Impact of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia on kidney transplant outcome

Backgrounds Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in kidney transplant recipients. While the acute phase toxicity in patients with PCP is well-characterized, there is a lack of data on the effects of PCP on long-term graft outcome. Method This retrospective observational study analyzed 1502 adult patients who underwent kidney transplantation at Seoul National University Hospital between 2000 and 2017. After a propensity score matching was performed, the graft and survival outcomes were compared between PCP-negative and PCP-positive groups. Results A total of 68 patients (4.5%) developed PCP after transplantation. The multivariable Cox analysis showed that positivity for cytomegalovirus and lack of initial oral antibiotic prophylaxis were risk factors of post-transplant PCP. The PCP-positive group had higher hazard ratios of graft failure [adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 3.1 (1.14–8.26); P = 0.027] and mortality [adjusted HR, 11.0 (3.68–32.80); P < 0.001] than the PCP-negative group. However, the PCP event was not related with subsequent development of de novo donor-specific antibodies or pathologic findings, such as T-cell or antibody mediated rejection and interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy. Conclusions PCP is a risk factor of long-term graft failure and mortality, irrespective of rejection. Accordingly, appropriate prophylaxis and treatment is needed to avoid adverse transplant outcomes of PCP.This study was supported by the Young Investigator Research Grant from the Korean Society Nephrology (Kyowa Hakko Kirin 2017) and a grant from the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), which is funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2017R1D1A1B03031642). The grants had neither role in the study design, nor in data collection, analysis, interpretation and nor in manuscript writing

Trends in Deceased Organ Donation and Utilization in Korea: 2000-2009

Continuous efforts have been made by the organ donation and transplantation community in Korea to increase organ donation by the deceased. The authors detailed trends of organ donation and utilization over the past 10 yr using data provided by the KONOS. The yearly number of deceased donors has grown gradually since 2003. The number and percentage of old donors (≥50 yr) and donors dying from intracranial hemorrhage has increased continuously. Therefore, the percentage of standard criteria donors (SCD) has been declining significantly, from 94% in 2000 to 79.2% in 2009. The number of organs transplanted per donor (OTPD) has also declined slightly since 2007, from 3.28 in 2007 to 2.95 in 2009. This decline may be attributable to increases in the number and percentage of extended criteria donors (ECD) and donors after cardiac death (DCD), since the OTPD was 2.25 for DCD, 2.5 for ECD, and 3.09 for SCD in 2009. In summary, the makeup of donors has changed significantly. There is an urgent need for establishment of an institutional framework including an independent organ procurement organization and for improvement for the National Transplant Act to increase deceased donor pool and to optimize management of ECD and DCD

Association between humidifier disinfectant exposure during infancy and subsequent neuropsychiatric outcomes during childhood: a nation-wide cross-sectional study

Background The purpose was to determine the association between infant exposure to humidifier disinfectant (HD) with neuropsychiatric problems in pre-school children. Methods A total of 2,150 children (age 4–11 months) were enrolled in the Panel Study of Korean Children (PSKC) study. The Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used for assessments of neuropsychiatric problems. 1,113 children who participated in all the first to third PSKC studies and answered a question about HD exposure were finally enrolled. Results There were 717 (64.5%) children in non-HD group who were not exposed to HD and 396 (35.5%) in HD group with former exposure to HD. Exposure to HD was associated with total neuropsychiatric problems (adjusted odds ratio, aOR = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.15–2.06), being emotionally reactive (aOR = 1.55, 95% CI = 1.00–2.39), having attention problems (aOR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.10–3.47), having oppositional defiant problems (aOR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.07–2.71), and having attention deficit/hyperactivity problems (aOR = 11.57, 95% CI = 1.03–2.38). The risks for neuropsychiatric problems were clearly increased in boy, firstborn, and secondary smoker. Conclusions Exposure to HD during early childhood had a potential association with subsequent behavioral abnormalities.This study was supported by a grant from the Seongnam Atopy Project of the Seongnam City Government, Republic of Korea

Kidney Transplantation in Sensitized Recipients; A Single Center Experience

A successful transplantation, across a positive crossmatch barrier, is one of the most persistent long-standing problems in the field of kidney transplant medicine. The aim of this study was to describe seven consecutive living renal transplantations in recipients with positive crossmatch for donors or positive for donor specific antibodies (DSAs). A preconditioning regimen including plasmapheresis and intravenous immunoglobulin was delivered three times a week until the crossmatch and/or DSAs became negative. Mycophenolate mofetil and tacrolimus were started two days before the plasmapheresis. The protocol was modified to include administration of anti-CD 20 antibody (rituximab, 375 mg/m2) from the patient number 3 through the patient number 7. All seven patients achieved negative conversion of the crossmatch or DSAs, and the kidney transplantations were successfully performed in all cases. Acute cellular rejection occurred in two patients, which were subclinical and controlled with high dose steroid treatment. Antibody-mediated rejection occurred in one patient, which was easily reversed with plasmapheresis. All recipients attained normal graft function during the 7-24 months of follow up. Our study suggests that sensitized patients can be transplanted successfully with desensitization pretreatment

Improved Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Quality of Life after Conversion from Mycophenolate Mofetil to Enteric-Coated Mycophenolate Sodium in Renal Transplant Patients Receiving Tacrolimus

