N-acetylcysteine administration does not improve patient outcome after liver resection.

Background: Post-operative hepatic dysfunction is a major cause of concern when undertaking a liver resection. The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a result of hepatic ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury can result in hepatocellular injury. Experimental evidence suggests that N-acetylcysteine may ameliorate ROS-mediated liver injury.

Incidental pT2-T3 gallbladder cancer after a cholecystectomy: outcome of staging at 3 months prior to a radical resection.

Introduction: Patients with incidental pT2-T3 gallbladder cancer (IGC) after a cholecystectomy may benefit from a radical re-resection although their optimal treatment strategy is not well defined. In this Unit, such patients undergo delayed staging at 3 months after a cholecystectomy to assess the evidence of a residual tumour, extra hepatic spread and the biological behaviour of the tumour. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of patients who had delayed staging at 3 months after a cholecystectomy.

The incidence and importance of bacterial contaminants of cadaveric renal perfusion fluid.

Infections represent a significant risk in the postoperative transplant recipient. The perfusion fluid used to perfuse and preserve the kidneys prior to transplantation represents a potential medium in which organisms can grow. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence and clinical relevance of bacterial contamination of perfusion fluid.

Graft function after kidney transplantation from non-heartbeating donors according to maastricht category.

Purpose: Donor shortages have led to some groups using alternative sources such as non-heartbeating donors (NHBDs). Kidneys from NHBDs suffer from warm ischemia at cardiac arrest which is reflected by acute tubular necrosis of the allograft, resulting in a period of delayed graft function. NHBDs are categorized by the circumstances surrounding the agonal events of death which reflect differences in the likelihood of ischemic injury to the kidney.

How to improve the quality of kidneys from non-heart-beating donors: a randomised controlled trial of thrombolysis in non-heart-beating donors.

Background: The growth in the prevalence of end-stage renal failure has been accompanied with a rise in the waiting list for renal transplantation, which has not been matched by an increase in the kidney donor pool. Non-heart-beating donors (NHBD) offer a potential source of kidneys that are not currently being significantly used. Cardiac arrest for a protracted period of time leads to in situ thrombosis, and, as a consequence, the discard rates for harvested kidneys is higher than brain-stem-dead donors.

Do tissue damage biomarkers used to assess machine-perfused NHBD kidneys predict long-term renal function post-transplant?

Background: Renal transplantation in many units is limited by the availability of donor organs. Kidneys obtained from non-heart-beating donors (NHBD) represent an important resource, with the potential to substantially increase the available donor organ pool. Such kidneys are associated with increased warm ischaemic tissue injury which may be assessed by hypothermic machine perfusion.

Long-term renal function in kidneys from non-heart-beating donors: A single-center experience.

Background: Cadaveric kidneys from brain-stem-dead donors continue to be limited because the number of donors has reached a plateau. Wide recruitment of non-heart-beating donors (NHBD) could significantly increase the donor pool. NHBD renal transplants are underused because of the concern of poor quality graft function from such donors.