Thrombotic microangiopathy after kidney transplantation: causes, clinical specifics and outcomes

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-186
Author(s):  
E. I. Prokopenko ◽  
E. O. Shcherbakova ◽  
R. O. Kantaria ◽  
V. A. Stepanov

Background: Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is a clinical and morphological phenomenon characterized by specific microvascular injury, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, and damage of various target organs. TMA after kidney transplantation (post-renal transplant TMA) is a serious complication affecting the recipient and graft survival.Aim: To analyze the timing, causes, specifics of the clinical course and outcomes of TMA in renal transplant recipients.Materials and methods: This one-center study was based on a comprehensive examination and follow-up of 697 patients who had undergone 728 kidney transplantations (KT) from deceased donors in 2003–2019. Post-transplant TMA of the renal graft was confirmed morphologically in all cases.Results: We identified 32 episodes of post-transplant TMA in 32 patients; thus, the incidence of TMA was 4.4%. All cases developed after KT de novo; no recurrent TMA was observed. TMA was systemic in 37.5% and locally renal in 62.5% of the patients. The median time to the development of post-transplant TMA was 0.55 (range, 0.1 to 51.6) months. The patients with TMA did not differ from those without by gender, age, body mass index, underlying disorders, type and duration of dialysis before KT, protocols of immunosuppressive therapy, incidence of surgical, urological, infectious, cardiovascular and oncological complications. The patients with TMA were significantly more likely to have graft rejection (25.0% vs 11.2%, p = 0.035) and a never-functioning transplant (28.1% vs 4.9%, p < 0.001). The presence of TMA negatively affected the transplantation outcomes. The cumulative 1-year graft survival in the patients without and with TMA was 91% and 44%, respectively, whereas their 5-year survival rates were 68% and 25% (p < 0.001). The leading causes of TMA were: donor pathology (31.2%), antibody-mediated rejection (28.1%), and cyclosporine/tacrolimus nephrotoxicity (21.9%); the proportion of other causes was 18.8%. A combination of TMA etiological factors was identified in 68.7% of the recipients. The recipients with of calcineurin inhibitors nephrotoxicity had a more favorable prognosis compared to those with other causes of TMA.Conclusion: Post-renal transplant TMA is an infrequent but serious complication that worsens the graft survival and often is life-threatening for recipients. In most cases, TMA develops in the early post-operative period; however, it can occur any time thereafter. To improve the outcome of TMA, early diagnosis is necessary based on clinical suspicion and a prompt biopsy of the renal graft with suspected TMA. Treatment should be started quickly with consideration of the cause of the complication.

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenta Futamura ◽  
Goto Norihiko ◽  
Hiroki Fukuhara ◽  
Takaaki Nawano ◽  
Akiko Kanda ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and Aims Thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA) is characterized by mechanical hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and renal impairment. TMA that occurs in kidney transplant recipients has multiple etiologies and may be de novo or recurrent. Main causes of TMA among recipients are atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), immunosuppressive drugs, ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), viral infections, and antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR). Pathological findings of TMA with thrombosis in glomeruli and arterioles are not rare in graft biopsies, but the clinical signs vary widely by etiologies, and incidence and risk factors for each are uncertain. The purpose of this study is to clarify the current status of TMA after kidney transplantation. Method The subjects were 1,336 patients (5,425 biopsy specimens) who underwent kidney transplantation (851 ABO-compatible and 485 ABO-incompatible) at Japanese Red Cross Nagoya Daini Hospital and Masuko Memorial Hospital from January 1, 2000 to June 30, 2018. We investigated patient characteristics and graft survival in 69 patients with pathological findings of TMA (12 with symptomatic TMA and 57 with asymptomatic TMA) and 1,207 patients without findings of TMA. Sixty patients were excluded because of incomplete data or biopsy specimens. TMA patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) were defined as symptomatic TMA in this study. Results The incidence of post-transplant TMA was 5.2% (symptomatic TMA : 0.9%, asymptomatic TMA : 4.3%) in our cohort. Multivariate analysis revealed significant risk factors for TMA were presence of donor specific antibodies (DSA) and use of cyclosporine (odds ratio [OR] 3.52; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.58-7.88; p=0.002 and OR 3.70; 95% CI 1.68-8.11; p=0.001, respectively). Causes of symptomatic TMA were ABMR : 66.7% (5 patients with ABO-incompatibility, 3 with preformed DSA), aHUS : 16.7%, cytomegalovirus and adenovirus infection : 8.3%, and causes of asymptomatic TMA were drug-induced: 40.4% (21 patients with calcineurin inhibitor, 2 with everolimus), ABMR: 31.6% (10 with ABO-incompatibility, 8 with de novo DSA), IRI : 14.0 %. Onset of post-transplant TMA was significantly associated with lower graft survival (Figure A), with a stronger correlation in symptomatic TMA than in asymptomatic TMA (Figure B and C). Conclusion TMA with AKI that occurred after kidney transplantation had a poor graft prognosis. Therefore, avoiding transplantation, changing donors or using tacrolimus instead of cyclosporine should be considered for patients with DSA or ABO-incompatibility.


