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Biomedical subjects

S Arap

Publications and source records attributed to S Arap.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Reducing cross-clamping duration in aortoiliac reconstruction after renal transplantation. A case report.

A fifty-two-year-old male renal transplant patient underwent aortoiliac reconstruction with a bifurcated prosthesis for treatment of hypertension and deteriorating allograft function. A modified technique was used that reduced aortic cross-clamping time to twelve minutes. This simple technique is applicable to most patients, reduces warm ischemia to a minimum, and saves time for a careful aortoiliac reconstruction.

Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal↗

Renal transplantation using external continent urinary diversion.

A 29-year-old man born with bladder exstrophy presented with end stage renal failure many years after ileal conduit diversion. Bilateral nephrectomy and continent external urinary diversion were performed, and 1.5 months later a cadaveric kidney was grafted into the right iliac fossa. The patient was well at 18 months with a serum creatinine level of 1.2 mg./dl. and he was completely dry with 4 or 5 daily catheterizations. Although followup is still short, renal transplantation with drainage into an external continent urinary diversion permits excellent quality of life and good renal function. Therefore, this alternative is worth consideration whenever other reconstructive alternatives are not possible in candidates for renal transplantation.

Adult↗

Low-dose allopurinol plus azathioprine/cyclosporin/prednisolone, a novel immunosuppressive regimen.

Early rejection can still complicate renal transplantation even with cyclosporin. We added low-dose allopurinol (25 mg on alternative days) to "triple" immunosuppression with cyclosporin, prednisolone, and azathioprine for twelve recipients of cadaver renal grafts. The controls were fifteen patients on triple therapy alone. Only one rejection episode occurred among the allopurinol-treated patients, whereas eleven controls had rejections (seven with more than one episode). Allopurinol may be toxic when combined with azathioprine, yet the bone marrow tolerated the new regimen well. As expected, reduction of the azathioprine dose was necessary in the treated group.

Allopurinol↗

Percutaneous needle biopsy of the renal allograft using the automated needle system: evaluation of 87 procedures.

Between April 1991 and February 1992 we obtained 87 percutaneous core needle biopsy specimens from 60 patients with the automatic biopsy gun. In 78 cases (89.7%) enough renal tissue was obtained for histological analysis. Acute rejection was present on 35 biopsies (40.3%) indicating antirejection therapy. No pathological signs of rejection were detected on 43 biopsies (49.4%). In 38 instances (43.7%) biopsy diagnosis differed from clinical presumptive diagnosis, affecting patient management, while in the remainder it was helpful to confirm clinical impressions. The only complication of the procedure was gross hematuria (requiring vesical irrigation in 1 patient). Due to its simplicity and low morbidity rate, renal biopsy with the automated needle system is the procedure of choice for evaluation and management of renal allograft dysfunction.

Adolescent↗

Adrenal autografts following bilateral adrenalectomy.

Bilateral adrenalectomy followed by immediate transplantation of adrenal slices into muscular tissue was performed in 7 patients with Cushing's disease and 1 with bilateral pheochromocytoma. Patients were followed for 1 to 7 years and only 1 had evidence of a functional graft (serum cortisol level at the lower limit of normality). Low levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, aldosterone and cortisol were found in the remaining patients. Acute stimulation with adrenocorticotropichormone did not increase either cortisol or aldosterone levels in any patient. We conclude that prospective studies are needed to elucidate factors that could improve the success of adrenal implantation, since the literature shows examples of functional grafts, while the majority of the cases are unsuccessful.

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms↗

Synchronous bilateral carcinoma of the adrenal gland: 2 case reports.

The existence of synchronous bilateral adrenal masses is an uncommon condition except in the relatively more frequent cases of pheochromocytoma or metastatic tumors. Two cases of synchronous nonfunctioning bilateral adrenal cortex carcinoma, removed during the same operation, are described. The patients currently are receiving hormonal supplementation, and were well 16 and 12 months postoperatively.

Adrenal Cortex↗

Reversal of aluminum-related bone disease after renal transplantation.

