Publications by authors named "Abraham Matar"

Background: The clinical impact of bariatric surgery (BS) prior to pancreas transplantation (PTx) is unclear.

Setting: University of Minnesota Hospital, Minneapolis, MN.

Methods: This was a single center retrospective case-controlled study of all patients January 1, 1998 and May 1, 2024 with a history of BS prior to PTx.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TCM) is a temporary heart condition triggered by stress, occurring mainly in patients without serious coronary artery disease, and was studied in patients who experienced it after liver transplantation (LT).
  • - A multicenter study included 55 adult patients who developed TCM following LT, mainly affecting older women, with common causes being alcohol-related liver disease; TCM diagnosis often occurred just days after surgery, leading to a significant drop in heart function.
  • - Most patients were treated successfully using medications like diuretics, with a high rate of recovery in heart function observed over time; those who regained heart function had better survival rates compared to those who did not recover.
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Objective: To investigate the long-term outcomes of patients with combined primary sclerosing cholangitis/inflammatory bowel disease (PSC-IBD) undergoing both liver transplantation (LT) and total abdominal colectomy (TAC).

Summary Background Data: The fraction of patients with PSC-IBD that require both LT and TAC is small, thereby limiting significant conclusions regarding long-term outcomes.

Methods: Adult and pediatric patients from nine centers from the US IBD Surgery Collaborative who underwent staged LT and TAC for PSC-IBD were included.

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Introduction: Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPK) is the preferred treatment for individuals with type-1 diabetes and end-stage renal disease. However, a limited supply of "Ideal Pancreas Donors" contributed to a growing disparity between available organs and recipients. Even though SPK outcomes from pediatric donors match those from adult donors, unclear guidelines on minimum age and weight criteria for extra small pediatric pancreas donors lead to hesitancy among several transplant centers to utilize these grafts due to concerns about inadequate islet mass, technical challenges, and increased risk of allograft thrombosis.

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Background: Serial transverse enteroplasty is used to treat patients with chronic intestinal failure owing to short bowel syndrome. Current literature lacks discussion of its role for other etiologies of intestinal failure and its impact on adult patients' nutrition support needs and quality of life.

Methods: We performed a case series on adults with parenteral nutrition (PN) dependence who underwent serial transverse enteroplasty at Emory University Hospital, a quaternary referral center between 2011 and 2022.

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Objective: To evaluate the clinically relevant anti-CD40 antibody iscalimab for baseline immunosuppression in a preclinical pig-to-rhesus renal xenograft model.

Summary Background Data: CD40/CD40L co-stimulation blockade-based immunosuppression has been more successful than calcineurin-based protocols in prolonging xenograft survival in preclinical models.

Methods: GGTA1 knockout/CD55 transgenic pig kidneys were transplanted into rhesus monkeys (n = 6) receiving an iscalimab-based immunosuppressive regimen.

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Article Synopsis
  • Liver transplantation is the main treatment for severe liver diseases and certain cancers, but there is limited information on managing tumors that appear after the transplant.
  • A study of 54 patients who underwent liver surgery after transplantation found that most had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and many did not receive additional therapies before or after surgery.
  • The results indicate that liver resection is generally safe after transplantation, with survival rates comparable to those in patients without a transplant, and should be considered for well-selected patients.
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Background: Chronic immunosuppression following pancreas transplantation carries significant risk, including posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD). We sought to define the incidence, risk factors, and long-term outcomes of PTLD following pancreas transplantation at a single center.

Methods: All adult pancreas transplants between February 1, 1983 and December 31, 2023 at the University of Minnesota were reviewed, including pancreas transplant alone (PTA), simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplants (SPK), and pancreas after kidney transplants (PAK).

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Article Synopsis
  • The first successful pancreas transplant occurred in December 1966, and the study reviews its evolution over 50 years to evaluate outcomes and factors affecting success.
  • Patient and graft survival rates have progressively improved across six transplant eras, with the half-lives of pancreas grafts being notably longer for combined organ transplants.
  • Key factors leading to better graft survival include first-time transplants, effective exocrine drainage methods, younger donor age, and shorter preservation times.
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Introduction: Persistent symptoms of pain, early satiety, dyspnea, and gastrointestinal reflux due to significant liver enlargement are indications for surgical debulking in patients with polycystic liver disease (PCLD) due to the lack of effective medical therapies; however, few data exist on outcomes of surgical intervention for PCLD.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients who underwent operative intervention due to persistent symptoms secondary to PCLD. Preoperative patient characteristics, 30-day postoperative outcomes, and long-term postoperative outcomes, including complications and symptom resolution, were analyzed.

