The UK Pancreas Allocation Scheme for Whole Organ and Islet Transplantation

In order to develop a national allocation scheme for donor pancreases, factors affecting waiting time and transplant outcomes in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK) were analyzed and compared. Blood group, sensitization, dialysis requirement, and whether the patient was waiting for a kidney and pancreas or pancreas alone affected waiting time in both countries; ethnicity and body mass index (BMI) also affected waiting time in the US. Ninety-day pancreas survival was similar in the UK and US, and was poorer for patients receiving a pancreas alone, with older donors, higher BMI and longer duration of ischemia in both countries. Factors affecting outcome, together with published data on factors affecting islet transplantation, informed the development of a points based allocation scheme for deceased donor pancreases in the UK providing equitable access for both whole organ and islet recipients through a single waiting list. Analysis of the allocation scheme 3 years after its introduction in December 2010 showed that the results were broadly as simulated, with a significant reduction in the number of long waiting patients and an increase in the number of islet transplants. There remains a surplus of highly sensitized patients in the waiting list, which the scheme should address in time.

Totally extraperitoneal laparoscopic hernia repair in patients with previous lower abdominal surgery

INTRODUCTION

Patients with lower abdominal scars are generally excluded from laparoscopic hernia repair due to the perceived technical difficulty and risk of visceral injury. This study examines the outcome of a series of patients who underwent totally extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair despite previous lower abdominal surgery.

METHODS

Retrospective review of 47 consecutive patients who underwent TEP inguinal hernia repair in the presence of lower abdominal scars between 1993 and 2002.

RESULTS

Thirty-five unilateral and 12 bilateral TEP hernia repairs were performed in the presence of 20 appendicectomy, 10 lower midline, 18 suprapubic and 5 paramedian incisions. Two cases were converted to open repair. There were no major complications and no early or late recurrences. Median operating time was 67.5 min and 83% of patients were managed as day cases.

CONCLUSIONS

Totally extraperitoneal laparoscopic hernia repair can be carried out safely in the presence of scars from previous lower abdominal surgery.

Skin allograft rejection in mice lacking inducible nitric oxide synthase

BACKGROUND

During allograft rejection, up-regulation of cytokine-inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) leads to the production of large amounts of nitric oxide (NO). The net effect of NO on the alloimmune response is, however, difficult to predict because of its diverse biological effects, which include potentially opposing roles as an effector and immunoregulatory molecule.

METHODS

In this study, the role of iNOS on the in vitro and in vivo alloimmune response was defined using mutant mice that lack a functional iNOS gene. The ability of spleen cells obtained from iNOS-deficient mutants to proliferate and to produce cytokines in response to irradiated BALB/c stimulator cells was determined, and the rate at which iNOS-deficient mice were able to reject BALB/c skin allografts was observed.

RESULTS

Spleen cells from homozygous iNOS-deficient (129xMF1)F1 mice, when compared with cells from heterozygous control mice, showed an increased in vitro proliferative response and produced substantially higher levels of interferon-gamma, and also more interleukin-2 and interleukin-12, in response to allogeneic stimulation. The kinetics of BALB/c skin graft rejection were comparable in heterozygous control animals and iNOS-deficient mice. Moreover, no net effect of iNOS on skin allograft rejection was apparent in mice treated with depleting monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to CD4 or CD8 T cells, either alone or in combination, or in mice treated with both anti-CD8 mAb and a neutralizing anti-tumor necrosis factor mAb.

CONCLUSIONS

These results show that iNOS has an immunomodulatory effect on the in vitro alloimmune response but lack of iNOS has no net influence on the kinetics of murine skin allograft rejection in either unmodified recipients or recipients in which the early contribution of T-cell subsets and tumor necrosis factor-alpha to graft rejection has been abrogated.

Bilateral intrathyroidal hyperplastic parathyroid glands

A patient with secondary hyperparathyroidism was found to have two intrathyroidal parathyroid glands. Parathyroid glands are found completely within the substance of the thyroid in approximately 2 to 8% of all cases. The surgical approach to hyperparathyroidism is discussed.

The solitary pulmonary nodule in the patient with breast cancer

A solitary pulmonary nodule appearing in a patient with breast cancer, either past or present, is most likely to be a second primary cancer originating in the lung rather than a metastasis from the breast cancer. Between 1970 and 1983 there were at this institution 1416 patients with breast cancer and 579 patients with bronchogenic cancer, 198 of whom were women. Among the patients with breast cancer, 42 (or 3% of all of the patients with breast cancer) had a solitary pulmonary nodule either at the time of presentation of their breast cancer or during the follow-up period. Fifty-two percent of the solitary pulmonary nodules proved to be a primary lung tumor, 5% proved to be benign lesions, and only 43% proved to be metastatic breast cancer. Patients with breast cancer with solitary pulmonary nodules should have a diagnostic workup appropriate for lung cancer. Since adenocarcinoma has become the most common lung cancer cell type, the usual diagnostic tests may not allow a firm differentiation between primary lung and secondary breast cancer. Therefore if malignancy is proved or suspected, thoracotomy with appropriate resection is the treatment of choice in most patients with breast cancer, even at the initial appearance of the breast cancer.

Glycosaminoglycan: cell interactions; their role in lipoprotein lipase secretion from isolated cardiac muscle cells

When cardiac muscle cells from mature rats were incubated in vitro in the presence of heparin (8.7 nmole ml-1) lipoprotein lipase activity appeared in the incubation medium. The intracellular activity of the enzyme remained unchanged. Other glycosaminoglycans (heparan sulphate, dermatan sulphate, keratan sulphate and chrondroitin 6-sulphate) at the same or higher concentrations were totally ineffective in producing any enzyme redistribution between cells and medium. The release seen in the presence of heparin was blocked by the presence of cycloheximide. Cycloheximide by contrast had no effect on the release observed in the presence of dexamethasone, The action of endogenous glycosaminoglycans are unlikely therefore to have a significant role to play in the movement of lipoprotein lipase in heart tissue in vivo.

A complication of direct right atrial catheterization for total parenteral nutrition

A markedly malnourished man with Crohn's disease and superior vena cava thrombosis required direct right atrial catheterization for total parenteral nutrition. After 3 wk the catheter had migrated to the right pleural space, necessitating removal. An inferior vena cava line via the left saphenous vein was then utilized until the patient's death 10 wk later from pneumonitis. Technical suggestions for avoiding this complication and alternative venous access sites are discussed.