Complete resolution of calciphylaxis after kidney transplantation.

Calciphylaxis, a life-threatening and disabling complication in patients with end-stage renal disease, occurs most frequently in those treated with maintenance dialysis, whether it be hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis. The impact of kidney transplantation on calciphylaxis lesions is not clear. The general consensus is to treat calciphylaxis adequately prior to transplantation with either medical therapy or parathyroidectomy, as indicated.

Outcomes in African American kidney transplant patients receiving tacrolimus and mycophenolic acid immunosuppression.

Background: Prospective data regarding immunosuppression and rejection in African American patients receiving modern immunosuppressive regimens are sparse.

Methods: One-year data were analyzed from 901 tacrolimus-treated de novo kidney transplant patients in the prospective Mycophenolic Acid Observational Renal Transplant registry.

Results: Mean tacrolimus dose was significantly higher in African Americans (n=217) versus non-African Americans (n=684), but mean tacrolimus trough concentrations were similar.

Myeloma cast nephropathy: a rare cause of primary renal allograft dysfunction.

We describe a rare case of primary renal allograft dysfunction due to myeloma cast nephropathy in a patient with no prior history of multiple myeloma preceding her transplantation. A 72-year-old woman on hemodialysis for 4 years prior to transplantation due to presumed hypertensive nephrosclerosis developed immediate graft dysfunction posttransplantation. The graft biopsy specimens were consistent with myeloma cast nephropathy for which she was treated with plasmapheresis and chemotherapy using bortezomib and dexamethasone.

Arterial anastomosis disrupton in two kidney recipients of contaminated grafts from a donor with Gorham's syndrome.

Transmission of donor infections to immunosuppressed recipients may produce serious complications. Here, we report two cases of ruptured renal artery pseudoaneurysm within a few months after renal transplantation from a donor with Gorham's syndrome, a rare disease characterized by proliferation of vascular and lymphatic channels associated with extensive bony destruction. The donor had died of respiratory failure, sepsis, and anoxic brain death due to difficult airway control secondary to a maxillofacial deformity.