Tucson Transplant Symposium spotlights chronic kidney disease

[Collage of images from the first Tucson Transplant Symposium, hosted by the U of A College of Medicine – Tucson’s Division of Nephrology and Department of Surgery with a particular focus on kidney transplants.]Everyone came away happy from the inaugural Tucson Transplant Symposium, hosted Oct. 12 by the Division of Nephrology and Department of Surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson at the U of A Health Sciences Innovation Building.

See below for a min-photo gallery.

The Saturday morning event focused on the most commonly transplanted organ, kidneys. In 2023, the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS, reported a record 25,498 U.S. kidney transplants completed the prior year. Other transplant records set included livers (9,528), hearts (4,111) and lungs (2,692).

“The symposium was a resounding success,” said Nephrology division Chief Bekir Tanriover, MD, MPH, MBA, FAST. [Bekir Tanriover, MD, MPH, MBA, FAST]“Our distinguished faculty and transplant staff provided updates on transplant evaluation and processes at our center, addressing hot topics such as the new kidney transplant allocation system (continuous distribution), HCV and HBV NAT positive kidney utilization protocols, disparities in transplantation, and the Living Donor Champion Program.”

Dr. Tanriover thanked Scott Hall, Banner – University Medicine Tucson clinical associate director for the division, pre- and post-kidney transplant provider Ayda Menjugas-McDuff, FNP, and transplant coordinator Samantha Dickson for their “invaluable contributions” that made the symposium possible. Hall reported the event drew nearly 70 pre-registrations and 40 in-person attendees.

Dr. Tanriover added that the HSIB conference room proved to be the perfect venue for the event, which saw significant attendance from local nephrologists in Tucson and Yuma as well as advanced practice providers and nurses from dialysis units. Attendees earned 3.0 CME credits. Representatives from two major nephrology groups in Tucson, the Southwest Kidney Institute and Arizona Kidney Disease & Hypertension Centers, were also present.

EXTRA: Chronic kidney disease in the U.S. & Tucson

Chronic kidney disease, or CKD, affects more than 1 in 7 people – or 14% of adults – in the United States. Estimates from the Center for Disease Control & Prevention put that at about 35.5 million people, many unaware they suffer from it.

[A model of a kidney showing the interior elements (Envato Elements)]CKD cases among Mexican-Americans nearly doubled between 2003-04 and 2015-16, reported JAMA Network Open in 2020. Diabetes and high blood pressure are two main causes of the disease. With end-stage renal failure, sufferers rely on dialysis for artificial filtration of their blood to survive until a transplant may be possible.

“In Tucson, there are an estimated 2,500 end-stage dialysis patients, with nearly 200 listed at our transplant center,” Dr. Tanriover said. “At Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, we have performed 100 kidney transplants (including 10 combined organ transplants) in each of the last two years. Our average waiting time is 1.5-2 years, compared to the national average of 4-5 years.”

[Venkatesh K. Ariyamuthu, MD, FASN]

Among sponsors and supporters for the Tucson Transplant Symposium were the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona, Donor Network of Arizona, Natera, Merck, Takeda, ThermoFisher, Sanofi, Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, and the U of A Department of Medicine’s Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology.

After a welcome and introduction, Venkatesh K. Ariyamuthu, MD, FASN, Division of Nephrology associate professor and medical director of the Banner – University Medicine Tucson Kidney Transplant Program, spoke on “How to Prepare CKD Patients for Kidney Transplant.”

Dr. Ariyamuthu was followed by Dr. Tanriover’s address on the “Future of Kidney Transplant Allocation,” in which he described pros and cons of the[Alexandra Turner, MD, and Saman Nematollahi, MD] new system implemented in March 2021 to allocate kidneys for transplant more equitably across the country. 

Next up was Alexandra Turner, MD, an associate professor Surgery’s Section of Abdominal Transplant Surgery, who spoke on “Expanding the Donor Pool.” Then, social worker Jennifer English, LCSW, CCTSW, ACM-SW, spoke talked about “Disparities in Transplants.” And the DOM Division of Infectious Diseases’ Saman Nematollahi, MD, spoke on “Cocci in Solid Organ Transplants.”

