by Katharina Tigges-Limmer  , Stephan Ensminger  , Yvonne Brocks  , Scott Stock Gissendanner  and Jan Gummert

Received: 28 October 2018;  Published: 05 March 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1901056

Background: The participation of mental health professionals in multidisciplinary care teams for heart transplantation has become an international standard practice. The contribution of these professionals in this setting, which involves assessment and interventions, has not been the subject of systematic study. Methods: This paper explores how psychotherapists contribute to multidisciplinary decision making and care in transplant teams before, during, and after transplantation. To illustrate, it uses the case of a [...]

by Christine A. Beamish  and Omaima M. sabek

Received: 08 November 2018;  Published: 05 March 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1901055

Pancreatic islet transplantation holds promise for patients with insulin-dependent diabetes, but is severely limited by a shortage of cadaveric donor islets, and more so because of stringent inclusion criteria for organ donation including donor metabolic function, age, and comorbidities. The impact of these diverse factors on islet health has led to a broad investigation of global influences on islet biology, not least of all, characterization of mature, functional cellular identity and maintenance of appropriate e [...]

by Dagan Coppock  , Caytlin Deering  , Shara Epstein  and Dong Heun Lee

Received: 23 December 2018;  Published: 01 March 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1901054

Infections are a common cause of morbidity and mortality in solid organ transplantation (SOT) recipients. Procalcitonin (PCT) has garnered attention as an inflammatory marker that has been shown to be a valuable marker for early identification of systemic bacterial infection. However, interpretation of PCTs value in the different types of infections, transplanted organs, and post-operative courses can be challenging. We review the role of PCT in the management of infections in SOT recipients. First, the PCT level c [...]

by Raquel López-Vilella  , Alba Cecilia Ruiz Gaitán  , José Ricardo Gimeno Costa  , Elena Marqués-Sulé  , Rosario Vicente Guillén  , Javier Pemán García  , Ignacio Sánchez-Lázaro  and Luis Almenar Bonet

Received: 15 October 2018;  Published: 27 February 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1901053

In recent years, several agencies have issued warnings about the spread of Candida auris infections, a multidrug-resistant yeast that is associated with serious infections and with a mortality rate that can reach 70%. This problem is especially serious in transplant recipients receiving intense immunosupressive therapy. There are no established criteria on the relevance of this colonization or on when the transplant should be contraindicated in these cases. Five cases of colonization and two of candidemia have been [...]

by David W. Scharp  , Jayagowri Arulmoli  , Kelly Morgan  , Hannah Sunshine  and Ergeng Hao

Received: 15 October 2018;  Published: 26 February 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1901052

Background: This presentation of a six-year study processing human islets for research and transplantation includes a review of multi-center transplant studies identifying key variables critical for successful islet processing and defines standardized processing procedures required to provide highly purified, functional Human Islets. Methods: Human islet processing methods are defined in detail with pancreas retrieval, shipping, trimming for processing, collagenase distension, controlled digestion by digestion/filt [...]

by Jill Gualdoni  , Jeff Ritzenthaler  , Ibrahim Elkhawas  , Gerene Bauldoff  , David Nunley  and Jesse Roman

Received: 29 November 2018;  Published: 20 February 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1901051

Background: Gastroesophageal reflux disease has been associated with the development of chronic lung allograft dysfunction following lung transplantation. While the mechanisms are unclear, it is postulated that microaspiration of gastrointestinal material (GIM) leads to inflammation and airway remodeling that culminates in obliterative bronchiolitis. As the expression of the matrix glycoprotein fibronectin has been shown to be an early marker of this fibroproliferative process, its induction could suggest a causal [...]

by Jessica Lum  and Sherif B. Mossad

Received: 26 October 2018;  Published: 14 February 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1901050

Despite the advances that have been made in the field of solid organ transplant (SOT), organ shortage remains a persistent problem. In addition, the donor pool has been changing with the ongoing opioid epidemic and increase in deaths related to drug overdose each year. More donors are meeting the 2013 United States (U.S.) Public Health Service criteria for increased risk donors (IRDs), or donors who are at higher risk for transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and other multidr [...]

by Maria Simonenko  and Petr Fedotov

Received: 01 February 2019;  Published: 13 February 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1901049

Sex and gender issues in heart transplantation

by David J. Epstein  and Aruna K. Subramanian

Received: 18 November 2018;  Published: 12 February 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1901048

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a common infection with challenges in diagnosis and treatment. Management of TB in solid organ transplant (SOT) candidates and recipients poses unique challenges not seen in other populations. Questions and Recommendations: Latent TB infection (LTBI) is important to diagnose pre-transplant through history, physical examination, imaging, and laboratory tests. Tuberculin skin tests and interferon-gamma release assays are important tools but not sufficiently sensitive nor specific to d [...]

by Joanna K. Nelson  and Aruna Subramanian

Received: 30 November 2018;  Published: 01 February 2019;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1901047

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections are relatively rare but carry significant morbidity in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. Given the rarity of disease and diagnostic limitations, a high index of suspicion is required for accurate diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment. We discuss the challenges in diagnosis and management of NTM infections specific to the SOT population.