Blood ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 114 (22) ◽  
pp. 1683-1683
Author(s):  
Lohith Bachegowda ◽  
Diptesh Gupta ◽  
Ajoy Bharadwaj ◽  
Karthik Ranganna ◽  
TIM Adamowicz ◽  
...  

Abstract Abstract 1683 Poster Board I-709 Introduction- Post-transplant malignancy is one of the major complications of immunosuppression in kidney transplant recipients. Mycophenolate Mofetil(MMF) and Calcineurin inhibitors(CNI) based immunosuppression is a well established combination in clinical practice. MMF has an action on cell proliferation by inhibiting Inosine Mono Phosphate dehydrogenase. However, its antitumor properties have been constantly debated. It is shown to have some antiproliferative effects in leukemias and lymphomas with a decreased incidence of PTLD. This single center study evaluated the effect of combining mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) with calcineurin inhibitors on the incidence of de novo post-transplant non skin malignancies in renal transplant recipients. We also compared the incidence of solid versus liquid cancers. Patients and Methods- Six hundred and fifty seven (657) consecutive kidney and kidney/pancreas recipients transplanted between January 2000 and December 2005 were analyzed for post-transplant malignancies. Three hundred and sixty two (362) recipients were maintained on a calcineurin inhibitor and MMF combination. The incidence of neoplasm in this group was monitored till June 2009. All patients received induction therapy with basiliximab and methylprednisolone. Steroid therapy was discontinued after the second dose in the withdrawal group. In the steroid treated group oral prednisone was initiated on day 2 at 30 mg per day and rapidly tapered to 5 mg per day at one month and continued for the life of the graft. Maintenance therapy in all recipients included both, a calcineurin inhibitor and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). All clinical acute rejections were confirmed by biopsy and treated with intravenous methylprednisolone. Steroid unresponsive rejections were treated with Thymoglobulin Table 1 shows the demography in the CNI + MMF recipient group Recipient demography Calcineurin inhibitor/MMF group Number of recipients 362 Mean age in years 53 ± 3 Male gender 196 Deceased donor kidney recipients 305 Mean HLA antigen mismatch 3.95 ± 2.6 Pre-transplant malignancies 0 Number of recipients with rejection 71 Table 2 Incidence and type of malignancies in calcineurin inhibitor + MMF group Type of cancer Calcineurin inhibitor/MMF group Total number of recipients 362 Post transplant lymphoproliferative disease 1 Hodgkin's lymphoma 1 Renal cell cancer 6 Lung cancer 3 Prostate cancer 2 Colon cancer 2 Breast cancer 2 Bladder cancer 1 Pancreatic cancer 1 Leukemia 1 Thyroid cancer 1 Total cancers 21 (5.8%) Conclusion In our study on CNI/MMF based immunosuppression in renal transplant patients, 5.8% developed various neoplasms. There was a lower incidence of hematologic- malignancies 3/362(0.8%) in comparison to solid organ neoplasm 18/362(4.97%). The incidence of PTLD was 0.27%, which is similar to other observational studies. This could partly be due to greater expression of Inosine Monophosphate, inhibited by MMF in malignant hematologic cells. Further multicenter analysis needs to be done to detect the incidence of liquid and solid neoplasms, correlating with intracellular IMP levels with MMF usage in renal transplant recipients. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (Supplement_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Željko Kikić ◽  
Haris Omic ◽  
Georg A Böhmig ◽  
Nicolas Kozakowski ◽  
Michael Eder

