Unit Objectives

I. Understand the moral, ethical and legal issues and steps involved in determining brain death.
II. Understand the moral, ethical and legal issues and steps involved in live organ donation.
III. Describe the basic assessment of the medical, laboratory, and anatomic characteristics of a potential organ donor (live or deceased), the quality of a donor organ, and its suitability for a given recipient.
IV. Outline in detail the procedure to safely recover abdominal organs from deceased donors, including those for donation after cardiac death (DCD).
V. Understand the recovery processes for living donor organs and describe the steps necessary to perform relevant organ specific recovery (liver, kidney, or pancreas).
VI. Outline the basic principles and limits of organ preservation and be familiar with organ preservation techniques, including pulsatile perfusion.

Organ Recovery Unit

Learning Objectives:

1. Understand preoperative preparation for organ recovery
2. Describe the technique of the operation and specific considerations for procuring each organ
3. Learn where you can get in trouble and how to stay/get out of it

Author: David Ryan Hall, MD

Title: Lung Transplantation and the Composite Allocation Score (CAS)

This webinar is a collaborative effort between the ASTS and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), as part of AATS's Thoracic Global Grand Rounds Webinar Series.

Moderated by: Aleem Siddique, University of Nebraska Medical Center; and Errol Bush, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Continuous Distribution In Lung Allocation- The CAS Score   

•  Marie Budev, Cleveland Clinic

Continuous Distribution In Lung Allocation- The Exception Review Process

•     Pablo Sanchez, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Panel Discussion with Audience Q&A

All faculty, including

•     Matthew Hartwig, Duke University
•     Jasleen Kukreja, University of California San Francisco
•     PJ Geraghty, Donor Network of Arizona
•     Michael Smith, Norton Thoracic Institute; St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center

Kidney Transplantation Unit

Unit Objectives

I. List the indications for kidney transplantation, explain the different disease processes resulting in end-stage renal disease, and describe the treatment options.
II. Outline the basic of principles of donor and recipient selection and deceased donor organ allocation.
III. Describe and perform living and deceased donor kidney transplant procedures;
IV. Explain the basic immunosuppressive strategies used in kidney transplantation, including induction and maintenance therapy.
V. Recognize and diagnose renal transplant rejection, identify basic pathologic findings of rejection, and describe treatment strategies for rejection.
VI. Describe appropriate long term follow-up and be able to identify and treat short and long term complications of kidney transplantation.
VII. Describe the short and long term outcomes of kidney transplantation.
VIII. Outline the basic principles of renal replacement therapy; identify indications for and surgical techniques necessary to place hemo- and peritoneal dialysis access.

Learning Objectives:

1.  Describe the Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI)
2.  Define the Expected Post-Transplant Survival (EPTS) score  
3.  General discussion of  KDPI, EPTS, PRA, and other factors are used for kidney allocation.
4.  Special circumstances in kidney allocation (previous living donors, PRA 98-100%, 0-mismatch, and emergency exceptions)

Author: Patrick G. Dean, MD

Unit Objectives

I. Outline the basic principles of liver transplantation, donor and recipient selection and donor allocation.
II. Describe the types of immunosuppressive therapy utilized in liver transplantation.
III. List the different disease processes which may require liver transplantation; understand the management of complications of liver disease including end stage liver disease and the care of patients with fulminant hepatic failure.
IV. Describe the workup needed to diagnose liver transplant rejection.
V. Describe the operative steps necessary involved in performing liver allograft recovery from deceased donors and deceased donor liver transplant.
VI. Diagnose and implement treatment approaches for both short and long term medical and surgical complications following liver transplantation

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe the incidence, mechanisms and manifestations of Alcoholic Liver Disease
2. Describe the selection process for ESLD patients with ALD 
3. Describe the  stratagems of Transplant Centers in dealing with ALD patients
4. Describe the results of OLT in ALD patients

Author: Cary Caldwell, MD

The ASTS Pipeline Committee hosted a webinar series for medical trainees to provide more information about transplant surgery as a career. Hear from experts in the field about achieving work/life balance, the diverse scope of career options in transplant, and the basics of a career in transplant.