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Recent evidence underscores the importance of judicious donor and recipient selection and of optimization of preservation and surgical factors for excellent short- and long-term pancreas transplant outcomes.

Hypothesis: Radiocephalic fistulas for maintenance hemodialysis access are not feasible in all patients with endstage renal disease. Our aim was to review our experience with 3 types of upper arm arteriovenous fistula (AVF) to ascertain whether they are reasonable alternatives to radiocephalic fistulas and which, if any, have superior performance. Patients and Methods: Patient medical records were retrospectively reviewed. The main outcomes were maturation rate, time to maturation, assisted maturation rate, complication rates, reintervention rates, primary and assisted primary patency rates, and effects of comorbidities. Results: Eighty-six patients with end-stage renal disease underwent creation of a brachiocephalic, brachiobasilic, or brachial artery-to-median antecubital vein AVF. Overall, 80% matured, with 23% requiring an intervention to achieve maturity. The mean time to maturation was 3.8 months; 47% had a complication (inability to access, thrombosis, and so on), and 43% required additional interventions. The overall primary patency and assisted primary patency rates at 12 months were 50% and 74%, respectively. Brachiobasilic AVFs not superficialized immediately often needed a second operation. There were no significant differences in patency rates among the 3 AVF types. The AVFs in patients with diabetes took 2 months longer to mature than did those in patients without diabetes. Conclusions: An upper arm AVF is a reasonable alternative for maintenance hemodialysis access when a radiocephalic AVF is not possible. There are 3 valid options from which to choose to best accommodate each patient's antecubital anatomy. Diabetes may adversely affect outcomes. Our data suggest that brachiobasilic AVFs should be superficialized at the initial procedure, if feasible.

Sirolimus, a potent new immunosuppressant, has been anecdotally associated with surgical wound complications. We studied postoperative surgical wound complications in 15 kidney recipients receiving sirolimus, prednisone, and tacrolimus or cyclosporine (study group) compared with 15 recipients receiving tacrolimus, prednisone, and mycophenolate mofetil who were pair-matched for surgical wound complication risk factors. Surgical wound complications were defined as any complication related to the surgical transplant wound requiring reintervention. Fifty-three percent of the study group and 7% of the control group experienced more than one surgical wound complication (P=0.014), and the relaparotomy incidence was 33% and 7%, respectively. Four graft losses have occurred since the beginning of the study: one chronic rejection and two deaths with function in the study group, and one death with function in the control group. At 1 year, graft survival for study recipients compared with control recipients was 87% and 93%, respectively; patient survival was 93% in both groups. Recipients receiving sirolimus demonstrated a significantly higher surgical wound complication rate, but graft and patient survival were not affected. Peritransplant immunosuppression with sirolimus and steroids warrants careful consideration, particularly in recipients with surgical complication risk factors.

Background: For anatomical and technical reasons, many transplant centers restrict laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy (in contrast with open live donor nephrectomy) to left kidneys.Hypothesis: This change in surgical practice increases procurement and transplantation rates of live donor kidneys with multiple renal arteries (RAs), without affecting donor and recipient outcomes.Design and Setting: Retrospective review at an academic tertiary care referral center comparing laparoscopically procured single-vs multiple-RA kidney grafts (April 1997 to October 2000.Patients: Seventy-nine consecutive left laparoscopic live kidney donors and 78 transplant recipients.Main Outcome Measures: Donor and recipient complications and postoperative length of stay; cold and warm ischemia time; operating time; short-term and longterm graft function; and survival. Results:We noted multiple RAs in 21 (27%) of all kidneys. The proportion of donors with 1 or more periop-

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