Transplantation
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The effectiveness and reliability of long-term control of circulatory stability in brain-dead patients by combined administration of vasopressin and catecholamine was examined in detail. Twenty-five patients were divided into three groups according to the dose of vasopressin. The first group (n = 10) received no vasopressin, the second group (n = 2) an antidiuretic dose (0.1-0.4 U/hr), and the third group (n = 13) a pressor dose (1-2 U/hr), respectively. ⋯ Individually, catecholamines exhibit characteristic differences. Epinephrine has significant effects on both peripheral vessels and the heart, whereas norepinephrine keeps the circulation stable by increasing the total peripheral resistance index, with a much larger dose than epinephrine. Dopamine acts primarily on the heart.
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Orthotopic liver transplantation is frequently associated with hyperfibrinolysis, the origin and clinical relevance of which is largely unknown. In 20 orthotopic liver transplantations, we studied the occurrence and systemic effects of hyperfibrinolysis. Severe fibrinolysis was defined to be present when the euglobulin-clot lysis time and the whole-blood-clot lysis time, as measured by thrombelastography, were shorter than 60 and 90 min, respectively, at some time during the operation. ⋯ A combination of increased endothelial release and reduced hepatic clearance may have caused the increased t-PA activity. The t-PA-associated destruction of fibrinogen and fibrin after graft reperfusion is consistent with the clinical signs of severe oozing often seen in this period. These observations may have important clinical implications for the treatment of bleeding in patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation.
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Postischemic renal failure is a severe problem following cadaveric renal transplantation, especially if the kidney has been harvested from a non-heartbeating donor, and thereby subjected to periods of both warm and cold ischemia. It is well established that a substantial component of postischemic injury is produced by oxygen-derived free radicals generated from xanthine oxidase at reperfusion. However, the clinical potential of free radical ablative therapy is dependent upon the proportion of the total injury caused by this reperfusion mechanism, compared with the proportion resulting from ischemic injury per se. ⋯ Similarly, after 24 and 48 hr of cold ischemia, kidney function was significantly improved from 30% and 18% to 72% and 47% of normal, respectively, when allopurinol was added to the preservation solution. SOD used at harvest and again at reperfusion was particularly effective following combined warm and cold ischemia, in a situation mimicking the harvest of cadaver kidneys from a non-heartbeating donor. These findings suggest that the ablation of free radical-mediated reperfusion injury may improve posttransplant renal function sufficiently to allow expansion of the cadaveric donor pool to include non-heartbeating donors.