M & L Jaargang 29/2

Catheline Metdepenninghen Kleurrijke bloementuilen in de Sint-Salvatorkerk in Harelbeke. [Colourful bouquets in Harelbekes Saint Salvator Church.]Hekken in zwart en goud zijn ons ondertussen zo vertrouwd, dat we er nog nauwelijks bij nadenken. Gelukkig zijn er oplettende restaurateurs, zoals Nicky Vergouwen, die onder de strenge uitmonstering van de hekken in de Sint-Salvatorskerk in Harelbeke een onverwachte polychromie ontdekte in typisch 18de-eeuwse heldere kleurtinten.Veerle Stinckens Een buitengewoon duo. De restauratie van twee monumentale schilderijen van Jan Erasmus Quellin. [An extraordinary pair. The restoration of two monumental paintings by Jan Erasmus Quellin.]Door de enorme afmetingen van twee geschilderde doeken van Jan Erasmus Quellin in de abdijkerk van Tongerlo konden deze niet naar een atelier vervoerd worden. Veerle Stinckens schetst het relaas van deze toch wel afwijkende opdracht, waarbij het kerkinterieur noodgedwongen tot restauratieatelier werd omgebouwd.Vanessa De Geest Het Zandhof. Een prefab woning van architect Charles Van Nueten. [The Zandhof. A prefab building by architect Charles Van Nueten.]Moeilijk te geloven dat dit traditionele duinhuisje en de moderne atelieruitbreiding door dezelfde architect ontworpen werden. Charles Van Nueten toont zich een handige kameleon, die heel diverse opdrachten en stijlen beheerst. Vanessa De Geest geeft een mooi overzicht van zijn loopbaan en realisaties.Luc Van de Sijpe Vergeten beton? De Bunkergordel Bruggenhoofd Gent. [Lost concrete? The bunker line Bruggenhoofd Ghent.]Zelfs de Duitse oorlogspropaganda kon er niet omheen: aan de bunkergordel Bruggenhoofd Gent boden Belgische soldaten drie dagen weerstand tegen een overweldigende overmacht. De strijd van de verdedigers leverde hen minder dan een voetnoot op in de geschiedenis van de Tweede Wereldoorlog. De linie werd deels ontmanteld en dichtgemetseld en raakte in vergetelheid. Tot Luc Van de Sijpe besloot hier iets aan te doen. Hij inventariseerde de restanten van de linie, ontsloot ze voor het publiek via de website bunkergordel en herwaardeerde zo de laatste getuigenissen van een vergeten verdedigingslinie.Summar

Evolution of body weight parameters up to 3 years after solid organ transplantation: The prospective Swiss Transplant Cohort Study.

Obesity and weight gain are serious concerns after solid organ transplantation (Tx); however, no unbiased comparison regarding body weight parameter evolution across organ groups has yet been performed. Using data from the prospective nationwide Swiss Transplant Cohort Study, we compared the evolution of weight parameters up to 3 years post-Tx in 1359 adult kidney (58.3%), liver (21.7%), lung (11.6%), and heart (8.4%) recipients transplanted between May 2008 and May 2012. Changes in mean weight and body mass index (BMI) category were compared to reference values from 6 months post-Tx. At 3 years post-Tx, compared to other organ groups, liver Tx recipients showed the greatest weight gain (mean 4.8±10.4 kg), 57.4% gained >5% body weight, and they had the highest incidence of obesity (38.1%). After 3 years, based on their BMI categories at 6 months, normal weight and obese liver Tx patients, as well as underweight kidney, lung and heart Tx patients had the highest weight gains. Judged against international Tx patient data, the majority of our Swiss Tx recipients' experienced lower post-Tx weight gain. However, our findings show weight gain pattern differences, both within and across organ Tx groups that call for preventive measures

Cohort profile: The Swiss Transplant Cohort Study (STCS): A nationwide longitudinal cohort study of all solid organ recipients in Switzerland.

The Swiss Transplant Cohort Study (STCS) is a prospective multicentre cohort study which started to actively enrol study participants in May 2008. It takes advantage of combining data from all transplant programmes in one unique system to perform comprehensive nationwide reporting and to promote translational and clinical post-transplant outcome research in the framework of Swiss transplantation medicine. Over 5500 solid organ transplant recipients have been enrolled in all six Swiss transplant centres by end of 2019, around three-quarter of them for kidney and liver transplants. Ninety-three per cent of all transplanted recipients have consented to study participation, almost all of them (99%) contributed to bio-sampling. The STCS genomic data set includes around 3000 patients. Detailed clinical and laboratory data in high granularity as well as patient-reported outcomes from transplant recipients and activities in Switzerland are available in the last decade. Interdisciplinary contributions in diverse fields of transplantation medicine such as infectious diseases, genomics, oncology, immunology and psychosocial science have resulted in approximately 70 scientific papers getting published in peer-review journals so far. The STCS will deepen its efforts in personalised medicine and digital epidemiology, and will also focus on allocation research and the use of causal inference methods to make complex matters in transplant medicine more understandable and transparent

Medicare immunosuppressant coverage and access to kidney transplantation: a retrospective national cohort study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In December 2000, Medicare eliminated time limitations in immunosuppressant coverage after kidney transplant for beneficiaries age ≥65 and those who were disabled. This change did not apply to younger non-disabled beneficiaries who qualified for Medicare only because of their end-stage renal disease (ESRD). We sought to examine access to waitlisting for kidney transplantation in a cohort spanning this policy change.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a retrospective cohort analysis of 241,150 Medicare beneficiaries in the United States Renal Data System who initiated chronic dialysis between 1/1/96 and 11/30/03. We fit interrupted time series Cox proportional hazard models to compare access to kidney transplant waitlist within 12 months of initiating chronic dialysis by age/disability status, accounting for secular trends.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Beneficiaries age <65 who were not disabled were less likely to be waitlisted after the policy change (hazard ratio (HR) for the later vs. earlier period, 0.93, p = 0.002), after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, co-morbid conditions, income, and ESRD network. There was no evidence of secular trend in this group (HR per year, 1.00, p = 0.989). Likelihood of being waitlisted among those age ≥65 or disabled increased steadily throughout the study period (HR per year, 1.04, p < 0.001), but was not clearly affected by the policy change (HR for the immediate effect of policy change, 0.93, p = 0.135).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The most recent extension in Medicare immunosuppressant coverage appears to have had little impact on the already increasing access to waitlisting among ≥65/ disabled beneficiaries eligible for the benefit but may have decreased access for younger, non-disabled beneficiaries who were not. The potential ramifications of policies on candidacy appeal for access to kidney transplantation should be considered.</p