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Le patient de réanimation est dans la plus part des cas un patient vulnérable et dépendant. Les principes fondamentaux de l’éthique sont bousculés et le réanimateur est face à des de nombreuses interrogations éthiques qui jalonnent le parcours du patient de son admission à sa sortie. Malgré une réflexion éthique formalisée guidant les décisions d’admission et de non-admission en réanimation pour les malades à haut risque de mortalité, la part laissée à la subjectivité est importante. Il n’y a pas cependant de situation figée pour laquelle un patient ne doit pas bénéficier de la réanimation. Une décision de non-admission en réanimation s'apparente à une décision de limitation thérapeutique. Ce schéma éthique s’accorde avec les principes éthiques : autonomie, bienfaisance, non malfaisance et justice distributive mais l'urgence rend souvent difficile l'analyse complète du dossier du patient.Le manque de lits de réanimation disponibles est susceptible d’influer sur la stratégie de triage soulignant l’impact de critères subjectifs dans le processus décisionnel. Ceci peut conduire à une sur-mortalité. Les études princeps réalisées sur les décisions de limitations et d’arrêt thérapeutiques (LAT) ont été à l’origine du débat sur la non-obstination déraisonnable aboutissant à terme à la promulgation de la Loi Leonetti. Ces données ont permis de corriger des dysfonctionnements éthiques lors des décisions de LAT. A la suite des questionnements récents de notre société nous avons analysé la réflexion des réanimateurs sur l’euthanasie.La réalisation de prélèvements d’organe chez des patients décédés d’arrêt cardiaque impose l’admission en réanimation de patients pour les quels les traitements n’ont plus l’objectif de les sauver, mais de préserver leurs organes pour le bien d’autrui. Ces situations soulignent les interrogations sur : la définition de la mort, l’instrumentalisation du corps, le consentement au don, l’information des proches et plus largement du public. / The critically ill patient is a vulnerable and dependent patient. The fundamental principles of ethics are rushed and the physician is faced with many ethical issues along the route of the patient from the discussion of his admission to discharge.Despite a formal ethical reflection guiding decisions of admission and non ICU admission these decisions of patients at high risk of mortality, the part left to subjectivity is important. The evolution of medical knowledge and advances in supported patients that there are no fixed position for which a patient should not receive resuscitation. A determination of non-ICU admission is similar to a decision of withholding or withdrawing therapies. This ethical scheme fits well with the ethical principles autonomy, beneficence , non-maleficence and distributive justice. The urgency makes it difficult to complete analysis of patient records because the data are not always available. The lack of available beds is likely to affect the sorting strategy highlighting the impact of subjective criteria in decision-making. This could induce excess mortality. The initial studies dedicated to withholding and withdrawing therapies have been the source of debate on the non-unreasonable obstinacy leading eventually to the enactment of the Leonetti's Law. These data were used to correct malfunctions in real ethical decisions of withholding or withdrawing. Following the recent issues of our society on euthanasia, we completed our reflection and asked if intensivists would support a law of exception euthanasia.The realization of organ harvesting in patients who died of cardiac arrest requires taking in resuscitation of patients for which treatments have more goals to save for, but to preserve their bodies for the sake of other patients. These situations highlight the questions: the definition of death, the manipulation of the body, the implicit or explicit consent and the information aspects of family and wider public.

M.Cur. / Various factors influence the process of organ donation. As a result there is a shortage of organs for transplant. Poor communication and cooperation between transplant coordinators and intensive care nursing staff can lead to the non-referral of potential organ donors, which is detrimental to the process. The purpose of the research is to ascertain the attitude and knowledge of the transplant coordinators and intensive care nursing staff who work in intensive care units during organ donation and to draw up guidelines for the improvement of communication and cooperation between them. Contextual descriptive research was done by compiling literature based questionnaires, one each for the transplant coordinators and intensive care nursing staff and then analysing responses. The indications are that problem areas exist between the role players in the organ transplant process. This results in the insufficient referrals from intensive care units which are detrimental to the organ donation process. From this research, the following guidelines can be drawn up to promote organ donation: To provide a policy manual regarding organ donation for every intensive care unit. The respective roles of the transplant coordinator and intensive care nursing staff in the organ donation process must be clarified. Awareness campaigns should be held to promote organ donation. Feedback should be given by transplant coordinators and intensive care nursing staff regarding transplant occurrences. Role models in practical situations should be identified. An education programme regarding organ donation should be implemented. Emotional support programmes should be available to health personnel.

