Progress in Desensitization of the Highly HLA Sensitized Patient

Combined Heart and Kidney Transplantation: Clinical Experience in 100 Consecutive Patients

Background

Combined heart and kidney transplantation (HKTx) is performed in patients with severe heart failure and advanced renal insufficiency. We analyzed the long‐term survival after HKTx, the influence of age and dialysis status, the rates of cardiac rejection, and the influence of sensitization.

Methods and Results

From June 1992 to December 2016, we performed 100 HKTx procedures. We compared older (≥60 years, n=53) with younger (<60 years, n=47) recipients, and recipients on preoperative dialysis (n=49) and not on dialysis (n=51). We analyzed actuarial freedom from any cardiac rejection, acute cellular rejection, and antibody‐mediated rejection, and survival rates by sensitized status with panel‐reactive antibody levels <10%, 10% to 50%, and >50%, and compared these survival rates with those from the United Network for Organ Sharing database. There was no difference in 15‐year survival between the 2 age groups (35±12.4% and 49±17.3%, ≥60 versus <60 years; P=0.45). There was no difference in 15‐year survival between the dialysis and nondialysis groups (44±13.4% and 37±15.2%, P=0.95). Actuarial freedom from any cardiac rejection (acute cellular rejection>0 or antibody‐mediated rejection>0) was 92±2.8% and 84±3.8%, acute cellular rejection (≥2R/3A) 98±1.5% and 94±2.5%, and antibody‐mediated rejection (≥1) 96±2.1% and 93±2.6% at 30 days and 1 year after HKTx. There was no difference in the 5‐year survival among recipients by sensitization status with panel‐reactive antibody levels <10%, 10% to 50%, and >50% (82±5.9%, 83±10.8%, and 92±8.0%; P=0.55). There was no difference in 15‐year survival after HKTx between the United Network for Organ Sharing database and our center (38±3.2% and 40±10.1%, respectively; P=0.45).

Conclusions

HKTx is safe to perform in patients 60 years and older or younger than 60 years and with or without dialysis dependence, with excellent outcomes. The degree of panel‐reactive antibody sensitization did not appear to affect survival after HKTx.

[Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplant: How to choose the best donor? Guidelines from the Francophone Society of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (SFGM-TC)]

Haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been growing steadily since 2012. The SFGM-TC has twice published guidelines concerning T-cell repleted haploidentical grafts with high dose cyclophosphamide post-transplantation. The 2013 workshop recommended using the non-myeloablative Baltimore protocol with bone marrow and developed prospective protocols to evaluate these transplantations. The 2015 workshop reported improved results of reduced conditioning regimens in Hodgkin's lymphoma and intensive conditioning in myeloid hemopathies, and a similar outcome with 10/10 HLA matched donor with the same disease-risk score thus raising the question of the qualifier "alternative" for haploidentical transplants. The current work concerns the criteria for selecting the donor. The main criterion remains the absence of anti-HLA antibodies directed against the donor present in the recipient sera (DSA - Donor Specific Antibodies). In case of DSA and in the absence of an alternative donor, desensitization protocols exist. The other criteria are impossible to prioritize: age, sex, CMV, and blood type. The degree of relatedness and the number of HLA incompatibilities do not seem to be a criterion of choice. The 'ideal' donor would be a young man, CMV-matched, without major ABO incompatibility with a marrow transplant. There is insufficient data for the KIR-ligand and NIMA/NIPA mismatch. Peripheral stem cell grafts appear to yield more acute GVHD than bone marrow grafts after intensive conditioning, but with comparable survival rates. Based on the literature review, the comparison of haploidentical with unrelated donors encourages inclusion in existing national protocols randomizing these different donors.