonged static cold storage (SCS). Methods: Porcine kidneys underwent 4-h (SCS4,n ¼ 4) or 52-h (SCS52,n ¼ 4) SCS, followed by 10 h of HMP and were then subjected to 2 h of isolated normothermic reperfusion (NRP). Results: There was a post-SCS graft weight loss in SCS52 vs SCS4 kidneys. SCS52 kidneys showed viable perfusion dynamics during HMP, with significantly shorter times to reach viable parameters vs SCS4 kidneys (p < 0.027). During NRP SCS52 kidneys demonstrated similar trends in perfusion dynamics, renal function, oxygen consumptions, lactate production, and tubular injury to SCS4 kidneys. Conclusion: Graft weight loss after SCS, reducing resistance to perfusion, may facilitate better HMP dynamics and graft reconditioning. Clinicians utilising HMP should be aware of this phenomenon when using HMP in kidneys exposed to extreme periods of SCS. HMP after an extended period of SCS can resuscitate kidneys to a level equitable of viability as those after a short period of SCS. Utilising passive oxygenation however may be limiting such recovery and interventions utilising active oxygenation may provide benefit in such organs

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

The 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 pancreaskidney 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-conferenceof-pancreas-transplantation/246

Defining Major Surgery: A Delphi Consensus Among European Surgical Association (ESA) Members

Background: Major surgery is a term frequently used but poorly defined. The aim of the present study was to reach a consensus in the definition of major surgery within a panel of expert surgeons from the European Surgical Association (ESA). Methods: A 3-round Delphi process was performed. All ESA members were invited to participate in the expert panel. In round 1, experts were inquired by open- and closed-ended questions on potential criteria to define major surgery. Results were analyzed and presented back anonymously to the panel within next rounds. Closed-ended questions in round 2 and 3 were either binary or statements to be rated on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strong disagreement) to 5 (strong agreement). Participants were sent 3 reminders at 2-week intervals for each round. 70% of agreement was considered to indicate consensus. Results: Out of 305 ESA members, 67 (22%) answered all the 3 rounds. Significant comorbidities were the only preoperative factor retained to define major surgery (78%). Vascular clampage or organ ischemia (92%), high intraoperative blood loss (90%), high noradrenalin requirements (77%), long operative time (73%) and perioperative blood transfusion (70%) were procedure-related factors that reached consensus. Regarding postoperative factors, systemic inflammatory response (76%) and the need for intensive or intermediate care (88%) reached consensus. Consequences of major surgery were high morbidity (>30% overall) and mortality (>2%). Conclusion: ESA experts defined major surgery according to extent and complexity of the procedure, its pathophysiological consequences and consecutive clinical outcomes