Background: There are many doubts with regards to accepting deceased kidneys with acute kidney injury (AKI) for transplantation. Purpose: The aim of this study was to present the 5-years outcome of kidney transplantation cases where deceased donors developed AKI before organ procurement. Methods: Two hundred twenty-six deceased renal transplants were analyzed. Data regarding donors and recipients were collected. Terminal AKI was defined as terminal serum creatinine concentration higher than 1.99 mg/dL and 66 such cases were diagnosed. All kidney transplant recipients were followed for 60 months. Results: AKI group presented more episodes of delayed graft function (DGF) compared to the non-AKI group (56% vs 35%, p < .05). No differences were observed between the groups in the rate of acute rejection episodes, kidney function as well as patient and graft survival. Conclusions: Transplants with AKI present more often DGF and comparable graft survival to transplants without AKI. Kidneys with AKI can be a valuable source of organs provided attentive selection and appropriate care of deceased donors.

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SummaryStudies have shown beneficial effects of machine perfusion (MP) on early kidney function and long-term graft survival. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the type of perfusion device could affect outcome of transplantation of deceased donor kidneys. A total of 50 kidneys retrieved from 25 donors were randomized to machine perfusion using a flow-driven (FD) device (RM3; Waters Medical Inc) or a pressure-driven (PD) device (LifePort; Organ Recovery Systems), 24 of these kidneys (n = 12 pairs; 48%) were procured from expanded criteria donors (ECD). The primary endpoints were kidney function after transplantation defined using the incidence of delayed graft function (DGF), the number of hemodialysis sessions required, graft function at 12 months, and analyses of biopsy. DGF was similar in both groups (32%; 8/25). Patients with DGF in the FD group required a mean of 4.66 hemodialysis sessions versus 2.65 in the PD group (P = 0.005). Overall, 1-year graft survival was 80% (20/25) vs. 96% (24/25) in the FD and PD groups. One-year graft survival of ECD kidneys was 66% (8/12) in the FD group versus 92% (11/12) in the PD group. Interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy were significantly more common in the FD group -45% (5/11) vs. 0% (0/9) (P = 0.03) in PD group. There were no differences in creatinine levels between the groups. Machine perfusion using a pressure-driven device generating lower pulse stress is superior to a flow-driven device with higher pulse stress for preserving kidney function.

Mean expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α were significantly higher in the cold storage groups, and lower in the machine perfusion and living-related donor groups. Five-year graft survival was significantly (P< .05) lower in the expanded criteria donor-cold storage group (66%) than in the standard criteria donor-machine perfusion group (90%). Machine perfusion influences gene expression related to hypoxia during reperfusion and may improve the long-term results of kidney transplant.

The aim of the study was to verify the hypothesis that positive affective tone of narratives is connected to the experience of posttraumatic growth among transplant patients. Kidney transplant patients (N = 51) and liver transplant patients (N = 48) participated in the study. In the first stage, about 10 weeks after transplant, the participants told two stories about important, freely chosen events from their lives. During the second meeting 10-12 months later we measured posttraumatic growth. Results indicated that the affective tone of narratives about past events was associated with the level of post-traumatic growth measured 10-12 months later. This proves that the affective tone of narratives about life, understood as a relatively constant individual characteristic, promote posttraumatic growth.