Role of intravascular ultrasound imaging during endovascular interventions of failing hemodialysis access grafts.

Background: Arteriovenous (AV) access graft complications represent a serious complication in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Angiography is one method of visualizing them. However, angiography is not always an effective means of detecting lesions that occur in this context.

Training and certification in dialysis access.

Decreasing and eliminating the gaps in knowledge, skills, and effective communication are the mainstays for a successful dialysis access training program curriculum and at the core of the human factors training philosophy. Many of these skills can be learned in the simulation environment. Education and training will reduce gaps in knowledge and technical skills, before exposing patients to procedure-related risk.

Graft-versus-Host Disease after Living-Unrelated Kidney Transplantation.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a rare complication after solid organ transplantation and consists of a reaction of donor derived immune cells directed against host tissues. The vast majority of cases reported in the literature involve liver, small intestine and pancreas transplantation. We report a case of GVHD in a 48-year-old man after living-unrelated kidney transplantation at another center.

Long-term quality of life after living kidney donation.

Background: The supply of deceased donor kidneys available for transplantation is not sufficient to meet the demand. Despite a low rate of complications for donors and superior outcomes for recipients, living kidney donation (LKD) is on the decline for reasons that remain unclear.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review and analysis of living kidney donors (LDs) who underwent donor nephrectomy between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2010.