Background The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant reductions in transplantation, motivated in part by concerns of disproportionately more severe disease among solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. However, clinical features, outcomes, and predictors of mortality in SOT recipients are not well-described. Methods We performed a multi-center cohort study of SOT recipients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19. Data were collected using standardized intake and 28-day follow-up electronic case report forms. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for the primary endpoint, 28-day mortality, among hospitalized patients. Results Four hundred eighty-two SOT recipients from >50 transplant centers were included: 318 (66%) kidney or kidney/pancreas, 73 (15.1%) liver, 57 (11.8%) heart, and 30 (6.2%) lung. Median age was 58 (IQR 46-57), median time post-transplant was 5 years (IQR 2-10), 61% were male, and 92% had ≥1 underlying comorbidity. Among those hospitalized (376 [78%]), 117 (31%) required mechanical ventilation, and 77 (20.5%) died by 28 days after diagnosis. Specific underlying comorbidities (age >65 [aOR 3.0, 95%CI 1.7-5.5, p<0.001], congestive heart failure [aOR 3.2, 95%CI 1.4-7.0, p=0.004], chronic lung disease [aOR 2.5, 95%CI 1.2-5.2, p=0.018], obesity [aOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.0-3.4, p=0.039]) and presenting findings (lymphopenia [aOR 1.9, 95%CI 1.1-3.5, p=0.033], abnormal chest imaging [aOR 2.9, 95%CI 1.1-7.5, p=0.027]) were independently associated with mortality. Multiple measures of immunosuppression intensity were not associated with mortality. Conclusions Mortality among SOT recipients hospitalized for COVID-19 was 20.5%. Age and underlying comorbidities rather than immunosuppression intensity-related measures were major drivers of mortality.

Background and objectives Patients with CKD have a high prevalence of cardiovascular disease associated with or exacerbated by inactivity. This randomized, controlled study investigated whether a renal rehabilitation exercise program for patients with stages 3 or 4 CKD would improve their physical function and quality of life.Design, setting, participants, & measurements In total, 119 adults with CKD stages 3 and 4 were randomized, and 107 of these patients proceeded to usual care or the renal rehabilitation exercise intervention consisting of usual care plus guided exercise two times per week for 12 weeks (24 sessions). Physical function was determined by three well established performance-based tests: 6-minute walk test, sit-to-stand test, and gait-speed test. Health-related quality of life was assessed by the RAND 36-Item Short Form Health Survey.Results At baseline, no differences in self-reported level of activity, 6-minute walk test, and sit-to-stand test scores were observed between the usual care (n=48) and renal rehabilitation exercise (n=59) groups, although baseline gait-speed test score was higher in the renal rehabilitation exercise group (P,0.001). At follow-up, the renal rehabilitation exercise group but not the usual care group showed significant improvements in the 6-minute walk test (+210.46266.0 ft [19% improvement] versus 2106219.9 ft; P,0.001), the sit-to-stand test (+26.9627% of age prediction [29% improvement] versus +0.7612.1% of age prediction; P,0.001), and the RAND-36 physical measures of role functioning (P,0.01), physical functioning (P,0.01), energy/fatigue levels (P=0.01), and general health (P=0.03) and mental measure of pain scale (P=0.04). The renal rehabilitation exercise regimen was generally well tolerated.Conclusions A 12-week/24-session renal rehabilitation exercise program improved physical capacity and quality of life in patients with CKD stages 3 and 4. Longer follow-up is needed to determine if these findings will translate into decreased mortality rates.

This qualitative study identifies patient, care partner, and clinicians’ perceptions of the patient-centeredness, benefits, and drawbacks of telehealth compared with in-person visits.

Our review suggests that anticoagulation therapy for calf vein DVT may decrease the incidence of PE and thrombus propagation. However, due to poor methodologic quality and few events among included studies for PE, this finding is not robust. Thrombus propagation appears reduced with anticoagulation treatment. A rigorous RCT will assist in treatment decisions for calf vein DVT.

