Issues of Immunological and Hemodynamic Monitoring Before and During Kidney Transplantation in Sensitized Heart...

Previously transplanted highly sensitized patients experience problems with subsequent transplantation. It is also difficult to provide optimal hemodynamic conditions during successive kidney transplantation in heart transplant recipients.

We present a case of a 56-year old patient with end-stage renal failure after heart transplantation performed 21 years ago and hemodialyzed using arteriovenous fistula. The patient had 69% panel-reactive antibodies, had been on the active waiting list since 2013, and presented 335 positive crossmatches with deceased donors. He also positively crossmatched with a potential living donor. Detailed examination of anti-HLA antibodies revealed the absence of IgG donor-specific antibodies and negative crossmatch with dithiothreitol-treated serum. The transplantation from his wife was performed with positive crossmatch after 4 plasma exchanges and thymoglobulin induction. Because sympathetic and parasympathetic denervation of the transplanted heart and the presence of arteriovenous fistula induced volume overload of the right heart, we used central venous pressure (CVP) and the PiCCO2 for postsurgical assessment of cardiac output.

Monitoring, like CVP and other static exponents of preload obtained by PICCO (extravascular lung water, global end-diastolic volume index) as well as the dynamic parameters obtained by PiCCO2 (pulse pressure variation, stroke volume variation), was not sensitive enough to describe recipient volume status. The immediate graft function was observed, and after 11 months satisfactory estimated glomerular filtration rate is noted with the absence of donor-specific antibodies.

The history of heart transplantation with existing arteriovenous fistula makes clinical tools such as continuous cardiac output monitoring and CVP parameter inadequate for describing the hemodynamic situation. The high level of panel-reactive antibodies and positive crossmatch possibly caused by IgM antibodies do not have to withdraw the recipient from kidney transplantation.