Allocation to pediatric recipients around the world: An IPTA global survey of current pediatric solid organ transplantation deceased donation allocation practices

Pediatric Perspectives on Palliative Care in the Neurocritical Care Unit

Pediatric neurocritical care teams care for patients and families facing the potential for significant neurologic impairment and high mortality. Such admissions are often marked by significant prognostic uncertainty, high levels of parental emotional overload, and multiple potentially life-altering decision points. In addition to clinical acumen, families desire clear and consistent communication, supported decision-making, a multidisciplinary approach to psychosocial supports throughout an admission, and comprehensive bereavement support after a death. Distinct from their adult counterparts, pediatric providers care for a broader set of rare diagnoses with limited prognostic information. Decision-making requires its own ethical framework, with substitutive judgment giving way to the best interest standard as well as "good parent" narratives. When a child dies, bereavement support is often needed for the broader community. There will always be a role for specialist palliative care consultation in the pediatric neurocritical care unit, but the care of every patient and family will be well served by improving these primary palliative care skills.

HLA (emphasis on DQ) compatibility for longer allograft survival in pediatric transplantation: Modern evidence and challenges

Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for children with end-stage kidney failure, yet suboptimal outcomes, the need for long-term immunosuppression, and the dependency on consecutive transplants pose significant barriers to success. Providing better HLA-matched organs to pediatric patients seems to be the most logical approach to improve graft and patient outcomes and to reduce risk of anti-HLA sensitization after graft failure. We here review recent literature on HLA matching in pediatric kidney transplantation. We further review newer approaches attempting to improve matching by using molecular mismatch load analysis. Our main focus is on the role of HLA-DQ compatibility between recipient and donor. We further emphasize the need to develop creative approaches that will support HLA (and DQ) matching utilization in organ allocation schemes, at least in those geared specifically for pediatric patients.