Noninvasive evaluation of renal tissue oxygenation with blood oxygen level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging early after transplantation has a limited predictive value for the delayed graft function.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of renal oxygenation assessment using blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the early period after kidney transplantation and to estimate its prognostic value for delayed graft function.

Material And Methods: Examinations were performed in 50 subjects: 40 patients within a week after the kidney transplantation and 10 healthy controls, using T2*-weighted sequence. Measurements in transplant patients were correlated to basic laboratory parameters in the early period after transplantation and at follow-up.

Rho-kinase inhibitor reduces hypersensitivity to ANG II in human mesenteric arteries retrieved and conserved under the same conditions as transplanted organs.

Rho-kinase and GTP-ase Rho are important regulators of vascular tone and blood pressure. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Rho-kinase in artery reactions induced by angiotensin II (ANG II) and the effects of ischemia-reperfusion injury as well as the function of intra- and extracellular calcium in these reactions. Experiments were performed on mesenteric superior arteries procured from cadaveric organ donors and conserved under the same conditions as transplanted kidneys.

Psychological principles in regard to the interview with the deceased donor's family.

The purpose of this article is to present the most important rules of the interview process with the family of a patient who has been diagnosed with brain death. Based on data from the literature and their own clinical experience, the authors also describe the psychological mechanisms that make contact with the family of a potential donor particularly difficult. The paper also discusses successive stages in the process of building contact with the family from the perspective of the dual advocacy approach that, in the light of recent data from the literature, can significantly increase the likelihood of the family's acceptance of organ donation, offering both the specific theoretical foundations as well as the strict principles in regard to the interview.

Liver procurement from a brain-dead kidney transplant recipient--a case report.

The shortage of organ donors has led to new strategies to increase the availability of allografts for transplantation, such as organ procurement from brain-dead organ transplant recipients. We present the case of a 26 year-old male brain-dead liver donor who had been a kidney transplant recipient six years previously. The liver donor described in this report, as the first in Poland, has paved a new, although as yet narrow, way in the field of organ donation.

A brain dead woman, giving birth in the 23rd week of pregnancy, used as an organ donor: a case report.

Background: Maternal brain death during pregnancy is an exceptional case when somatic support might be continued despite diagnosed death. There are only a few cases of maternal brain death during pregnancy reported in the literature and detailed data regarding the frequency of such cases are lacking.

Case Report: The case of a 40-year-old woman, diagnosed brain dead due to a subarachnoid and intracranial hemorrhage in the 21st week of pregnancy is presented.

[The post of transplant coordinator in Polish law regulations].

The aim of this report is to present the review of Polish legislative acts concerning the post of Transplant Coordinator. The coordination of organs retrieval and transplantation is specified in the Ministry of Health Regulation 2007 as an postgraduate accomplishment in the field of medicine. Furthermore, the requirements regarding basic education, adequate length of work and experience in the field of organs, tissues and cells retrieval and transplantation for transplant coordinator and senior transplant coordinator as well as continuous education and salary are specified by law.