Search

The 2015 meeting of the Intestinal Transplant Association was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This was the 14th International Small Bowel Transplant Symposium, and it was the first meeting organized as a joint venture of the Transplantation Society, the Intestinal Transplant Association, and the Argentinean Transplant Society (Sociedad Argentina de Trasplantes). Innovative aspects of the classic meeting format included workshops sessions, debates, and multicenter studies. This report highlights the most prominent scientific contributions and results of the first such symposium in a Latin American country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Health Researcher career of National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) is an ad honorem career that allows entry of health professionals who, continuing with their healthcare practice, acquire rights and obligations of researchers with a paid career. To date, quantity and/or quality of the academic production of CONICET health researchers (ISC) is unknown. This research analyzes characteristics of ISCs, their scientific production, and some bibliometric indicators related to their scientific publications., Materials and Methods: A total of 109 active researchers who make up the ISC staff until the 2020 call were identified. The quantity and bibliometric indicators of their publications that are indexed in MEDLINE until 12/31/2023 (affiliation, international contribution, authorships, type of publication) were analyzed. Likewise, quality indices of the journals (impact factor, CiteScore, and H indices, and Scimago Journal Rank) were evaluated., Results: a total of 109 ISCs recorded 6764 publications (63.6% in journals from United States and United Kingdom; 77.2% in quartile 1-2 journals), with an average of 4.1 publications/year/researcher in 2014 and 7.7 publications/researcher/year in 2023 (64% increase). A 77% were original research and other 11% were reviews. In 77% were led and in 74% were directed by researchers with Argentine affiliation, (43% had international collaboration); 12.2% were published in Spanish and 7.8% in journals from Argentina. The higher the rank of the researcher, the more publications are achieved in journals with better quality indices., Discussion: The volume of scientific publications in quality journals reflects an active and constant participation of the ISCs in the production and communication of scientific knowledge from Argentina.

Background: Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is considered a low prevalence disease. In Argentina, no registries are available on chronic intestinal failure (CIF) and SBS. This project was designed as the first national registry to report adult patients with this disease., Methods: A prospective multicenter observational registry was created including adult patients with CIF/SBS from approved centers. Demographics, clinical characteristics, nutrition assessment, home parenteral nutrition (HPN) management, surgeries performed, medical treatment, overall survival, and freedom from HPN survival were analyzed., Results: Of the 61 enrolled patients, 56 with available follow-up data were analyzed. At enrollment, the mean intestinal length was 59.5 ± 47.3 cm; the anatomy was type 1 (n = 41), type 2 (n = 10), and type 3 (n = 5). At the end of the interim analysis, anatomy changed to type 1 in 31, type 2 in 17, and type 3 in 8 patients. The overall mean time on HPN before enrollment was 33.5 ± 56.2 months. Autologous gastrointestinal reconstruction surgery was performed before enrollment on 21 patients, and afterward on 11. Nine patients (16.1%) were weaned off HPN with standard medical nutrition treatment; 12 patients received enterohormones, and 2 of them suspended HPN; one patient was considered a transplant candidate. In 23.7 ± 14.5 months, 11 of 56 patients discontinued HPN; Kaplan-Meier freedom from HPN survival was 28.9%. The number of cases collected represented 19.6 new adult CIF/SBS patients per year., Conclusion: The RESTORE project allowed us to know the incidence, the current medical and surgical approach for this pathology, as well as its outcome and complications at dedicated centers., (© 2022 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.)

The COVID-19 pandemic declared in March 2020, has generated worldwide concern due to its effect on the health of the population and the potential health collapse. The strategy of "flattening the curve" through social distancing made it possible to adapt the resources of the health system to patients with COVID-19, but results in other areas of health could not be predicted. The objective of this work was to analyze the consequences of the pandemic on liver transplantation in general and for hepatocarcinoma (HCC). The following studies were carried out: a) a retrospective analysis using data from the CRESI / INCUCAI to compare admission to the waiting list, mortality on the list, donation and liver transplantation from 03/20 to 08/15, 2019 and the same period in 2020, and b) a survey of the transplant centers with the highest transplant activity to assess the effect of the measures taken in different institutional and regional situations. The first analysis showed a 55% decrease in liver transplants, with a similar reduction in donation and admission to the liver waiting list; while HCC transplantation rose from 10% in 2019 to 22% in 2020. The second analysis showed that the occupancy rate of beds by COVID-19 patients / week was variable: from 0.4% to 42.0%. The number of surgeries, hepato-bilio-pancreatic, resection of HCC and liver transplantation, were reduced by 47%, 49%, 31% and 36% respectively. The reduction in transplant activity mainly affected centers with high occupancy due to COVID-19. The final long-term outcome will need to be assessed.

Background: Alagille 's syndrome is the main syndromic chronic intrahepatic cholestasis characterized by hypoplasia of the intrahepatic bile ducts. It is a multisystem disorder of autosomal dominant inheritance with involvement of multiple organs. Usually it becomes apparent in the neonatal period, presenting as subclinical cases or severe degrees of the disease with the consequent development of liver cirrhosis and subsequent liver failure associated with multiple abnormalities: defects in the vertebral arches, typical facies, pulmonary stenosis, mental retardation and hypogonadism., Objective: To present the first case of partial external biliary diversion in Argentina, showing the surgical technique and the improvement in the quality of life, as an alternative to be considered in patients with Alagille's syndrome before the development of cirrhosis., Results: It has been shown that partial external biliary diversion can stop the process of liver fibrogenesis, halting the progression of the disease and avoiding the need for transplantation in some types of intrahepatic cholestasis when cirrhosis has not been established., Discussion: This surgical technique can improve the quality of life and morbidity associated with hypercholesterolemia in patients with Alagille's syndrome, delaying and maybe avoiding the need for liver transplantation.