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Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality following kidney transplantation. Heart failure affects 17-21% of patients with chronic kidney disease and increases along with time receiving dialysis. The Seattle Heart Failure Model (SHFM) is a validated mortality risk model for heart failure patients that incorporates clinical, therapeutic, and laboratory parameters but does not include measures of kidney function. We applied the SHFM to patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who were being evaluated for kidney transplantation to determine if the model was associated with post-transplant mortality. This retrospective single-center study analyzed survival among 360 adult deceased-donor kidney transplant recipients. Cox regression was used to model post-transplant patient survival. Our findings indicated that a 1.0-point increase in the adapted SHFM score was significantly associated with post-transplant mortality (HR 1.76, 95% CI = 1.10-2.83, p = 0.02), independently of the Kidney Donor Profile Index and Estimated Post-Transplant Survival. Individual covariates of the SHFM were evaluated in univariate analyses, and age, sodium, cholesterol, and lymphocyte count were significantly related to mortality. This study provides preliminary evidence that an adapted SHFM score could be a useful tool in evaluating mortality risk post-transplant in patients with ESRD.

Introduction: Various studies have demonstrated that low-Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) living-donor liver transplant (LDLT) recipients have better outcomes with improved patient survival than deceased-donor liver transplantation (DDLT) recipients. LDLT recipients gain the most from being transplanted at MELD <25-30; however, some existing data have outlined that LDLT may provide equivalent outcomes in high-MELD and low-MELD patients, although the term "high" MELD is arbitrarily defined in the literature and various cut-off scores are outlined between 20 and 30, although most commonly, the dividing threshold is 25. The aim of this meta-analysis was to compare LDLT in high-MELD with that in low-MELD recipients to determine patient survival and graft survival, as well as perioperative and postoperative complications., Methods: Following PROSPERO registration CRD-42021261501, a systematic database search was conducted for the published literature between 1990 and 2021 and yielded a total of 10 studies with 2183 LT recipients; 490 were HM-LDLT recipients and 1693 were LM-LDLT recipients., Results: Both groups had comparable mortality at 1, 3 and 5 years post-transplant (5-year HR 1.19; 95% CI 0.79-1.79; p -value 0.40) and graft survival (HR 1.08; 95% CI 0.72, 1.63; p -value 0.71). No differences were observed in the rates of major morbidity, hepatic artery thrombosis, biliary complications, intra-abdominal bleeding, wound infection and rejection; however, the HM-LDLT group had higher risk for pulmonary infection, abdominal fluid collection and prolonged ICU stay., Conclusions: The high-MELD LDLT group had similar patient and graft survival and morbidities to the low-MELD LDLT group, despite being at higher risk for pulmonary infection, abdominal fluid collection and prolonged ICU stay. The data, primarily sourced from high-volume Asian centers, underscore the feasibility of living donations for liver allografts in high-MELD patients. Given the rising demand for liver allografts, it is sensible to incorporate these insights into U.S. transplant practices.

Pancreas transplant rates, despite improving outcomes, have decreased over the past two decades. This is due, in part, to ageing, increasingly co-morbid pancreas transplant candidates. There is a paucity of published data regarding coronary artery disease (CAD) in this population. To inform peri-operative management strategies, we sought to understand the frequency of CAD among recipients of pancreas transplants at our center. Informed by these data, we sought to develop a standard protocol for evaluation. A retrospective review of pancreas transplants (solitary pancreas and simultaneous pancreas-kidney) was undertaken at the University of Maryland. Transplant outcomes and frequency of cardiac disease were analyzed. Current data were compared with historic controls. Over the study period, 59 patients underwent pancreas transplantation. Coronary architecture was assessed in 38 patients (64.4%). Discrete evidence of CAD was present in 28 of 39 patients (71.7%). All pancreas candidates (n = 21) who underwent left heart catheterization (LHC) demonstrated CAD (100%). No patients experienced myocardial infarction (MI) and no deaths resulted from cardiac disease in the early post-transplant period. Pancreas transplant candidates are at high risk for CAD. At a center in which pancreas transplant rates are increasing, a rigorous cardiac work up revealed that 71.7% of assessed recipients had CAD. Although asymptomatic, 6.8% required coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Despite increasing age and co-morbid status, pancreas transplant recipients can enjoy excellent results if protocolized preoperative testing is used.