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Tacrolimus is an important part of immunosuppressive therapy after solid organ transplantation. The therapeutic range of the drug from the calcineurin inhibitor group is narrow. Adjustment of the blood concentration can be very complicated but to be able to avoid the occurrence of side effects or ineffective immunosuppression it is inevitable. This article summarizes the properties of tacrolimus pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenetics and pharmacodynamics. We will focus on individual variations of cytochrome enzymes. In the following part, a new method for screening high risk patients will be introduced. We will present the publications of the determination of the concentration/dose (C/D) ratio. By determining the C/D ratio, researchers identify fast and slow metabolizing patient groups. Fast metabolizers require higher doses in general and the occurrence of complications is also more frequent in this group. Long-term results are lagging behind the slow metabolizing group. The long-term results of renal transplantation nowadays contribute to the postoperative period and the later years rather than the surgery itself. It includes the proper management of previous illnesses (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, endocrinological problems), detection of complications (e.g., infections, malignancies), and the precise regulation of immunosuppressive therapy. Orv Hetil. 2019; 160(30): 1178-1183.

Antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) is one of the factors affecting the long-term graft survival after kidney transplantation (KT). Two kidney transplant centres (University of Debrecen and University of Pécs) followed up their data of cadaveric KTs that had been performed between 2013 and 2017, and reviewed the literature. There were 454 KTs in the mentioned period, 18 cases (4%) were recognised as ABMRs. Biopsy has been performed in all cases. 22% were primary, and 78% retransplanted patients. The average age was 51.2 ± 6 years. ABMR occurred 15.4 ± 22.1 months after KT. Histology showed C4d positivity in 39% of the cases. The treatment was steroid bolus + intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) + plasma exchange (PE) in 16 cases, rituximab was additionally given in 5 cases. 47.4% of the patients are alive with a functioning graft, four (21%) died, and 31% of the patients had a graft loss due to ABMR. ABMR is a dangerous complication after KT. Diagnostic criteria has been unclear for years. Gold standard is the histology, however, accelerated ABMR may occur even in C4d negative cases. The exposed group includes young, retransplanted patients, having a preformed donor-specific antibody (DSA), and receiving a graft from an EC donor. The occurrence of de novo DSA and the kinetics of mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of existing ones can be a signal for the risk of an ABMR. The effectiveness of rituximab is not proven, there is a lack of long-term controlled trials for new drugs. Our results of over 40% recovery is an extensively good result. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(46): 1913-1929.

The life expectancy of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus is inferior to that of patients with some malignancies. Simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation is the procedure providing the best survival results among all options of renal replacement therapy. The operative techniques and immunosuppresion have been standardized in the last decade. Although the number of transplantable organs falls behind the need, simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation is the method of choice for the eligible patients. The results of the two Hungarian simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation programs are in accordance with data published in the international literature.

The first Hungarian kidney transplantation was performed by András Németh in Szeged in 1962, approximately 50 years ago. A preliminary agreement with Eurotransplant was signed in 2011, and special patient groups gained benefit from this cooperation in 2012, wnich lead to a full membership to Eurotransplant. This event inspired the authors to review the history of Hungarian kidney transplantation of the past 50 years, from the first operation to recent via the specific cornerstones of the transplant program. The donor of the first Hungarian kidney transplantation was the brother of the recipient. The operation itself was technically successful, but the lack of immunosuppression caused graft rejection, and the patient died after 79 days. His brother, the donor, is still healthy, after 50 years, and he encourages everybody to donate organs. Organized kidney transplant program started more than 10 years later, such as 1973, in Budapest. The program was supported by the Ministry of Health. New centers joined the program later, Szeged in 1979, Debrecen in 1991 and Pécs in 1993. These four transplant centers work currently in Hungary, and 6611 kidney transplantation has been performed up to the end of year 2012.