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The incidence of end stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States (US) is increasing each year. The lone curative treatment for ESRD remains kidney transplantation. Despite the demonstrated medical and economic benefits, living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) only accounts for a small number of kidney transplantations each year.

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Meningiomas are the most common type of primary brain tumor; they have a low risk for extracranial metastases, which are primarily associated with increased tumor grade. Hepatic metastases from cranial meningiomas are extremely rare, with only a paucity of cases reported in the literature and no standardized approach to management. Herein, we report a case of an incidentally discovered giant (>20 cm) metastatic meningioma to the liver treated with surgical resection 10 years following resection of a low-grade cranial meningioma.

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Despite the increase in deceased organ donation over the past ten years, the gap between patients awaiting transplant and available organs continues to widen. Deceased donors secondary to acute fatal poisonings represent less than 1% of all organ donors. Organs from poisoned donors have largely been discarded due to concerns of toxin transmission and poor organ function as well as the paucity of data that exists regarding this donor population.

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Over the last 40 y, a specialized herd of miniature swine has been intentionally bred to develop lines of animals homozygous for the swine major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which have facilitated transplantation studies across reproducible MHC and minor antigen mismatch barriers. These MHC-characterized miniature swine (Mc-MS) have been used for the study of novel surgical techniques, various approaches to tolerance induction of solid organ and vascularized composite allografts, as well as studies of the immunobiology of allografts and xenografts. Mc-MS possess characteristics that are highly advantageous to these studies, and their continued use will likely continue to play an important role in bridging "bench-to-cage-to bedside" therapies in the field of transplantation.

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Unlabelled: Biliary leaks and anastomotic strictures comprise the majority of biliary complications (BCs) following liver transplantation (LT). Currently, there are few large contemporary case series of BCs in adult deceased donor liver transplant (DDLT) recipients in the literature. The purpose of this study was to examine the pretransplant and intraoperative risk factors associated with BCs at a high-volume tertiary care center and determine the impact of these BCs on their posttransplant course and long-term transplant outcomes.

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Background: Due to a substantial decline in pancreas transplantation (PT) across the United States over the past 15 years, we sought to understand the perceptions and practices of US PT programs.

Methods: Surveys were sent to members of the American Society of Transplantation Surgeons and the American Society of Transplantation by email and professional society postings between August 2019 and November 2019.

Results: One hundred twenty three responses were recorded from 56 unique programs.

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Over the past twenty years, significant technical strides have been made in the area of vascularized composite tissue allotransplantation (VCA). As in solid organ transplantation, the allogeneic immune response remains a significant barrier to long-term VCA survival and function. Strategies to overcome acute and chronic rejection, minimize immunosuppression and prolong VCA survival have important clinical implications.

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Acute rejection is a leading cause of organ transplant failure and the most common indication for re-transplantation. Clinically, suspicion of acute rejection is often dependent upon serum laboratory values which may only manifest after organ injury. The gold standard for diagnosis requires an invasive biopsy which can carry serious clinical risks including bleeding and graft loss as well as the possibility of sampling error.

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Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation and solid organ transplantation remain the only curative options for many hematologic malignancies and end-stage organ diseases. Unfortunately, the sequelae of long-term immunosuppression, as well as acute and chronic rejection, carry significant morbidities, including infection, malignancy, and graft loss. Numerous murine models have demonstrated the efficacy of adjunctive cellular therapies using HSCs, regulatory T cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and regulatory dendritic cells in modulating the alloimmune response in favor of graft tolerance; however, translation of such murine approaches to other preclinical models and in the clinic has yielded mixed results.

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Background: Despite current neurological guidelines that a single brain death examination (SBDE) is sufficient to determine brain death, a vast majority of hospitals still use a two brain death examination (TBDE) policy based on historical practice. The purpose of this study was to analyze the outcomes and implications of an SBDE policy compared with a TBDE policy with respect to organ donation outcomes.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all adult patients declared dead by neurological criteria between 2010 and 2018 at a high-volume trauma center.

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