Abstract Background and Aims Post transplant (pTX) glomerulonephritis (GN) is an important factor contributing to early and late allograft failure. De novo or recurrent IgA GN are the most frequent pTX-GN forms, however little is known about the optimal risk and therapeutic assessment. Recently, immunopathological evidence of glomerular C4d staining has been suggested as a prognostic tool in native glomerular kidney disease, in particular IgA GN. While peritubular capillary C4d is an accepted diagnostic criterion for antibody mediated rejection (ABMR), the role of glomerular C4d in pTX-GN is unkown. The primary hypothesis was that the finding of immunohistochemical glomerular C4d may be associated renal graft survival in post TX IgA GN. Method This large retrospective cohort study included all indication biopsies performed for cause in 885 kidney allografts from 1999-2006. Cases were screened for biopsy verified de novo or recurrent pTX-GN. GN cases were re-assessed by a single nephropathologist (NK). Primary endpoint was death-sensored graft survival followed until 01.01.2017. Results The prevalence of pTX-GN was 9.6% (n=85/885). De novo or recurrent IgA-GN was the most common pTX GN form with 40%. Of the 34 cases with pTX IgA GN, 27 had adequate material for interpretation of immunohistochemical glomerular C4d in the biopsy specimen. Eighteen of the 27 cases (66%) with pTx-IgA GN showed positive immunohistochemical C4d staining along glomerular capillary walls. There was no difference in renal function at biopsy or after one year comparing glomerular C4d positive vs. C4d negative pTX IgA GN. In univariate KM analysis glomerular C4d positive pTX-IgA GN showed significantly worse renal allograft survival rates (28%) compared to glomerular C4d negative pTX IgA GN (50%) or cases without GN (66%), p&lt;0.001, respectively. In a multivariate Cox-Regression analysis including baseline covariates as well C4d+ABMR, Borderline lesion and TCMR, C4d+pTX IgA-GN remained independently associated with death censored graft-loss (HR 2.92, 95% CI 1.51-5.64, p=0.001). Conclusion Glomerular C4d staining in post transplant IgA glomerulonephritis is an independent risk factor for worse allograft survival and may provide a valuable risk assessment tool for prognostic and therapeutic decisions in post transplant glomerulonephritis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. S229
Author(s):  
Farina Hanif ◽  
Mudassir Laeeq ◽  
Nasir Hassan Luck ◽  
Tahir Aziz ◽  
Mohammad Mubarak

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Ávila ◽  
Eva Gavela ◽  
Asunción Sancho

Thrombotic microangiopathy is a rare but serious complication that affects kidney transplant recipients. It appears in 0.8–14% of transplanted patients and negatively affects graft and patient survival. It can appear in a systemic form, with hemolytic microangiopathic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and renal failure, or in a localized form, with progressive renal failure, proteinuria, or arterial hypertension. Post-transplant thrombotic microangiopathy is classified as recurrent atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome or de novo thrombotic microangiopathy. De novo thrombotic microangiopathy accounts for the majority of cases. Distinguishing between the 2 conditions can be difficult, given there is an overlap between them. Complement overactivation is the cornerstone of all post-transplant thrombotic microangiopathies, and has been demonstrated in the context of organ procurement, ischemia-reperfusion phenomena, immunosuppressive drugs, antibody-mediated rejection, viral infections, and post-transplant relapse of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. Although treatment of the causative agents is usually the first line of treatment, this approach might not be sufficient. Plasma exchange typically resolves hematologic abnormalities but does not improve renal function. Complement blockade with eculizumab has been shown to be an effective therapy in post-transplant thrombotic microangiopathy, but it is necessary to define which patients can benefit from this therapy and when and how eculizumab should be used.


Open Medicine ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 322-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eglė Dalinkevičienė ◽  
Vytautas Kuzminskis ◽  
Laura Kairevičė ◽  
Rasa Jančiauskienė ◽  
Daimantas Milonas ◽  
...  

AbstractPost-transplant malignancies present an aggressive course and are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Tumours of viral ethiology have the greatest risk in renal transplant recipients. Oncogenic effect of immunosuppressive therapy is another major risk factor of post-transplant malignancy. We report cases of three different types of malignancies developed after kidney transplantation: non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma and germ cell testicular cancer (nonseminoma).


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