[Aneesha Shetty, MD, MPH, and Abd Assalam Qannus, MD]Then, the Division of Nephrology’s Aneesha Shetty, MD, MPH, and Abd Assalam Qannus, MD, went back to back on “Living Donor Kidney Transplantation” and “Biomarkers cfDNA/Gene Expression in Transplants,” respectively. 

The symposium closed with clinical pharmacists Ruhani Alam, PharmD, and Alyssa Mutz, PharmD, BCPS, who are part of Surgery’s Abdominal Transplant Multidisciplinary Extended Care Team and spoke on “Benefits of GLP1 agonists and SGLT2 Inhibitors in Renal Transplant Patients.”


MINI-PHOTO GALLERY *
* Click on images to enlarge. Rollover image with mouse for captions.

[Participants in the Tucson Transplant Symposium — physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses and others interested in kidney transplants — begin to arrive at the Health Sciences Innovation Building.] [Nephrology administrative assistant Gina Favela (right) and a colleague ready to greet and assist someone in signing in for the Tucson Transplant Symposium in the lobby of the Health Sciences Innovation Building.] [Nephrology administrative assistant Gina Favela (center) and a colleague ready to greet and assist someone in signing in for the Tucson Transplant Symposium in the lobby of the Health Sciences Innovation Building. ] [Lanyards and name tags for the nearly 70 people who signed up to attend the Tucson Transplant Symposium]

[]Before the program begins, participants have time to visit various sponsors' exhibits at the symposium. [Dr. Venkatesh Ariyamuthu offers an overview on the situation for kidney transplant patients to start off the symposium.] [A look at how long kidney tranplant patients have to wait before a kidney might become available is illustrated graphically in Dr. Venkatesh Ariyamuthu's presentation.] [Dr. Venkatesh Ariyamuthu discusses what happens once a patient gets listed on the UNOS wait list for a kidney transplant.]

[Dr. Bekir Tanriover lays out the future of kidney transplantation with a new system introduced in March 2021 by UNOS.] [Dr. Tanriover references the first working artificial kidney, the rotating drum kidney (RDK), created in 1943 by Dutch physician Willem Johan Kolff.] [Although dialysis is life-prolonging, Dr. Alexandra Turner points out that average life expectancy for someone with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on dialysis is 5–10 years.] [Abdominal transplant surgeon Dr. Alexandra Turner shows how a dual kidney transplantation might occur.]

[Toward the middle of the symposium, Division of Nephrology chief Dr. Bekir Tanriover invites symposium attendees to visit sponsor exhibits for a brief break.] [Exhibitors such as National Kidney Foundation of Arizona, Donor Network of Arizona, Merck, Thermofisher and Sanofi welcome questions from symposium participants.] [More walkarounds the exhibitors tables] [Infectious Diseases assistant professor Dr. Saman Nematollahi talks about complications that can occur for transplant patients exposed to coccidioidomycosis, or Valley fever.]

[Jennifer English talks about how the burdens of transplantation exacerbate disparities in those receiving the procedures.] [U of A nephrologist Aneesha Shetty, MD, MPH, talks about the benefits and drawbacks for living donors in the kidney transplant process, noting the first such living donor transplant occurred in 1954.] [Dr. Aneesha Shetty notes that when it comes to donors, living donors are great – but there are challenges for the donors as well.] [Dr. Abd Assalam Qannus offers notes on the role genetics – in particular biomarkers cfDNA and gene expression – in kidney transplantation.]

[Dr. Abd Assalam Qannus offers notes on the role genetics – in particular biomarkers cfDNA and gene expression – in kidney transplantation.] [Pharmacist Ruhani Alam discusses pre- and post-transplant medications and how they're affected by epidemiology of the patient.] [Pharmacyst Alyssa Mutz talks about benefits of GLP1 agonists and SGLT2 Inhibitors in renal transplant patients.] [Only a few folks remain in the HSIB lobby after the symposium has ended.]

(Photos courtesy of Scott Hall)

Original event listing.

Release Date: 
11/04/2024 - 5:15pm
Media Contact: 
David Mogollon | Communications Manager, University of Arizona Department of Medicine