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Patient: Female, 57-year-old Final Diagnosis: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Symptoms: Dyspnea • hypoxia Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Transplantation Specialty: Surgery • Transplantology Objective: Unusual setting of medical care Background: Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an immunological response to heparin exposure that predisposes patients to hypercoagulable reactions with subsequent heparin administration. Traditionally, heparin is the standard anticoagulant used during organ procurement to prevent clot formation in grafts. This creates a problem in donors or recipients that develop HIT as they are at risk of developing life-threatening coagulopathy. This raises the question of how to use alternative anticoagulation therapies, such as argatroban, that provide rapid-onset prophylaxis by reversibly inhibiting thrombin. Additionally, there are few studies that have assessed how recipients of multiorgan donors treated with argatroban do post-operatively. Case Report: In this report, we discuss the procurement protocol and hospital course of a lung transplant recipient who received a graft treated with argatroban due to a HIT-positive liver recipient. The post-operative course for our patient was uneventful, with improved lung function and no complications attributable to argatroban use. Further, none of the 4 other recipients who received organs from the same donor experienced graft dysfunctions secondary to coagulopathy, including the HIT-positive liver recipient. Conclusions: The ultimate success of grafts without thromboembolic complications suggests the use of argatroban in multi-organ procurement in the setting of a HIT-positive recipient is safe and effective. This case report highlights an alternative to the traditional process of organ procurement with heparin, in which patients at risk of coagulopathies secondary to HIT are able to receive organs when traditional protocols would otherwise be prohibitive.

Kanneganti et al merged UNOS and PHIS data to perform the first assessment of center-level variation in acute rejection and biliary tract complications in the first year following pediatric liver transplantation (1). By combining these data sources, these authors have (1) created a novel, robust dataset for longitudinal study of pediatric liver transplant recipients and (2) have identified potentially new opportunities for quality improvement in post-pediatric liver transplantation morbidity. In their analysis, Kanneganti et al found significant center-level variation in acute rejection and, to a lesser degree, in biliary complications in the year following pediatric liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Liver transplant candidacy determination can be contentious. When transplantation is declined for reasons perceived as violating fundamental rights or discriminating against a protected class – e.g. age, race, religion, nationality – the case may involve a constitutional claim. Judicial review of such cases may result in decisions with sweeping implications for transplant policy. METHODS: We reviewed all published court opinions involving liver transplantation in two legal databases (Lexis Nexus and WestLaw). We included all cases that involved a denial of liver transplant candidacy in violation of constitutional rights RESULTS: The search returned 1,562 cases; 290 involved the denial of insurance coverage for a transplant due to a patient’s failure to abstain from drinking, 273 cases involved incarcerated inmates who were denied a liver transplant; 2 involved a constitutional claim for patient requesting a bloodless transplant for religious reasons; and 2 cases arose from age discrimination in transplant criteria. These cases highlight legal pitfalls related to the First Amendment (religious freedom), Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment), and the Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection and due process). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of a constitutional claim highlights concrete steps needed to ensure the equity of transplant policy. These include efforts to standardize transplant candidacy criteria across payers for candidates with alcohol-related liver disease and advanced age. Efforts to constrain emerging liabilities related to the citizenship of transplant candidates and the definition of donor service areas are also discussed.

Objective: To develop cases of preference-sensitive care and analyze the individualized cost-effectiveness of respecting patient preference compared to guidelines. Methods: Four cases were analyzed comparing patient preference to guidelines: (a) high-risk cancer patient preferring to forgo colonoscopy; (b) decubitus patient preferring to forgo air-fluidized bed use; (c) anemic patient preferring to forgo transfusion; (d) end-of-life patient requesting all resuscitative measures. Decision trees were modeled to analyze cost-effectiveness of alternative treatments that respect preference compared to guidelines in USD per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) at a $100,000/QALY willingness-to-pay threshold from patient, provider and societal perspectives. Results: Forgoing colonoscopy dominates colonoscopy from patient, provider, and societal perspectives. Forgoing transfusion and air-fluidized bed are cost-effective from all three perspectives. Palliative care is cost-effective from provider and societal perspectives, but not from the patient perspective. Conclusion: Prioritizing incorporation of patient preferences within guidelines holds good value and should be prioritized when developing new guidelines.

Organ donation and transplant systems have unique characteristics based on the local culture and socioeconomic context. China's transplant and organ donation systems developed without regulatory oversight until 2006 when regulation and policy were developed and then implemented over the next several years. Most recently, the pilot project of establishing a voluntary citizen-based deceased donor program was established. The pilot program addressed the legal, financial, and cultural barriers to organ donation in China. The pilot program has evolved into a national program. Significantly, it established a uniquely Chinese donor classification system. The Chinese donor classification system recognizes donation after brain death (category I), donation after circulatory death (category II), and donation after brain death followed by circulatory death (category III). Through August 2014, the system has identified 2326 donors and provided 6416 organs that have been allocated though a transparent organ allocation system. The estimated number of donors in 2014 is 1147. As China's attitudes toward organ donation have matured and evolved and as China, as a nation, is taking its place on the world stage, it is recognizing that its past practice of using organs from executed prisoners is not sustainable. It is time to recognize that the efforts to regulate transplantation and provide voluntary citizen-based deceased organ donation have been successful and that China should use this system to provide organs for all transplants in every province and hospital in China. At the national organ transplant congress on October 30, 2014, the Chairman of the China's national organ donation and transplantation committee, Jeifu Huang required all hospitals to stop using organs from executed prisoners immediately and the civilian organ donation will be sole source for organ transplant in China starting January 2015.

Summary China's aims are to develop an ethical and sustainable organ transplantation system for the Chinese people and to be accepted as a responsible member of the international transplantation community. In 2007, China implemented the Regulation on Human Organ Transplantation, which was the first step towards the establishment of a voluntary organ donation system. Although progress has been made, several ethical and legal issues associated with transplantation in China remain, including the use of organs from executed prisoners, organ scarcity, the illegal organ trade, and transplantation tourism. In this Health Policy article we outline the standards used to define cardiac death in China and a legal and procedural framework for an organ donation system based on voluntary donation after cardiac death that adheres to both China's social and cultural principles and international transplantation standards.