Unlabelled: Simultaneous pancreas kidney (SPK) transplantation is the only routinely used therapeutic option which can provide insulin independence, euglycemia and good renal replacement for type I diabetes mellitus patients with end stage renal disease. Several patients have some complications of diabetes without renal failure. For these patients pancreas transplantation alone is a therapeutic option. The first pancreas transplantation alone was performed 6 years after the launch of our pancreas transplant program. The patient was a 40-years-old man. Enteric drainage was used with portal venous drainage. Anti IL-2. R antibody, daclizumab was given as prolonged induction therapy. In spite of the technical and immunological difficulties there were neither technical failures nor acute rejection. 3 years after the transplantation the patient has a good quality of life without insulin therapy with excellent renal function., Conclusion: PTA transplant is a routinely used therapeutic option with good survival rate and good quality of life for type I diabetes mellitus patients without end stage renal disease.

Introduction: Simultaneous pancreas kidney (SPK) transplantation is the only routinely used therapeutic option which can provide insulin independence, euglycemia and good renal replacement., Aims: Analysis of the five years' experience of the first Hungarian SPK transplants., Material: From 29 October 1998. through 31 December 2003. 32 SPK transplants were performed from 53 type 1 diabetes mellitus patients with ESRD on the waiting list. Enteric drainage was performed in all transplanted patients in 20 combined with systemic venous drainage, whereas in 12 patients portal venous drainage was used. In 18 patients only maintenance immunosuppression was administered without ATG induction therapy. Anti IL-2R antibody, daclizumab was given as induction therapy in 14 patients., Results: 24 patients out of 32 transplanted are insulin independent with excellent renal function. 2 patients were lost in the perioperative period due to septic complication. 2 patients died 5 months after transplantation. 1 patient became insulin dependent in 7 month following the SPK transplant, while preserving a marginal renal function. One patient became insulin dependent 2 years after the SPK transplant and was returned to chronic hemodialysis treatment one more year later. 2 patients are insulin independent but lost his renal graft due to therapy resistant rejection., Conclusion: SPK transplant is a routinely used therapeutic option with good survival rate and good quality of life for type I diabetes mellitus patients with ESRD.

The large vertical midline or transverse transperitoneal approaches used to the conventional aortoiliac reconstruction are accompanied with a relatively high postoperative morbidity and mortality rate (2% to 5%) even in patients who are good risks undergoing aortic surgery. The purpose of this study was develop a new technique for aorto-bifemoral bypass operation to minimize the operative stress on these patients. The recommended left paramedian retroperitoneal approach using 5-6 cm skin-incision and a special retractor with three dimensional vision and using modified surgical instruments directly with eye control, offers the possibility to decrease the operative stress significantly and the sufficient control of the serious bleeding might occur. If it is necessary this exposure can be immediately converted to a conventional approach by simply enlargement of the incision. In our first case the functional results were very good and consequently hospitalization time and the convalescence period were short. This minimal access approach appears to diminish the catabolic response and is hopefully associated with accelerated recovery and virtual abolition of large wound-related complications. It could become the procedure of choice for selected patients with obstructive or aneurysmal aorto-iliac disease.

The composition of the cellular infiltrate in 42 needle and wedge biopsies of transplanted kidneys was investigated immunohistochemically. The various inflammatory cell populations were examined in different rejection types and cyclosporin-A nephrotoxicity (CsAN) as well as in different locations in the graft (perivascular and intertubular area, tubular epithelium, glomeruli) separately. There was generally a Th cell predominance except the most unfavorable rejection type, the acute vascular rejection (AVR), where the Tc cells outnumbered all other infiltrating cell populations. The most macrophages too were detected in AVR. The high proportion of plasma cells in chronic rejection indicate an important role of the humoral immune response in this type of rejection, and could also be used as a differential diagnostic sign versus CsAN.

The hemangioma cavernosum is a frequent, benign tumor of the liver. Generally the hemangioma becomes suspected during the US examination as a secondary result. From the point of view of the differential diagnostics the three-phase blood-pool scintigraphy, a new very sensitive isotope diagnostic method, has a great importance in these cases. The images taken at the beginning, the early and the late-phase show the kind of alteration unambiguously. Since the conventional planar scintigraphy is not always able to detect the small (1-2 cm in diameter) lesions and the lesions surrounded by intact parenchyma, the SPECT has big advantage increasing the resolution of images and introducing the three-dimensional imaging. The authors illustrate the possibility of specific detection of liver hemangioma in a case by SPECT.