Prediction of Renal Graft Function 1 Year After Adult Deceased-Donor Kidney Transplantation Using Variables Available Prior to Transplantation.

BACKGROUND Kidney transplantation is still the best therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease, but the demand for donor organs persistently surpasses the supply. A prognostic model using pre-transplant data for the prediction of renal graft function would be helpful to optimize organ allocation and avoid futile transplantations. MATERIAL AND METHODS Retrospective data of 2431 patients who underwent kidney transplantation between January 01, 2000, and December 31, 2012 with subsequent ten-year clinical follow-up in our transplant center were analyzed.

Factors influencing deceased organ donation rates in OECD countries: a panel data analysis.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate factors with a significant influence on deceased organ donation rates in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and determine their relative importance. It seeks to provide the necessary data to facilitate the development of more efficient strategies for improving deceased organ donation rates.

Design: Retrospective study.

Learning surgical knot tying and suturing technique - effects of different forms of training in a controlled randomized trial with dental students.

Objective: The acquisition of surgical skills requires motor learning. A special form of this is intermanual transfer by transferring motor skills from the nondominant hand (NDH) to the dominant hand (DH). The purpose of this study was to determine the learning gains that can be achieved for the DH by training with the DH, the NDH, and by non-surgical alternative training (AT).

Transplanting a left or right donor kidney into the left or right iliac fossa: importance of laterality and site of venous anastomosis.

Data on the impact of donor-to-recipient laterality on kidney transplantation are lacking. This study evaluated the impact of donor-to-iliac fossa laterality and the site of venous anastomosis on operating time and surgical outcome. This retrospective single-center study analyzed 1262 deceased donor adult kidney transplants into pristine iliac fossa.

Setting Organ Allocation Priorities: A Discrete Choice Experiment with German Patients and Their Relatives.

Purpose: Organ transplantation systems benefit from guidelines that are harmonious with the preferences of the people involved. Discrete choice experiments are useful tools for eliciting preferences.

Patients And Methods: This study evaluated the preferences of patients and their relatives (n=285) to identify their priorities in organ allocation using a discrete choice experiment.

Preoperative hemoglobin levels, extended resections and the body mass index influence survival after pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Purpose: The negative influence of perioperative transfusion of packed red blood cells on the prognosis of various malignancies is the focus of recent research interest. The development of a propensity score for the prediction of perioperative transfusion of packed red blood cells (pRBCs) and the identification of independent risk factors for survival, that can either be known prior to or during surgery in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy for pancreatic head cancer are the two objectives of this study.

Methods: Logistic regression analyses and Cox regression modeling were used to identify independent risk factors for perioperative transfusion of pRBCs and to determine individual risk factors for patient survival.

Use of LigaSure vessel sealing system versus conventional axillary dissection in breast cancer patients: a retrospective comparative study.

Background: In locally advanced breast cancer, axillary lymph node dissection remains a pivotal component of surgical therapy. Apart from this, it has been mostly replaced by sentinel node biopsy. Complications after axillary dissection include wound infection, neuropathy, lymphedema and-most frequently-seroma.

How Should Deceased Donor Organs Be Allocated? The Patient's Perspective Derived from Semi-Structured Interviews.

Purpose: The gap between the supply and demand for deceased donor organs is increasing worldwide, while patients on waiting lists for organ transplantation die. This situation requires ethical donor organ allocation rules. The patients' perspective on donor organ allocation rules offers a highly relevant and unique perspective that may differ from the perspectives of physicians and the general public.

Public preferences for the allocation of donor organs for transplantation: A discrete choice experiment.

This study aimed to assess public preferences for the allocation of donor organs in Germany with the focus on ethical principles of distributive justice. We performed a discrete choice experiment (DCE) using a self-completed online questionnaire. Based on a systematic review and focus group discussions, six attributes, each with two-four levels, were selected (corresponding principle of distributive justice in brackets), including (1) life years gained after transplantation (principle of distributive justice: effectiveness/benefit - utilitarianism), (2) quality of life after transplantation (effectiveness/benefit - utilitarianism), (3) chance for a further donor organ offer (principle of distributive justice: medical urgency - favouring the worst-off), (4) age (medical and social risk factors: sociodemographic status), (5) registered donor (principle of distributive justice: value for society), and (6) individual role in causing organ failure (principle of distributive justice: own fault).