BackgroundOlder patients with advanced CKD are at high risk for serious complications and death, yet few discuss advance care planning (ACP) with their kidney clinicians. Examining barriers and facilitators to ACP among such patients might help identify patient-centered opportunities for improvement.MethodsIn semistructured interviews in March through August 2019 with purposively sampled patients (aged ≥70 years, CKD stages 4–5, nondialysis), care partners, and clinicians at clinics in across the United States, participants described discussions, factors contributing to ACP completion or avoidance, and perceived value of ACP. We used thematic analysis to analyze data.ResultsWe conducted 68 semistructured interviews with 23 patients, 29 care partners, and 26 clinicians. Only seven of 26 (27%) clinicians routinely discussed ACP. About half of the patients had documented ACP, mostly outside the health care system. We found divergent ACP definitions and perspectives; kidney clinicians largely defined ACP as completion of formal documentation, whereas patients viewed it more holistically, wanting discussions about goals, prognosis, and disease trajectory. Clinicians avoided ACP with patients from minority groups, perceiving cultural or religious barriers. Four themes and subthemes informing variation in decisions to discuss ACP and approaches emerged: (1) role ambiguity and responsibility for ACP, (2) questioning the value of ACP, (3) confronting institutional barriers (time, training, reimbursement, and the electronic medical record, EMR), and (4) consequences of avoiding ACP (disparities in ACP access and overconfidence that patients’ wishes are known).ConclusionsPatients, care partners, and clinicians hold discordant views about the responsibility for discussing ACP and the scope for it. This presents critical barriers to the process, leaving ACP insufficiently discussed with older adults with advanced CKD.

After transplantation of nonrenal solid organs, an acute decline in kidney function develops in the majority of patients. In addition, a significant number of nonrenal solid organ transplant recipients develop chronic kidney disease, and some develop end-stage renal disease, requiring renal replacement therapy. The incidence varies depending on the transplanted organ. Acute kidney injury after nonrenal solid organ transplantation is associated with prolonged length of stay, cost, increased risk of death, de novo chronic kidney disease, and end-stage renal disease. This overview focuses on the risk factors for posttransplant acute kidney injury after liver and heart transplantation, integrating discussion of proteinuria and chronic kidney disease with emphasis on pathogenesis, histopathology, and management including the use of mechanistic target of rapamycin inhibition and costimulatory blockade.

BackgroundRabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG) is the most widely used kidney transplant induction immunotherapy in the United States. It was recently Food and Drug Administration approved for this indication with typical dose recommendations of 1.5 mg/kg for up to 7 days given via a central line.MethodsWe theorized that reduced rATG dosing when compared with conventional dosing (6-10.5 mg/kg) is safe and effective, leading to development of a risk-stratified treatment protocol. Five-year data from a retrospective cohort of 224 adult kidney transplants (2008-2013) with follow-up through 2015 is presented. Cumulative rATG doses of 3 mg/kg were administered peripherally to nonsensitized living donor recipients, 4.5 mg/kg to nonsensitized deceased donor recipients. A subset of higher immunologic risk recipients (defined as history of prior transplant, panel reactive antibody greater than 20%, or flow cytometry crossmatch positivity) received 6 mg/kg.ResultsThere were no differences in patient or graft survival between the 3 groups. One-year rejection rates in the first 2 groups were 8.3% and 8.8%, respectively, comparable to contemporaneous rates reported to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. Dose tailoring permitted substantial cost savings estimated at US $1 091 502. Mean length of stay fell by almost 3 days as the protocol was refined. There were no episodes of phlebitis. Infection rates were comparable with those reported to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.ConclusionsThe novel findings of the current study include peripheral administration, reduced dosing, favorable safety, excellent allograft outcomes, and clear associative data regarding reduced costs and length of stay.

De novo thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) after renal transplant is rare. Cytomegalovirus (CMV)-related posttransplant TMA has only been reported in 6 cases. We report an unusual case of a 75-year old woman who developed de novo TMA in association with CMV viremia. The recurrence of TMA with CMV viremia, resolution with treatment for CMV and the lack of correlation with a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) in our case supports CMV as the cause of the TMA. What is unique is that the use of eculizumab without plasmapheresis led to prompt improvement in renal function. After a failure to identify a genetic cause for TMA and the clear association with CMV, eculizumab was discontinued. This case provides insight into the pathogenesis and novel treatment of de novo TMA, highlights the beneficial effects of complement inhibitors in this disease and shows that they can be safely discontinued once the inciting etiology is addressed.