Transplant coronary heart disease: Challenges and solutions

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) remains one of the leading causes of death and graft failure after heart transplantation. A variety of causes, including donor heart characteristics, recipient risk factors, and immune-mediated influences, are associated with developing CAV. In this review, we will focus on the pathophysiology of developing CAV and various methods to screen for this condition. The pathogenesis of CAV likely involves repeated injuries to the endothelium from a variety of factors such as cellular-mediated rejection, and alloimmune factors, including antibody-mediated injury, ischemia-reperfusion injury at time of transplant, cytomegalovirus infections, immunosuppression medications, systemic inflammation, and tra­ditional atherosclerosis risk factors. Patients with significant CAV are often asymptomatic, and therefore early detection by routine screening prior to graft dysfunction is crucial. There are a variety of invasive, noninvasive, and blood tests that have been studied as screening methods, and we will discuss the role of each of these in this review article. Although some treatment regimens have been established for CAV, this is an area where further studies and research are necessary

Correct use of non-indexed eGFR for drug dosing and renal drug-related problems at hospital admission

PURPOSE Two to seven percent of the German adult population has a renal impairment (RI) with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 ml/min/1.73m2. This often remains unrecognized and adjustment of drug therapy is lacking. To determine renal function in clinical routine, the CKD-EPI equation is used to calculate an indexed eGFR (ml/min/1.73m2). For drug dosing, it has to be individualized to a non-indexed eGFR (ml/min) by the patient's body surface area. Here, we investigated the number of patients admitted to urological wards of a teaching hospital with RI between July and December 2016. Additionally, we correctly used the eGFRnon-indexed for drug and dosage adjustments and to analyse the use of renal risk drugs (RRD) and renal drug-related problems (rDRP). METHODS In a retrospective observational study, urological patients with pharmacist-led medication reconciliation at hospital admission and eGFRindexed (CKD-EPI) of 15-59 ml/min/1.73m2 were identified. Indexed eGFR (ml/min/1.73m2) was recalculated with body surface area to non-indexed eGFR (ml/min) for correct drug dosing. Medication at admission was reviewed for RRD and based on the eGFRnon-indexed for rDRP, e.g. inappropriate dose or contraindication. RESULTS Of 1320 screened patients, 270 (20.5%) presented with an eGFRindexed of 15–59 ml/min/1.73m2. After readjustment, 203 (15.4%) patients had an eGFRnon-indexed of 15–59 ml/min. Of these, 190 (93.6%) used ≥ 1 drugs at admission with 660 of 1209 (54.7%) drugs classified as RRD. At least one rDRP was identified in 115 (60.5%) patients concerning 264 (21.8%) drugs. CONCLUSION Renal impairment is a common risk factor for medication safety in urologic patients admitted to a hospital. Considerable shifts were seen in eGFR-categories when correctly calculating eGFRnon-indexed for drug dosing purposes. The fact that more than half of the study patients showed rDRP at hospital admission underlines the need to consider this risk factor appropriately