Addressing religious and cultural differences in views on transplantation, including composite tissue allotransplantation

Crowdsourcing Opinions and Awareness of Upper Extremity Transplantation in the United States

Introduction As of 2008, the United States had 41,000 people living with upper extremity amputation. This number is projected to reach 300,000 by 2050. Human upper extremity transplantation (HUET) may become a more common treatment option with the potential to significantly improve the quality of life for certain amputees. Awareness and opinions regarding HUET among Americans, particularly in Veterans/Service Members (VSM) affiliates, are largely unknown. Materials and methods We administered a survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers. Eligible participants were US citizens aged ≥18 years; MTurk worker selection targeted workers who self-reported being a VSM. We used descriptive statistics to summarize study findings and Fisher's exact and Wilcoxon's rank-sum tests for between-group comparisons. Results The survey was completed by 764 individuals, 604 (79.1%) of whom reported being aware of HUET. Among those familiar versus unfamiliar, a significantly higher proportion were aged ≤35 years (n=385, 64.0% vs. n=86, 53.7%; p=0.017), employed (n=523, 86.6% vs. n=114, 71.3%; p<0.001), and aware of their religion's stance on organ/tissue donation (n=341, 54.5% vs. n=62, 38.8%; p<0.001). Amputees and/or respondents related to an amputee were more likely to be aware of HUET than individuals who were amputation naive (n=211, 90.6% vs. n=393, 74.0%, respectively; p<0.001), as were individuals with a personal or familial military affiliation (n=286, 85.4% with vs. n=318, 74.1% with no affiliation; p<0.001). The most reported HUET information sources were digital media (n=157, 31.2%) and internet (n=137, 27.2%). Conclusions Our survey of MTurk workers found greater awareness of HUET among individuals with a VSM or amputee connection. Our additional findings that the internet and academic sources, such as journals or reputable medical publications, were respondents' preferred sources of HUET information emphasize the importance of vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) centers' involvement in creating accurate and accessible content to help educate the public about this treatment.

The past the present and the future of face transplantation

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Face transplantation represents vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) organ and became one of the most rewarding reconstructive options for severely disfigured patients. This review summarizes the past, current and future challenges of face transplantation, based on our experience and literature reports.

RECENT FINDINGS

In 2005, first partial face transplantation was reported by French team. In 2008, we have performed the US first near-total face transplantation. Currently, more than 40 face transplant cases were reported worldwide. Based on the outcomes of our three patients and the literature reports, face transplantation improved aesthetics, function and the quality of life of face transplant patients. However, there are still many challenges encountered including the side effects of immunosuppressive protocols, the psychological and social problems as well as the financial challenges which need to be address in the near future to maintain face transplantation in the armamentarium of reconstructive surgery.

SUMMARY

Currently, feasibility of face transplantation was confirmed; however, the life-long immunosuppressive protocols bearing serious side effects are still required to prevent face rejection. Thus, for the future of face and other VCA, novel approaches of cell-based therapies or engineered scaffolds should be developed to make face transplantation safer.

Perfusion decellularization of a human limb: A novel platform for composite tissue engineering and reconstructive surgery

Muscle and fasciocutaneous flaps taken from autologous donor sites are currently the most utilized approach for trauma repair, accounting annually for 4.5 million procedures in the US alone. However, the donor tissue size is limited and the complications related to these surgical techniques lead to morbidities, often involving the donor sites. Alternatively, recent reports indicated that extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds boost the regenerative potential of the injured site, as shown in a small cohort of volumetric muscle loss patients. Perfusion decellularization is a bioengineering technology that allows the generation of clinical-scale ECM scaffolds with preserved complex architecture and with an intact vascular template, from a variety of donor organs and tissues. We recently reported that this technology is amenable to generate full composite tissue scaffolds from rat and non-human primate limbs. Translating this platform to human extremities could substantially benefit soft tissue and volumetric muscle loss patients providing tissue- and species-specific grafts. In this proof-of-concept study, we show the successful generation a large-scale, acellular composite tissue scaffold from a full cadaveric human upper extremity. This construct retained its morphological architecture and perfusable vascular conduits. Histological and biochemical validation confirmed the successful removal of nuclear and cellular components, and highlighted the preservation of the native extracellular matrix components. Our results indicate that perfusion decellularization can be applied to produce human composite tissue acellular scaffolds. With its preserved structure and vascular template, these biocompatible constructs, could have significant advantages over the currently implanted matrices by means of nutrient distribution, size-scalability and immunological response.