We evaluated the course of severe aluminum-related bone disease (ARBD) after the first year of a successful renal transplantation (RTx) in 11 adult patients. Bone pain and muscle weakness, presented in all patients previously to RTx, subsided, and all were able to walk, even the ones who were confined to wheelchairs. Bone necrosis developed in 6 patients, but none required surgical repair. Serum alkaline phosphatase activity increased 2.5 times the upper normal level, up to the 5th month and then declined to normal levels up the 12th month (p < 0.05). The inverse profile was observed in both serum calcium and phosphorus levels. In bone biopsies, there was a significant decrease in all of the following histomorphometric static parameters: osteoid volume, thickness and surface and also in aluminum surface. Also, there was a significant increase in all the dynamic parameters of mineralization: mineral apposition rate, mineralization surface, bone formation rate and adjusted apposition rate. In conclusion, ARBD remarkably improves after 1 year of successful RTx.

Adult↗

Fast and slow methylators: do racial differences influence risk of allograft rejection?

A catabolic route for azathioprine involving methylation by thiopurine methyltransferase has been directly implicated in the drug's immunosuppressive efficacy. Since ethnic differences in thiopurine methyltransferase activity have been reported in a study of Lapps, this study compared the distribution of thiopurine methyltransferase activity in erythrocyte lysates from 134 healthy, randomly selected subjects living in Brazil, comprising 39 blacks (i.e. Afro-Brazilians), 33 white subjects, 30 mixed-race subjects, and 32 Brazilian-residing Japanese subjects. The results demonstrated bimodality of thiopurine methyltransferase activity compatible with genetic polymorphism in the white, black and mixed-race groups, but not in the Japanese, who were homogeneously 'fast methylators' (high thiopurine methyltransferase activity). Thiopurine methyltransferase activity was generally higher in Brazilian males than females, and some individuals in the black and mixed-race groups had very high activity. Azathioprine-immunosuppressed transplant patients with thiopurine methyltransferase activity above 35 pmol/h/mgHb have previously been shown to have significantly poorer outcomes. Using this thiopurine methyltransferase value as the cut-off point between 'poor responders' and 'good responders' to azathioprine, 65% of the Japanese, 59% of the black subjects, and 63% of the mixed-race subjects fell into the 'poor responder' category, compared with only 42% of the white group. Interestingly, this approximately 20% difference in azathioprine response corresponds to the racial differences seen in allograft survival.

Adult↗

CSA/AZA, in the absence of prednisone, improves linear growth in renal transplanted children.

We compared the results of 44 renal transplants in children, of whom 24 were treated with CSA/AZA and 20 with prednisone in combination with AZA and/or CSA. There were no differences in age distribution or mean ages at transplant between the two treatment groups. The CSA/AZA group had a longer follow-up (29 +/- 33 vs 17 +/- 18 months). At the last follow-up, five children in the CSA/AZA and none in the prednisone group had lost their grafts. Serum creatinine increased in both groups from 0.7 +/- 0.1 mg/dl and 0.9 +/- 0.1 mg/dl at the end of the first month to 1.1 +/- 0.2 mg/dl in the 36th month (CSA/AZA group) (P < 0.0001) and to 1.5 +/- 0.6 mg/dl in the 18th month (prednisone group) (P < 0.05), respectively. Total cholesterol level was 189 +/- 52 mg/dl and 178 +/- 60 mg/dl and LDL level was 117 +/- 48 mg/dl and 115 +/- 51 mg/dl for the prednisone and CSA/AZA groups, respectively. HDL was greater in the CSA/AZA group (50 +/- 10 vs 41 +/- 10 mg/dl) (P < 0.03), and VLDL was greater in the prednisone group (31 +/- 13 vs 22 +/- 8 mg/dl) (P < 0.05). Serum triglyceride was greater in the prednisone group (174 +/- 93 vs 112 +/- 50 mg/dl) (P < 0.03). The standard deviation score for height of the children in the prednisone group did not change (-2.4 +/- 1.4 vs -2.1 +/- 1.4 SDS), whereas the SDS height score for the CSA/AZA children increased from -3.1 +/- 1.7 to -2.6 +/- 1.5, -1.9 +/- 1.4 and -1.7 +/- 1.4, at 12, 24 and 36 months, respectively (P < 0.001). CSA/AZA is a good immunosuppressive regime for the first renal transplant in children, but only 75% tolerated AZA/CSA without same damage to their grafts.

Azathioprine↗