For patients with ESRD, kidney transplant offers significant survival and quality-of-life advantages compared with dialysis. But for patients seeking transplant who are highly sensitized, wait times have traditionally been long and options limited. The approach to the highly sensitized candidate for kidney transplant has changed substantially over time owing to new advances in desensitization, ...

of Tropical Medicine, the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for the Diagnosis and Surveillance of Mycobacterium ulcerans Infection by IS2404 PCR and biochemical tests (online Table, available from http:www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/ vol11no11/05-0234.htm#table). DNA extracted from cultures by 3 freeze-boiling cycles was used for amplification, according to the protocol described by Leao e...

Peritubular capillary deposition of C4d has been demonstrated to be associated with both acute humoral and vascular rejection and increased graft loss. Whether it is an independent predictor of long-term graft survival rates is uncertain. The biopsies (n = 126) from all patients (n = 93) with a tissue diagnosis of acute rejection that were performed between July 1, 1995, and December 31, 1997, ...

Progesterone is a critical regulator of normal female reproductive function, with diverse tissue-specific effects in the human. The effects of progesterone are mediated by its nuclear receptor (PR) that is expressed as two isoforms, PRA and PRB, which are virtually identical except that PRA lacks 164 amino acids that are present at the N-terminus of PRB. Considerable in vitro evidence suggests ...

BACKGROUND Acute rejection (AR) after renal transplantation affects both patient and graft survival. There is growing evidence of the genetic association between cytokine or its receptor antagonist and AR in solid organ transplantation. The objectives of this study were to investigate the role of recipient TNF β, IL-10, IL-1β, and IL-1 receptor antagonist (ra) gene polymorphism, as well as trad...

AIM To investigate the incidence, risk factors and clinical outcomes of acute antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) after intestinal transplantation (ITx). METHODS A retrospective single-center analysis was performed to identify cases of acute ABMR after ITx, based on the presence of donor-specific antibody (DSA), acute tissue damage, C4d deposition, and allograft dysfunction. RESULTS Acute AB...

Serial endomyocardial biopsies (EMBs) are scheduled even several years after heart transplantation (HTx) to monitor for late rejection (LR). However, repeated EMBs are associated with an increased risk for fatal complications and decrease the quality of life of the recipient. We retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 42 adult recipients who had received HTx and were followed > 1 year at th...

UNLABELLED Although recipients of a first HLA-identical living-donor kidney transplant seem to need less immunosuppression, there are no guideline recommendations for these patients, and few prospective trials are available. METHODS We analyzed all PRA-negative patients who received a first kidney transplant from an HLA-identical living donor. The patients received no antibody induction. An i...

BACKGROUND Allogeneic transfusions are necessary in 14% to 80% of patients undergoing major head and neck cancer surgery. Defining the risk for receiving allogeneic transfusion allows for informed decisions regarding appropriateness of type and crossmatch, preoperative autologous blood donation, and priming with erythropoietin. Based on logistic regression analysis of transfusion risk factors i...

Highly sensitized renal transplant candidates present a group at high risk for acute and chronic rejection. The probability of finding compatible donors for these recipients is significantly lower in comparison to those who have low PRA values. As a consequence, these patients spend longer time on the waiting list and become tethered to dialysis. The results of final cross match (XM) are critic...