Results of clinical renal transplantation in 15 dogs using triple drug immunosuppressive therapy.

Objective: To evaluate outcome of renal transplantation in dogs administered cyclosporine, azathioprine, and prednisolone immunosuppression.

Study Design: Prospective clinical study.

Animals: Fifteen dogs with chronic renal failure.

Evaluation of the prevalence of infections in cats after renal transplantation: 169 cases (1987-2003).

Objective: To determine the prevalence of infections developing postoperatively, document the contribution of infection to increased risk of death, and identify risk factors associated with the development of infectious complications in cats after renal transplantation.

Design: Retrospective study.

Animals: 169 cats that received renal allograft transplants.

Compared with cyclosporine, ISATX247 significantly prolongs renal-allograft survival in a nonhuman primate model.

Background: ISATX247 is a novel calcineurin inhibitor that has shown more potency than cyclosporine in vitro. This is the first study to compare the survival times of renal allografts in nonhuman primates treated with either ISATX247 or cyclosporine.

Methods: Adult, male cynomolgus monkeys were divided into blood-group compatible and mixed-lymphocyte, stimulation-mismatched, donor-recipient pairs.

Histopathologic findings and classification of feline renal transplants.

Seventy-seven feline transplant kidney specimens, obtained from 1 to 3,183 days (9 years) after transplantation, were reevaluated histologically and classified on the basis of the Banff '97 guidelines for human renal transplant kidneys. Overall, this classification system appeared useful in detecting rejection reactions and confirmed the finding in humans that biopsies can diagnose subclinical rejection and therefore are an important diagnostic tool for the follow up of renal transplants. However, on the basis of serum creatinine values, the severity of the acute or active and chronic lesions was not accurately reflected by this scoring system.

Unusual urethral calculi in two male dogs.

The clinical presentation and advanced size of the two calculi described in this report are both atypical and noteworthy. Both dogs were presented initially with signs of hematuria, stranguria, and perineal discomfort. Each calculus was visible on survey abdominal radiographs and was present in the region of the ischial arch.

Microemulsified cyclosporine-based immunosuppression for the prevention of acute renal allograft rejection in unrelated dogs: preliminary experimental study.

Objectives: To determine whether the microemulsified formulation of cyclosporine (MCsA; Neoral; Novartis A.G.), combined with azathioprine (Imuran; Glaxo Wellcome), and prednisolone (Delta-Cortef; Upjohn), would be effective in preventing acute renal allograft rejection in unrelated mongrel dogs.

Modified noble plication for the prevention of intestinal intussusception after renal transplantation in dogs.

Intestinal intussusception is a frequent problem after experimental transplantation in dogs. This report describes the safety and efficacy of performing a modified Noble plication for the prevention of intussusception. Heterotopic renal transplantation and plication was performed in 20 dogs.

Immunosuppression with a combination of the leflunomide analog, FK778, and microemulsified cyclosporine for renal transplantation in mongrel dogs.

Background: The leflunomide analog, FK778, is a selective pyrimidine synthesis inhibitor. In rodent models, FK778 is efficacious in the prevention of allograft and xenograft rejection, and a combination of FK778 and cyclosporine has synergistic immunosuppressive efficacy.

Methods: Heterotopic renal transplantation was performed in 20 dogs.

An evaluation of combined immunosuppression with MNA 715 and microemulsified cyclosporine on renal allograft rejection in mismatched mongrel dogs.

Objective: To evaluate a combination of MNA 715 and microemulsifed cyclosporine for the prevention of renal allograft rejection in mismatched mongrel dogs.

Study Design: Randomized, experimental study.

Animals: Fourteen female mismatched mongrel dogs.

Renal transplantation in cats.

Feline renal transplantation can offer long-term survival with a normal quality of life for cats with renal failure. However, it is important to remember that renal transplantation is a treatment option and not a cure. Renal transplantation is never performed on an emergency basis or prophylactically.

Management of hypertension controls postoperative neurologic disorders after renal transplantation in cats.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and describe the management of hypertension and central nervous system (CNS) complications after renal transplantation in cats. We also compared the prevalence of CNS complications between cats monitored and treated for postoperative hypertension and a previously described, historical control group of cats not monitored or treated for postoperative hypertension.

Study Design: Retrospective clinical study.

Comparison of two surgical techniques for renal transplantation in cats.

Objective: To compare two surgical techniques for renal transplantation in cats with respect to graft warm ischemia time, total surgical time, operative and postoperative complications, and return to normal renal function based on measurement of plasma creatinine concentrations.

Study Design: Research study using normal cats.

Animals Or Sample Population: Fourteen adult, feline leukemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus (FELV/FIV) negative, neutered male and spayed female cats.

Acute toxoplasmosis following renal transplantation in three cats and a dog.

Three cats and 1 dog that had undergone renal transplantation because of end-stage renal disease were examined because of complications 3 to 6 weeks after surgery. One cat died prior to treatment of the complications; Toxoplasma cysts were found in sections of the renal allograft, and Toxoplasma tachyzoites were found in other organs. The other 2 cats and the dog died despite treatment, and protozoal cysts, as well as tachyzoites, were identified in other organs but not within the allografts, suggesting that reactivation of latent infection following immunosuppression was the most likely cause of disseminated toxoplasmosis.

Ultrasonographic evaluation of renal autografts in normal cats.

The purpose of this study was to determine changes in resistive index (RI) and renal size that occur in normal feline kidney autografts in the immediate post-transplant period. Qualitative changes in renal parenchymal echogenicity and pelvic dilation were also noted, although this was not a major focus of the study. Fourteen domestic short-haired cats underwent bilateral nephrectomies followed by an autograft of the right kidney to either the aorta or external iliac artery.