Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PJP) is an important opportunistic infection in immunosuppressed hosts. At our center, nine transplant recipients developed PJP over a 4-month period. The median time from transplant was 56 months and none of them was on cotrimoxazole prophylaxis at the time of developing the infection. Over half had been admitted to the renal transplant ward for unrelated indications and contracted the infection in-hospital. Diagnosis was based on microbiological demonstration of P. jiroveci in sputum and/or bronchoalveolar lavage in symptomatic patients. Atypical clinical and radiological signs were common with poor correlation of symptoms to computed tomography findings. Cotrimoxazole therapy was effective; however, patients with pre-existing graft dysfunction developed hyperkalemia commonly (50%). Alternative treatment with clindamycin and primaquine combination was equally effective. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment resulted in low mortality rate (11%). The outbreak was halted after universal use of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis to all patients admitted to the renal transplant ward. We report the first ever outbreak of PJP in Indian renal transplant recipients with possible inter-human transmission of infection in admitted patients.

10-30% of dialysis population awaiting renal transplantation is sensitized. Present desensitization protocols use intravenous immune globulins, rituximab, and plasmapheresis in various combinations; however, these regimens are unaffordable by many in developing countries. We tried desensitization with mycophenolate mofetil and plasmapheresis. Methods. Patients with high PRA titre (>50%) or positive crossmatch (>10%) were treated with MMF for a month before proposed transplant and were given five sittings of plasmapheresis. Results. 11 of 12 patients had normalization of PRA/crossmatch with this regimen and were successfully transplanted. One patient lost the graft due to graft vein thrombosis, and two patients died within three months after transplant due to septicemia and pulmonary embolism, respectively, with a functioning graft. No patient, including the two who died, developed clinical rejection over a mean follow-up of 10 months (range 1-16 months). Mean serum creatinine at last follow up was 1.1 mg/dL (range 0.9-1.3 mg/dL). Conclusions. Though the number of patients studied is small, we feel that highly sensitized patients awaiting living donor renal transplant should be tried on this simple and cost-effective regime before transplant. The more aggressive and expensive approaches incorporating IVIg and rituximab should be used only if this relatively low-cost regime is unsuccessful.

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Background:End stage renal disease (ERD) is a psychologically debilitating illness with considerable emotional morbidity. There is variation in quality of life and mental health status among recipients and donor at different stages of kidney transplantation.Materials and Methods:The study is an observational analytic study. Sample for the study comprised of forty (40) consecutive patients including 20 recipients and 20 donors of 20 kidney transplantations, male and female, and who themselves/whose relatives provided written informed consent were included in the study. Both recipients and donors were followed-up from 2 weeks prior to transplant surgery to 6 months post-operatively by phone and when they came for review in Nephrology Out-Patient Department (OPD). Quality of life and mental health status was compared between the two groups.Results:Study groups were homogeneous on age, education, gender and marital status. After transplantation recipient's mean score in all parameters had increased and all changes were statistically significant (<0.05).Conclusion:In this study significant changes in quality of life (QOL), and mental health status in recipients and donors before and after transplantation were noted. It is recommended to evaluate mental health related aspects of both donors and recipients.

Uremic hemorrhagic pericarditis occurs much less frequently in acute than in chronic renal failure, but when it does, it is a potentially fatal complication. The possibility of hemorrhagic pericarditis and cardiac tamponade should be considered in patients with acute renal failure and acute hemodynamic instability. This study reports a case of falciparum malaria complicated by acute renal failure that developed fatal cardiac tamponade in the recovery phase of acute renal failure.

Background:Infectious disorders are a major cause of concern in renal transplant recipients (RTRs) leading to considerable morbidity and mortality. We studied the profile and outcomes of infectious disorders in a cohort of RTR.Materials and Methods:In this prospective, observational study, we evaluated all RTR who presented with the features of infection. We also included asymptomatic patients with microbiological evidence of infection. We excluded patients with acute rejection, drug toxicity, and malignancy. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results.Results:The study population (n = 45, 35 male and 10 female) had a mean age of 35.5 ± 10.4 years and follow-up after transplant was 2.1 ± 1.7 years. Urinary tract infection (UTI, n = 15) is the most common infection followed by tuberculosis (TB, n = 8), cytomegalovirus (n = 6), candidiasis (n = 7), and hepatitis (n = 11). Miscellaneous infections such as cryptosporidiosis and pneumocystis were seen in 10 patients. Simultaneous infections with two organisms were seen in 7 patients. Four patients succumbed to multiorgan dysfunction following sepsis, another 4 patients developed chronic graft dysfunction, while the remaining 35 RTR had a good graft function.Conclusion:Infectious complications are very common in the posttransplant period including UTI and TB. Further large scale studies are required to identify the potential risk factors leading to infections in RTR.

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Introduction: Peritoneal dialysis catheter (PDC) placement for chronic kidney disease (CKD) amongst overweight and obese patients is difficult owing to deeper operating field. Literature being discordant on survival and complications in this patient subset, we attempted to analyse this research question in Indian population. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analysed PDC inserted by nephrologist using surgical minilaparotomy for survivals and complications amongst 'overweight and obese' cohort ('O') at two tertiary care government hospitals in India, and compared results with normo-weight cohort ('N'), with 12−36 months follow-up. Results: 245 PDCs were inserted by surgical minilaparotomy and 'N' to 'O' ratio was 169:76. 'O' group were more rural residing ( P = 0.003) and post-abdominal surgery ( P = 0.008) patients. The 1, 2, and 3-year death censored catheter survival rate was 98.6%, 95.8%, and 88.2% respectively in 'O' group, and 97.6%, 94.5% and 91.8% in 'N' group respectively ( P = 0.52). Patient survival ( P = 0.63), mechanical complications ( P = 0.09) and infective complications ( P = 0.93) were comparable despite technically challenging surgery in 'O' group. Refractory peritonitis related PDC removal was comparable ( P = 0.54). Prior haemodialysis or catheter related blood stream infections or diabetes were non-contributory to results. Conclusions: Catheter survival and patient survival amongst obese and overweight CAPD patients was non-inferior to normal weight patients. Mechanical, and infective complications were comparable despite technically challenging abdominal terrain in 'O' group. The overall CAPD performance was good amongst obese and overweight.