Histopathological analysis of pre-implantation donor kidney biopsies: association with graft survival and function in one year post-transplantation.

Introduction: Pre-implantation kidney biopsy is a decision-making tool when considering the use of grafts from deceased donors with expanded criteria, implanting one or two kidneys and comparing this to post-transplantation biopsies. The role of histopathological alterations in kidney compartments as a prognostic factor in graft survival and function has had conflicting results.

Objective: This study evaluated the prevalence of chronic alterations in pre-implant biopsies of kidney grafts and the association of findings with graft function and survival in one year post-transplant.

Renal transplants using expanded cadaver donor criteria.

Aims: to analyze the frequency of transplants using expanded donor criteria (EDC) and the incidence of delayed graft function, acute rejection and the patient and graft survival compared to ideal donors (ID).

Patients: retrospective analysis of the 582 cadaver renal transplants performed from Jun 1988 to Mar 2003 in adult recipients. The expanded donor criteria were considered as history of hypertension or evidence of atherosclerosis, diabetes, age less than 5 or more than 55 years old, serum creatinine higher than 2.

Twenty-five year experience with renal transplantation at Santa Casa Hospital, Porto Alegre.

From 1977 to July 2002, 1,376 renal transplants were performed at Santa Casa of Porto Alegre. The number of transplants and the patient and graft survival rates have been rising each year since 1987. The overall one-year graft survival rates were 90% for living donor recipients and 80% for cadaver donor recipients, respectively; however, the patient and graft survival rates increased significantly between the early (1977-1995) and more recent (1996-2002) periods.

Rituximab in association with rapamycin for post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease treatment.

Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) is an uncommon but life-threatening complication of solid-organ and blood stem-cell transplants. It responds poorly to therapy, including reduction of immunosuppression, interferon, antivirals or chemotherapy. Small series of PTLD successfully treated with rituximab have been reported, and experimental studies suggest that rapamycin inhibits growth of human Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B lymphocytes.