The Ethics of Hand Transplantation: A Systematic Review

PURPOSE

We conducted a systematic review to document ethical concerns regarding human upper extremity (UE) allotransplantation and how these concerns have changed over time.

METHODS

We performed a systematic review of 5 databases to find manuscripts addressing ethical concerns related to UE allotransplantation. Inclusion criteria were papers that were on the topic of UE allotransplantation, and related ethical concerns, written in English. We extracted and categorized ethical themes under the 4 principles of bioethics: Autonomy, Beneficence, Nonmaleficence, and Justice. We assessed theme frequency by publication year using Joinpoint regression, analyzing temporal trends, and estimating annual percent change.

RESULTS

We identified 474 citations; 49 articles were included in the final analysis. Publication years were 1998 to 2015 (mean, 3 publications/y; range, 0-7 publications/y). Nonmaleficence was most often addressed (46 of 49 papers; 94%) followed by autonomy (36 of 49; 74%), beneficence (35 of 49; 71%), and justice (31 of 49; 63%). Of the 14 most common themes, only "Need for More Research/Data" (nonmaleficence) demonstrated a significant increase from 1998 to 2002.

CONCLUSIONS

Upper extremity transplantation is an appealing reconstructive option for patients and physicians. Its life-enhancing (vs life-saving) nature and requirement for long-term immunosuppression have generated much ethical debate. Availability of human data has influenced ethical concerns over time. Our results indicate that discussion of ethical issues in the literature increased following publication of UE transplants and outcomes as well as after meetings of national societies and policy decisions by regulatory agencies.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Because UE transplantation is not a life-saving procedure, much ethical debate has accompanied its evolution. It is important for UE surgeons considering referring patients for evaluation to be aware of this discussion to fully educate patients and help them make informed treatment decisions.

"Effective" Requesting: A Scoping Review of the Literature on Asking Families to Consent to Organ and Tissue Donation

BACKGROUND

Families are often asked to consent to the donation of their deceased relative's organs or tissues. These end-of-life conversations are important because they affect consent rates as well as the psychological impact of the decision for families. This scoping review of the literature on requesting family consent was prepared to support of the development of leading practice recommendations for end-of-life conversations with families of potential donors. A scoping review maps research activity in a field across a range of commentary and empirical study designs but does not attempt meta-synthesis of empirical data or quality assessment.

METHODS

We performed a scoping review of the peer-reviewed literature from January 2000 to February 2015 on the questions of what constitutes an "effective" request and the factors that affect consent rates and family satisfaction with their decision and the process. This review includes a final set of 168 articles addressing (a) whether, when, and how to ask families for consent to donation or (b) characteristics of families or decedents that affect families' decisions or family satisfaction with their decisions.

RESULTS

Six main themes were identified: (1) the objectives of requesting and encouraging family consent to donation, (2) the effect of the donation decision on family well-being, (3) the process of requesting family consent, (4) the impact of the quality of the care for the deceased and for the family, (5) the content and manner of the request for family consent, and (6) the characteristics of the family and deceased that affect the request for family consent.

CONCLUSION

This scoping review found that there is a large literature on how to modify the process and manner of the request to increase family consent rates. Another important line of inquiry focuses on the psychological impact of the decision on the family. Although a scoping review does not attempt to synthesize results or draw evidence-based conclusions, the literature generally supports the intuitive expectations that compassionate and respectful care for the deceased and family, listening for and addressing family concerns, and an attitude to donation that is positive (but not solely procurement-focused) and is best for both consent rates and family well-being. Although the presumption is often that the primary objective of asking for family consent is to secure consent and donation, some ethical commentary on requesting consent emphasizes that this objective must be balanced with the parallel obligation to protect the psychological well-being of families. This places some constraints on the approaches used in family consent discussions.

Ushering in the era of penile transplantation

Penile transplantation is a novel approach to management of penile loss in the developing field of composite tissue allotransplantation (CTA). Prior management for significant penile loss has been free flap phalloplasty with issues related to function, cosmesis, and functional loss from the location of flap harvest. Transplantation has been an evolving field with advancement in CTA over the past several decades leading to the option of penile transplant. Management of penile injury with replantation provided some preliminary groundwork on the technical aspects for penile transplantation. Additionally, penile transplantation raises many ethical, emotional, and psychological considerations with need for patience amidst ongoing advancement within the field.

