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Background The systematic use of grafts from controlled donors after cardiac death (cDCD) started in our country in 2012 and expanded with the strategic support of National Transplant Organization. We present our experience in kidney transplantation with organs from cDCD donors with a mean follow-up of 3 years. Methods Observational prospective study of all transplants performed in our center in 2012–2013 followed to 2016. The immunosuppression protocols were triple therapy for low-risk recipients from a standard brain death donor (DBD), adding basiliximab or thymoglobulin induction for extended-criteria donor or high-risk recipient, respectively, and thymoglobulin induction plus triple therapy for all cDCD recipients. Results A total of 42 donors were included (84 grafts in total, but 1 discarded due to multiple cysts); 25 DBD and 17 cDCD without differences in age or sex. The graft use rate was 98.9% for cDCD; 55 grafts were implanted in our hospital (26 DBD and 29 cDCD), and the remaining 28 grafts were transferred to other centers. There were no differences in primary failure (3.4% cDCD vs 7.4% DBD), but the cDCD organs had a higher incidence of delayed graft function (51.7% vs 25.9%). Despite that, graft and patient survivals, as well as glomerular filtration rate (66.3 vs 59.6 mL/min) were similar in both groups. Only 1 patient died at home with a functioning graft in the cDCD group. Conclusions Despite a higher rate of delayed graft function with cDCD, the midterm outcomes are at least similar to those with DBD. The cDCD programs should be promoted to increase the chances of a transplant in our patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antonio J Mateo Orobia,1–3 Paula Casas Pascual,1,4 José Á Cristóbal Bescós,1 Diana Perez García,1,4 Carlos Peiro Embid,1,4 M Ángeles del Buey Sayas,1,4 Valentyna Korobko Kulikova,1 Noelia Lafuente Ojeda5 1Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Quirón, 2Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, 3Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón (IIS), 4Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano-Blesa, 5Department of Anesthesiology, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Zaragoza, Spain Purpose: To evaluate the effect of 3% trehalose as an adjuvant in the standard treatment after laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis.Design: Interventional prospective comparative single-blind study.Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Quirón Zaragoza, Spain.Methods: A total of 26 eyes (13 patients) were included, of which 12 eyes (group 1) received conventional treatment with lubricant drops of hyaluronic acid (0.15%) and 14 eyes (group 2) received, additionally, an ophthalmic solution of 3% trehalose. Pre- and postoperative quality-of-life tests and vital stains, tear breakup time, and osmolarity measurements were made.Results: We obtained statistically significant differences between the groups in the Symptom Assessment in Dry Eye test in all visits with respect to severity, and in the postoperative day 1 visit with respect to frequency, in all cases favoring the trehalose treatment. The values of osmolarity were not significantly different between groups. However, we did find significant differences in the Oxford scale in day 90 for the trehalose treatment (P

To increase the number of kidney donors, new strategies are needed such as living donor programs, expanded criteria donors, or donors after circulatory death (DCD) kidney transplantation programs. The GEODAS group has started an observational, prospective, multicenter clinical study, collecting data from all DCD type-3 kidney transplantations performed in seven Spanish hospitals from January 2012 to January 2014. The preliminary results have shown a delayed graft function of 40.4% and graft survival of 93.7% with a nadir creatinine of 1.3 mg/dL. From all 33 potential donors included in the study, 32 were effective and 63 kidney grafts were transplanted with a utilization rate of 98.5%. Creatinine evolution (median [range]) was in the first month: 2.1 [0.6–5.6]; third month: 1.6 [0.8, 4.2]; first year: 1.6 [0.9–2.2]. These results are similar to kidney transplantation from donors after brain death as shown in the literature, especially in the graft and recipient survival rates. In addition, the controlled programs are easier and less expensive than uncontrolled DCD programs with a higher rate of graft use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thermoreversible (physical) gel consisting of a nematic liquid crystal mixed with a small quantity of a chiral organogelator is investigated in the planar configuration. The response of the system to an external electric field reveals multistability within a small hysteresis. The relaxation of the liquid crystal under this field is characterized by two different time scales: a fast one that is connected to the tilt of the director field, and a slow one that describes the reorientation of the chiral structure. In the first case, the relaxation is nonexponential and can be described by a Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts law with a stretching parameter of 0.5.