Hochwald, Alexander P

Donation after circulatory death (DCD) liver transplants (LTs) are associated with increased risk of post-LT acute kidney injury (AKI). This retrospective study aimed to examine the effect of continuous normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) on the incidence and stage of AKI in DCD LT. The incidence of AKI within 48 hours was compared between 507 NMP-DCD and 472 static cold storage (SCS)-DCD LT transplanted between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2024. AKI developed in 337 (34%) patients. On univariate analysis, AKI rate was lower in NMP-DCD compared with SCS-DCD (28% vs. 41%, p <0.001). Stages 2 and 3 AKI at 48 hours and renal replacement therapy (RRT) within the first 3 weeks were also lower in NMP-DCD compared with SCS-DCD ( p <0.001). After adjusting for multiple recipient, donor, and intraoperative factors using multivariate logistic regression, NMP-DCD was independently associated with a 37% lower odds of AKI (aOR: 0.63, CI: 0.46–0.85, p =0.003) and 55% lower odds of stages 2 and 3 AKI (aOR: 0.45, CI: 0.29–0.69, p <0.001) compared with SCS-DCD. To mitigate for the era effect and other unmeasured confounders, an inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) analysis was performed using a propensity score model with average treatment effect (ATE). After weighting for multiple factors, NMP-DCD was associated with lower odds of AKI at 48 hours (OR: 0.65, CI: 0.53–0.81, p =0.001), stages 2 and 3 AKI at 48 hours (OR: 0.60, CI: 0.42–0.85, p =0.02), and RRT at day 7 (OR: 0.31, CI: 0.13–0.65, p =0.003) compared with SCS-DCD. In conclusion, compared with SCS-DCD, NMP-DCD was independently associated with lower odds of AKI at 48 hours, of stages 2 and 3 AKI at 48 hours from LT, and of RRT requirement at day 7 from LT, an effect that extended for the first 3 post-LT weeks.

Background: The regenerative properties of platelet growth factors make platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) an attractive modality for treatment of aging skin. The main objective of this study was to determine efficacy and safety of PRP injections and microneedling compared with saline injections in women with aging skin of the face. Methods: In this prospective, randomized clinical trial, 18 women with facial aging were randomized to receive either PRP injections to the unilateral face and saline injections to the contralateral side, or vice versa. Microneedling was performed after injections on the entire face. Physician assessment, photographs, and treatment satisfaction questionnaires were used for outcome assessment at baseline and 16- and 24-week follow-ups. Results: There was no evidence of improvement and suggestion of worsening in skin laxity and rhytides from baseline to weeks 4, 16, and 24 for PRP and saline (all P ≤ 0.004) and no notable difference in skin roughness between baseline and follow-up time points for PRP or saline (all P ≥ 0.19). The degree of change in skin laxity, rhytides, and skin roughness from baseline to follow-up time points was similar for PRP and saline. All patients experienced some degree of pain/discomfort and burning/stinging sensation at treatment weeks 4, 8, and 12 for both saline and PRP. Conclusions: PRP injections did not seem to be effective for treatment of aging skin of the face in women, with no notable macroscopic improvement in appearance when compared with baseline or saline injections. Advanced age of study participants (>45 years) and less-sensitive methods of evaluation may be potential contributing factors to the lack of detected response.

Abstract Background Menopause, defined by the complete cessation of menstrual cycles for 12 consecutive months, may occur at a younger age in women who have concomitant immune dysregulation. Our aim was to determine whether women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) experience an earlier onset of menopause compared to women without IBD. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study using resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a collaboration between clinics, hospitals, and medical facilities in Olmsted County, Minnesota. From these people, women who were diagnosed with IBD between 1970 and 2010 comprised the case cohort while the reference cohort included women with no diagnosis of IBD. Data including age, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity, smoking status, age at onset of menopause, and current use of hormone therapy were collected. Patients with history of hysterectomy or oophorectomy were excluded. Wilcoxon rank-sum test for numeric variables and Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables were used to analyze the data. Results A total of 171 women met criteria for inclusion (83 cases and 88 controls). Mean age of menopause in women with IBD was 50.0 years compared to 51.5 years in women with no IBD (P = .006). There was no difference in BMI of women with and without IBD (28.7 versus 28.2 kg m−2; P = .9), respectively. There were more former smokers (33.7%) and current (6%) smokers in the IBD group (P = .009) compared to the non-IBD group. Conclusions IBD is associated with an earlier onset of menopause. Although it is unclear if this mean difference of 1.5 years is clinically relevant, it is known that early menopause is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. Further research on the possible mechanisms is needed.