The influence of rejection on graft motility after intestinal transplantation in swine: the possibility of using this method for the real-time monitoring of acute cellular rejection.

Background: We have previously reported that rejected allografts show dysmotility, which can be detected by real-time monitoring in swine. We examined the correlation between the motility and the mucosal histology to detect rejection at an early stage by real-time monitoring.

Methods: Intestinal transplantation was performed orthotopically using FK506.

Successful prolonged rituximab treatment for post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder following living donor liver transplantation in a child.

PTLD is a serious complication of immunosuppression in solid organ transplant recipients. The incidence of PTLD is significantly higher in pediatric recipients than in adult because children are often EBV-seronegative and they may develop primary EBV infection after transplantation. We herein describe a case of GI-PTLD who achieved a complete remission by prolonged rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal antibody against CD20, mono-therapy.

Safe techniques for inserting the hickman catheter in pediatric patients.

The placement of the Hickman catheter in the central veins is thought to be an effective method for providing venous access in various clinical situations in children. The catheter is usually inserted by the percutaneous approach, but in some cases various troublesome complications can occur, such as sheath introducer kinking or damage, in addition to other major ones. Therefore, some modified techniques, using vascular dilators, both to dilate the route and to avoid such complications, have been developed and investigated to obtain a smooth and safe percutaneous insertion of the Hickman catheter in children.

Experimental study concerning safety dosage of OK-432 for intrauterine treatment.

Objective: Clinical intrauterine treatment for fetal cystic hygroma has so far been performed in a few patients; however, it is still difficult to evaluate the results. The aim of this study is to establish the safe dosage of OK-432 in the intrauterine treatment of fetal cystic hygroma.

Methods: OK-432 was injected either subcutaneously behind the neck of the fetuses or into the amniotic cavity through the uterine wall of pregnant Japanese white rabbits at 27 days of gestation.

Auxiliary partial orthotopic living donor liver transplantation for a child with congenital absence of the portal vein.

Congenital absence of the portal vein (CAPV) is a rare malformation of the mesenteric vasculature in which visceral venous blood bypasses the liver, completely draining into the systemic circulation through a congenital porto-systemic shunt. Liver transplantation has rarely been indicated for patients with this disease. We present a child with CAPV who was managed successfully by living donor auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplantation (APOLT), while preserving the right lobe of the native liver.

Effect of a valine-rich diet on a rat model of short bowel syndrome.

It has been recently reported that valine, which was one of the branched chain amino acids, enhanced liver regeneration after a hepatectomy in rats. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of enteral valine supplementation on the intestinal adaptation of short bowel syndrome using a rat model. Seven-week-old male Lewis rats underwent a 90% small bowel resection.

Fatty liver caused by portal vein thrombosis after living donor liver transplantation: a case report.

Portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is a rare complication that occurs after liver transplantation: however, it cannot be ignored as a cause of graft loss and death. We herein report a pediatric case of PVT that caused a fatty change in the graft after living donor liver transplantation. The portal vein was successfully reconstructed using the left great saphenous vein of the same donor.

Immune tolerance induced by donor antigen and cyclophosphamide in rat fetal small bowel transplantation.

Background/purpose: Donor specific immune tolerance is thought to be the ideal state for the recipient after organ transplantation. The administration of donor antigens and cyclophosphamide has been reported to induce donor specific immune tolerance in heart or liver transplantation. However, the effectiveness of this method for small bowel transplantation has not yet been studied.

Effect of liver transplantation on multiple bone fractures in an infant with end-stage biliary atresia: a case report.

Osteodystrophy is frequently found in children with chronic cholestatic liver disease. We herein report an end-stage case of biliary atresia that was associated with multiple bone fractures and severe growth retardation. The patient, an 8-month-old female, underwent a living-related liver transplantation and thereafter showed a dramatic improvement in growth and decrease in bone fractures.

Effect of a nucleoside/nucleotide-free diet in rat allogenic small intestinal transplantation.

The aim of this study is to estimate the effect of nucleoside (NS) and nucleotide (NT) on the recipient and graft immune response after rat allogenic small intestinal transplantation. Seven-week-old Lewis rats were randomly assigned to two groups, including the NS/NT free group ( n=6) and the NS/NT supplemented group ( n=6), according to the diet received. The recipient Lewis rats were each given diet for 12 days, and then, on the nineteenth day of gestation, a 2 cm jejunum from the donor fetal Fischer rat was transplanted into the abdominal wall of the recipient rats using a non-vascular anastomotic technique.

Efficacy of real-time monitoring to determine motility in porcine small intestinal transplantation.

Orthotropic small intestinal transplantation (SIT) was performed in outbred 20 pigs. The interdigestive motor patterns were evaluated using strain gage (SG) force transducers. Seven pigs without SIT were treated as control (C) group.

Prenatally diagnosed cystic neuroblastoma: a report of two cases.

We report two cases of prenatally diagnosed cystic neuroblastoma (PDCN). In the first case, prenatal ultrasonography (US) at 33 weeks' gestation showed a 30 x 20 mm cyst at the upper pole of the right kidney. The size and content of the mass demonstrated no change during pregnancy.

Renal tubular acidosis secondary to FK506 in living donor liver transplantation: a case report.

FK506 is an immunosuppressant that is thought to be less nephrotoxic than cyclosporine A. However, complications due to renal tubular acidosis (RTA) have recently been reported. We report a case of RTA secondary to FK506 administration in liver transplantation.

Cortisol and cytokine responses after surgery in different age groups of pediatric patients.

We investigated the cortisol and cytokine responses to surgical stress in the different age groups of pediatric patients. This study included 19 neonates (0-6 days old, group I), 19 infants (1-11 months old, group II), and 20 pre-school children (1-5 years old, group III), undergoing major thoracic and abdominal surgery. We obtained blood samples preoperatively and 0, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h postoperatively to measure the plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), cortisol, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-10.

The efficacy of autologous cord-blood transfusions in neonatal surgical patients.

Purpose: Allogenic blood transfusions have a risk of infection owing to unknown organisms, graft-versus-host reaction, and immunosupression; however, the use of autologous blood has been reported to be safe. Cord blood has been reported to be useful as a source of stem cell transplantation for the treatment of leukemia and genetic disease. Furthermore, autologous cord-blood transfusions (ACBT) have been reported to be effective for the treatment of anemia in premature infants.

Roles of nucleosides and nucleotide mixture in small bowel transplantation.

Objectives: We investigated the effect of nucleosides (NSs) and nucleotides (NTs) on the intestine and intestinal graft in a model of syngenic small bowel transplantation, with the fetal rat intestine as a graft.

Methods: Two-centimeter jejunal segments from Lewis rats at 19 d of gestation were transplanted into the abdominal walls of 5-wk-old Lewis rats by using a non-vascular anastomotic technique. After transplantation, the rats were assigned to one of two groups: group 1 did not receive NS or NT and group 2 was supplemented with NS and NT.

Changing profile of parenteral nutrition in pediatric surgery: a 30-year experience at one institute.

Background: Due to technical refinements and steady advances in the development of highly sophisticated nutrient solutions consisting of optimal combinations of macronutrients and micronutrients, parenteral nutrition (PN) is now playing an important role in patient management. However, some PN-associated complications, such as catheter-related sepsis (CRS) and cholestasis, continue at high incidence, particularly in neonates. The objective of this study was to investigate the changing profiles of PN over the past 30 years in our department.