It is reported that a conversion from mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) to enteric-coated mycophenolate sodium (EC-MPS) relieves gastrointestinal (GI) symptom burden and improves health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, it is unclear whether renal transplant recipients using tacrolimus receive the same benefit from the conversion. In this prospective, multi-center, open-label trial, patients were categorized into two groups by their GI symptom screening. Equimolar EC-MPS (n=175) was prescribed for patients with GI burdens; those with no complaints remained on MMF (n=83). Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) and Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI) were evaluated at baseline and after one month. Patients and physicians completed Overall Treatment Effect (OTE) at one month. EC-MPS-converted patients had worse GSRS and GIQLI scores at baseline than MMF-continued patients (all P<0.001). Significant improvements in GSRS and GIQLI scores were observed for EC-MPS-converted patients at one month, but MMF-continued patients showed worsened GSRS scores (all P<0.05). OTE scale indicated that EC-MPS patients improved in overall GI symptoms and HRQoL more than MMF patients did (P<0.001). In tacrolimus-treated renal transplant recipients with GI burdens, a conversion from MMF to EC-MPS improves GI-related symptoms and HRQoL

Incident dementia in kidney transplantation recipients: a matched comparative nationwide cohort study in South Korea

Background Recent studies have shown that patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are at elevated risk of dementia. However, whether kidney transplantation (KT) lowers the risk for incident dementia remains unclear. Methods From the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, we identified incident KT recipients aged ≥40 years without any history of dementia between 2007 and 2015. We also established a pair of age-, sex-, and inclusion year-matched control cohorts of patients with incident dialysis-dependent ESRD and members of the general population (GP) without a history of dementia, respectively. Cases of incident all-cause dementia, including Alzheimer disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD), and other kinds of dementia, were obtained from baseline until December 31, 2017. Results We followed 8,841 KT recipients, dialysis-dependent ESRD patients, and GP individuals for 48,371, 28,649, and 49,149 patient-years, respectively. Their mean age was 52.5 years, and 60.6% were male. Over the observation period, 55/43/19 KT recipients, 230/188/75 dialysis-dependent ESRD patients, and 38/32/14 GP individuals developed all-cause dementia/AD/VD. The risks of incident all-cause dementia, AD, and VD in KT recipients were similar to those in GP (hazard ratio: 0.74 [p = 0.20], 0.74 [p = 0.24], and 0.59 [p = 0.18], respectively) and significantly lower than those in dialysis-dependent ESRD patients (hazard ratio: 0.17 [p < 0.001], 0.16 [p < 0.001], and 0.16 [p < 0.001], respectively). Older age and diabetes mellitus at the time of KT were risk factors for incident all-cause dementia and AD in KT recipients. Conclusion This is the first study to show a beneficial impact of KT on incident dementia compared to dialysis dependency

Control of fluid balance guided by body composition monitoring in patients on peritoneal dialysis (COMPASS): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: The clinical benefits of bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS)-guided fluid management in patients on hemodialysis have been widely demonstrated. However, no previous reports have evaluated the effect of regular and serial BIS-guided fluid management on the residual renal function (RRF) in patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD). Therefore, we will evaluate the clinical efficacy of BIS-guided fluid management for preserving RRF and protecting cardiovascular events in patients on PD. Methods/design: This is a multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial. A total of 138 participants on PD will be enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either BIS-guided fluid management or fluid management based only on the clinical information for 1 year. The primary outcome is the change in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) between months 0 and 12 after starting treatment. The secondary outcomes will include GFR at month 12, time to the anuric state (urine volume <100 ml/day), and fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events during treatment. Discussion: This is the first clinical trial to investigate the effect of BIS-guided fluid management on RRF and for protecting against cardiovascular events in patients on PD.Peer Reviewe

Possible beneficial association between renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system blockade usage and graft prognosis in allograft IgA nephropathy: a retrospective cohort study

Background Although immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) is associated with an increased risk of renal allograft failure, evidences for its treatment, including renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system blockade (RAASB) usage, remain limited. Methods In this bi-center retrospective cohort study, we included patients who were recently diagnosed with IgAN through allograft biopsies. We identified their 6-month antihypertensive medication prescriptions and investigated the association between the medication types, albuminuria changes, and risk of 5-year death-censored-graft-failure (DCGF). The mixed effect model and cox regression analysis were used. Results A total of 464 allograft IgAN patients were included: 272, 38, 33, and 121 patients in the no antihypertensive medication, single agent RAASB, single agent beta blocker (BB)/calcium channel blocker (CCB), and combination therapy groups, respectively. High-degree albuminuria after 6 months of allograft IgAN diagnosis was an important prognostic parameter and a partial mediator for the association between the subgroups and 5-year DCGF. The usage of single RAASB was associated with decrement of albuminuria from allograft IgAN diagnosis (P for interaction = 0.03). The single BB/CCB group demonstrated significantly worse prognosis than the single RAASB group (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.76 [1.09–6.98]; P = 0.03). Conclusions In conclusion, RAASB may be beneficial for graft prognosis in early allograft IgAN patients who require single antihypertensive medication therapy, by means of reducing albuminuria. Further investigation of treatment strategy in allograft IgAN is warranted.This study was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Health and Welfare (No. HI15C2632), a grant from the National Research Foundation of Korea (No. 2019R1A2C2011465), and a grant from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of Korea (No. 2015M3C9A2054342). The funder played no role in performing the study; the study was performed independently by the authors