Emphysematous cystitis and necrotizing fasciitis

Emphysematous cystitis is an uncommon and often severe infectious condition of the bladder that usually affects women and diabetics. We report a case of a 62-year-old male patient who presented with concomitant emphysematous cystitis and necrotizing fasciitis of the right leg. The patient was initially managed with emergent disarticulation of the right leg. Tissue cultures were positive for Ciprofloxacin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. He was treated with Piperacillin-Tazobactam; however, due to the failure of conservative management of the condition, the patient underwent a cystoprostatectomy with ileal conduit. To our knowledge, this is the first report of concomitant emphysematous cystitis and necrotizing fasciitis requiring aggressive surgical intervention for both diseases

Machine preservation of donor kidneys in transplantation

With increasing demands for ‘less than ideal’ kidneys for transplantation, machine perfusion of kidneys has been utilized to improve the preservation of kidneys during storage. Hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) of renal allografts has been shown to reduce delayed graft function rates in both expanded criteria and donation after cardiac death renal allografts. However, the beneficial impact upon long-term graft function is unclear. There has been emerging evidence that both subnormothermic (room temperature) and normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) of allografts have beneficial effects with regards to early graft function, survival and injury in pre-clinical and early clinical studies. Additionally, machine perfusion allows functional assessment of the organ prior to transplantation. Ultimately, the greatest benefit of machine perfusion may be the ability to treat the organ with agents to protect the graft against ischemia reperfusion injury, while awaiting transplantation

Static Cold Storage with Mitochondria-Targeted Hydrogen Sulfide Donor Improves Renal Graft Function in an Ex Vivo Porcine Model of Controlled Donation-after-Cardiac-Death Kidney Transplantation

The global donor kidney shortage crisis has necessitated the use of suboptimal kidneys from donors-after-cardiac-death (DCD). Using an ex vivo porcine model of DCD kidney transplantation, the present study investigates whether the addition of hydrogen sulfide donor, AP39, to University of Wisconsin (UW) solution improves graft quality. Renal pedicles of male pigs were clamped in situ for 30 min and the ureters and arteries were cannulated to mimic DCD. Next, both donor kidneys were nephrectomized and preserved by static cold storage in UW solution with or without AP39 (200 nM) at 4 °C for 4 h followed by reperfusion with stressed autologous blood for 4 h at 37 °C using ex vivo pulsatile perfusion apparatus. Urine and arterial blood samples were collected hourly during reperfusion. After 4 h of reperfusion, kidneys were collected for histopathological analysis. Compared to the UW-only group, UW+AP39 group showed significantly higher pO2 (p p + and K+, as well as reduced intrarenal resistance in the UW+AP39 group compared to the UW-only group. Histologically, AP39 preserved renal structure by reducing the apoptosis of renal tubular cells and immune cell infiltration. Our finding could lay the foundation for improved graft preservation and reduce the increasingly poor outcomes associated with DCD kidney transplantation

Kidney and liver transplants from donors after cardiac death: initial experience at the London Health Sciences Centre

BACKGROUND: The disparity between the number of patients waiting for an organ transplant and availability of donor organs increases each year in Canada. Donation after cardiac death (DCD), following withdrawal of life support in patients with hopeless prognoses, is a means of addressing the shortage with the potential to increase the number of transplantable organs. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, single-centre chart review of organs donated after cardiac death to the Multi-Organ Transplant Program at the London Health Sciences Centre between July 2006 and December 2007. In total, 34 solid organs (24 kidneys and 10 livers) were procured from 12 DCD donors. RESULTS: The mean age of the donors was 38 (range 18-59) years. The causes of death were craniocerebral trauma (n = 7), cerebrovascular accident (n = 4) and cerebral hypoxia (n = 1). All 10 livers were transplanted at our centre, as were 14 of the 24 kidneys; 10 kidneys were transplanted at other centres. The mean renal cold ischemia time was 6 (range 3-9.5) hours. Twelve of the 14 kidney recipients (86%) experienced delayed graft function, but all kidneys regained function. After 1-year follow-up, kidney function was good, with a mean serum creatinine level of 145 (range 107-220) micromol/L and a mean estimated creatinine clearance of 64 (range 41-96) mL/min. The mean liver cold ischemia time was 5.8 (range 5.5-8) hours. There was 1 case of primary nonfunction requiring retransplantation. The remaining 9 livers functioned well. One patient developed a biliary anastomotic stricture that resolved after endoscopic stenting. All liver recipients were alive after a mean follow-up of 11 (range 3-20) months. Since the inception of this DCD program, the number of donors referred to our centre has increased by 14%. CONCLUSION: Our initial results compare favourably with those from the transplantation of organs procured from donors after brain death. Donation after cardiac death can be an important means of increasing the number of organs available for transplant, and its widespread implementation in Canada should be encouraged