The decade of face transplant outcomes

At the 10th year anniversary of the first face transplantation, 37 patients worldwide, were the recipients of faces coming from human donors. Five patients died due to complications, noncompliance with immunosuppressive medications and development of cancer. Despite the initial debates and ethical concerns, face transplantation became a clinical reality with satisfactory functional outcomes. The areas of controversy still include the impact of life-long immunosuppression on otherwise healthy patients as well as the selection process of face transplant candidates. Other concerns include financial support for this new generation of transplants as well as social re-integration and patients return to work after face transplantation. Based on over 20 years of research experience in the field of vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA), and clinical experience as a leading surgeon of the US first face transplantation, this review will summarize the well-known facts as well as unexpected outcomes and challenges of face transplantation.

Psychosocial Evaluation for First Hand Allotransplantation in Taiwan

Hand transplantation has raised ethical and psychological concerns. Few studies have focused on reasons for not selecting candidates on waiting lists. To describe the psychosocial evaluation of referred prospective hand transplant candidates, we investigated candidate suitability by using 22-month follow-up data regarding the first hand transplant recipient in Taiwan. Pretransplant psychosocial assessments comprised an interview with 2 psychiatrists, a social worker, and a psychologist, followed by intelligence quotient scoring with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire. After team member consensus, of the 20 patients referred to our team to confirm their hand transplantation suitability during April 26, 2013, to March 19, 2015, 7 potential recipients were placed on the waiting list after completing all prehand transplant evaluations. On September 3, 2014, the left distal forearm and hand of a brain-dead man was transplanted to a 45-year-old man who had undergone traumatic amputation of the distal third of his right forearm 30 years previously. During a 22-month follow-up, he complied with scheduled visits, including routine posttransplant laboratory tests, skin biopsies, and intensive physical therapy. Moreover, he overcame repeated graft rejections, bacterial and viral infections, immunosuppressant side effects, considerable economic stress, and the difficulties associated with the adhesion of hand tendons. Finally, he regained some satisfactory function of the transplanted hand. Considering posttransplantation difficulties, suitable candidates for hand transplantation should have persistent motivation, appropriate expectations, patience, immediate availability, fair intelligence, fair social functioning, and adequate economic and familial support.

The miracle of face transplantation after 10 years

INTRODUCTION

At the 10th year anniversary of the first face transplantation, there are currently 36 patients worldwide, who are the recipients of faces coming from human donors.

AREAS OF AGREEMENT

Despite the initial debates and ethical concerns, face transplantation became a clinical reality with satisfactory functional outcomes.

AREAS OF CONTROVERSY

The areas of controversy still include the impact of lifelong immunosuppression on otherwise healthy patients as well as the selection process of face transplant candidates.

GROWING POINTS

Other concerns include financial support for this new generation of transplants as well as social reintegration and patients return to work after face transplantation.

AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH

Based on over 20 years of research experience in the field of vascularized composite allotransplantation, and clinical experience as a leading surgeon of the US first face transplantation, this review will summarize the well-known facts as well as unexpected outcomes and challenges of face transplantation.

Vascularized Composite Allografts: Procurement, Allocation, and Implementation

Vascularized composite allotransplantation is a continuously evolving area of modern transplant medicine. Recently, vascularized composite allografts (VCAs) have been formally classified as 'organs'. In this review, key aspects of VCA procurement are discussed, with a special focus on interaction with the procurement of classical solid organs. In addition, options for a matching and allocation system that ensures VCA donor organs are allocated to the best-suited recipients are looked at. Finally, the different steps needed to promote VCA transplantation in society in general and in the medical community in particular are highlighted.

Donor-related issues in hand transplantation

The policies and procedures for solid-organ donation, under the auspices of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, currently cannot be applied to hand donation, because a hand allograft is considered a tissue in the United States and is under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration. Hand transplant centers have developed their own protocols. This article discusses the unique elements of such protocols, including training and education, the consent process, the necessary recipient and donor data, donor management, and operating room procedures. Candidate listing, allocation, and oversight of hand donation in the future are also discussed.