'As a surgeon, I am obliged to every single patient': evaluation of focus group discussions with transplantation physicians on the allocation of donor organs.

Introduction: Organ transplantation is the last resort for many patients. The ubiquitous shortage of suitable donor organs raises the question of best-justifiable allocation worldwide. This study investigates how physicians would allocate donor organs.

Chemotherapy and Hepatic Steatosis: Impact on Postoperative Morbidity and Survival after Liver Resection for Colorectal Liver Metastases.

Background: Hepatic steatosis and chemotherapy in the treatment of colorectal liver metastases (CLM) are often linked to increased mortality and morbidity after liver resection. This study evaluates the influence of macrovesicular hepatic steatosis and chemotherapeutic regimes on graded morbidity and mortality after liver resection for CLM.

Methods: A total of 323 cases of liver resection for CLM were retrospectively analysed using univariable and multivariable linear, ordinal and Cox regression analyses.

Low-dose steroids do make a difference: Independent risk factors for impaired linear growth after pediatric liver transplantation.

Growth failure persists after pediatric liver transplantation and impairs pediatric development and quality of life. Steroid dose minimization attempts to prevent growth impairment, yet long-term assessment in pediatric liver recipients is lacking. We identified risk factors for impaired linear growth after pediatric liver transplantation, with a special focus on low-dose steroid therapy.

Proposal of a Multivariable Prediction Model for Graded Morbidity after Liver Resection for Colorectal Metastases.

Background: Prognostic models to predict individual early postoperative morbidity after liver resection for colorectal liver metastases (CLM) are not available but could enable optimized preoperative patient selection and postoperative surveillance for patients at greater risk of complications. The aim of this study was to establish a prognostic model for the prediction of morbidity after liver resection graded according to Dindo.

Methods: N = 679 cases of primary liver resection for CLM were retrospectively analyzed using univariable and multivariable ordinal regression analyses.

Regression analyses of questionnaires in bedside teaching.

Background: Students' ratings of bedside teaching courses are difficult to evaluate and to comprehend. Validated systematic analyses of influences on students' perception and valuation of bedside teaching can serve as the basis for targeted improvements.

Methods: Six hundred seventy-two observations were conducted in different surgical departments.

Public preferences for the allocation of donor organs for transplantation: Focus group discussions.

Background: Deceased donor organs are scarce resources because of a large supply-and-demand mismatch. This scarcity leads to an ethical dilemma, forcing priority-setting of how these organs should be allocated and whom to leave behind.

Objective: To explore public preferences for the allocation of donor organs in regard to ethical aspects of distributive justice.

Optimizing Organ Donation: Expert Opinion from Austria, Germany, Spain and the U.K.

BACKGROUND Organ donation-rates using deceased donors and organizational approaches to organ donation differ drastically between countries at a similar level of health care as measured by the Euro Health Consumer Index (EHCI). MATERIAL AND METHODS Expert opinions from intensive care nurses, physicians, transplant coordinators and transplant surgeons from Austria, Germany, Spain, and the U.K.

Comparing preferences of physicians and patients regarding the allocation of donor organs: A systematic review.

In order to improve the demand-supply-mismatch in transplantation medicine, policy makers have to think about adapting existing legal frameworks for donor organ allocation. This study aims to systematically review preferences of physicians as well as patients in the field of transplantation medicine. PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO and PsycINFO were searched from January 2000 to December 2018 without language restrictions.

Impact of immunosuppressive therapy on brain derived cytokines after liver transplantation.

Background: While acute neurotoxic side effects of calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) are well-known, data upon long-term effects on brain structure and function are sparse. We hypothesize that long-term CNI therapy affects the neuroimmune system, thereby, increasing the risk of neurodegeneration. Here, we measured the impact of CNI therapy on plasma levels of brain- and T cell-derived cytokines in a cohort of patients after liver transplantation (LT).

Prediction of survival after left-sided pancreatic resection for adenocarcinoma: Introduction of a new prognostic score.

Background: Due to the clinically unapparent course the entity of left-sided pancreatic adenocarcinoma is often diagnosed at advanced stages, resulting in small numbers of patients qualifying for pancreatectomy. This study strives to develop a prognostic model for survival after left-sided pancreatic resection.

Methods: A total of 54 patients were analyzed.