Zugl.: Bern, Univ., Diss., 2007

A disproportion exists between the number of patients in wait list for transplant and the organ procurement, that it can be related to possible flaws in the potential donors identification. To estimate the number of potential organ donors in Sergipe; to characterize the potential donors; to determine the frequency of donation and to know the factors associated to the no donation. Quantitative, descriptive and retrospective study using data collected from the medical records of patients up to 65 years old dead for traumatic brain injury, cerebrovascular stroke and primary brain tumor in the years 2005 to 2007 in three hospitals of Aracaju. Of 766 medical records analyzed, 257 had suggestive registration of brain death, being 148 with the Term of Declaration filled out. Eighty five percent of the potential donors were at the Public Hospital A. The median age was 33 years; prevailing the male (71,6%), the victims of traumatic brain injury (59,5%), and that in Urgency Unit (35,8%) and Intensive Therapy Unit (34,5%). Half of them presented signs of brain death in the first two days of hospitalization. Sixteen (10,8%) potential donors completed all the exams of the protocol of brain death and 12 (8,1%) became effective donors, being the absence of the diagnosis of brain death the principal cause of no donation. The time between the first registration and the removal of the organs was inferior at 40 hours in 50% of the donors. The number of potential organ donors in Sergipe has been underestimated due to flaws in the diagnosis and in the notification, resulting in a low donation index. The rates of family refuse and irreversible cardiac arrest suggest the need of educational actions driven to the health professionals and the society in general. / Existe uma desproporção entre o número de pacientes em lista de espera para transplante e a obtenção de órgãos, que pode estar relacionada a possíveis falhas na identificação dos potenciais doadores. Estimar o número de potenciais doadores de órgãos em Sergipe; caracterizar os potenciais doadores; determinar a freqüência de efetivação de doação e conhecer os fatores associados à não doação. Estudo quantitativo, descritivo e retrospectivo utilizando dados dos prontuários de pacientes até 65 anos de idade que faleceram por traumatismo crânio-encefálico, acidente vascular encefálico e neoplasia primária do sistema nervoso central nos anos 2005 a 2007 em três hospitais de Aracaju. Dos 766 prontuários analisados, 257 tiveram registro sugestivo de morte encefálica, sendo 148 com o Termo de Declaração preenchido. Oitenta e cinco por cento dos potenciais doadores se encontravam no Hospital Público A. A mediana da idade foi de 33 anos, com predomínio do sexo masculino (71,6%). A causa de óbito mais freqüente foi o traumatismo crânio encefálico (59,5%). A maioria encontrava-se internada nas unidades de Urgência (35,8%) e de Terapia Intensiva (34,5%). Metade deles apresentou sinais de morte encefálica nos dois primeiros dias de hospitalização. Dezesseis (10,8%) potenciais doadores completaram todos os exames do protocolo de morte encefálica e 12 (8,1%) se tornaram doadores efetivos, sendo a ausência do diagnóstico da morte encefálica a principal causa da não efetivação da doação. O tempo entre o primeiro registro e a remoção dos órgãos foi inferior a 40 horas em 50% dos doadores. O número de potenciais doadores de órgãos em Sergipe tem sido subestimado devido a falhas no diagnóstico e na notificação, resultando em um baixo índice de doação. As taxas de recusa da família e parada cardíaca irreversível sugerem a necessidade de ações educativas dirigidas aos profissionais de saúde e à sociedade em geral.

The human immune system is made up of cells and molecules distributed across the body, which provide protection from acute viral infection and can be maintained in diverse tissue sites as memory to protect against repeat viral exposure. Vaccine technology has leveraged our understanding of human immunity to induce immune memory in humans without infection. However, we continue to encounter novel infections, as evidenced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, which necessitates the development of new vaccines and formulations, including the mRNA vaccine platform. Vaccine development began with serendipitous discoveries and, even today, often relies on empirical approaches that prioritize clinical outcomes over immunologic ones. For the recently developed coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccines, we know that they confer clinical protection that wanes over time but have a more limited understanding of the immune memory they induce. Specifically, we do not know the tissue distribution of vaccine memory, these vaccines’ capacity to induce tissue-resident memory or various functional programs, and the relative role of B and T cells in protection. Through a unique collaboration with the New York City area organ procurement organization, LiveOnNY, we collected blood, bone marrow, spleen, lung, and various lymph nodes (LN) from human organ donors who had received COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Using these tissues, we employed multimodal, high-dimensional analysis tools to investigate the localization, phenotype, maintenance, and functions of COVID-19 vaccine-induced memory in the context of host factors such as age, time post-vaccination, and prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. In samples from 63 organ donors aged 23-86, we found that COVID-19 vaccine memory was distributed across tissues, especially in LN, and was more durable across time post-vaccination and age in tissues than in circulation. Vaccine-specific B cells were mostly class-switched resident memory, while vaccine-specific T cells were variably tissue-resident depending on infection history. Vaccine-specific T cell effector functions were diverse and site-specific with an enhanced regulatory profile in tissues compared to circulating populations. To investigate the interaction between T and B cells in immune memory generation and their relative roles in protection, we also compared the quantity and quality of circulating COVID-19 vaccine induced memory from patients with multiple sclerosis taking B cell depleting (BCD) therapies to those taking other immunomodulatory therapies (non-BCD). In 281 samples from 216 subjects aged 24-78 we found that COVID-19 vaccine induced humoral immunity was completely diminished in the context of B cell depletion, but that cellular immunity, especially CD8+T cells, were enhanced in this context and maintained over time. Further, BCD subjects experienced equivalent numbers of infections following vaccination as non-BCD subjects. Together, these findings demonstrate that T cell responses can develop independently from, and may even be limited by, B cell responses, and that T cells but not B cells are critical for vaccine-induced protection. Ultimately, these findings provide critical insights for future vaccine development; studies must assess LN responses and aim to generate a robust cellular response that includes both regulatory and effector functional profiles within tissues.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the knowledge of clients regarding renal donation at a specific urban health care facility in the Limpopo province. A quantitative, explorative, descriptive and cross-sectional design was used. Data was collected using a structured pre-tested questionnaire. Out of 317 questionnaires, 300 were valid and considered for the study. Analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software version 25. Data was presented using tables, graphs and charts. The study revealed that 32% (n=95) were males and 68% (n=205) were females. The results showed that there are a significant correlations between the attitudes, knowledge and actions of clients with regards to renal donation. The study revealed inadequate knowledge on the majority 74,7% (n=224) of the respondents on renal donation. A recommendation was that awareness campaigns on renal donation to be planned on world kidney days. Furthermore, the recommendations of the study will be presented to the Limpopo Department of health to take effective measures to educate people with relevant information on renal donation. A policy regarding awareness programme of renal donation should be developed. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Living donors have contributed about 6,000 kidneys per year in the past 10 years, but more than 100,000 individuals are still waiting for a kidney transplant. Living kidney donors undergo a major surgical procedure without direct medical benefit to themselves, but comprehensive follow-up information on living donors’ health is unfortunately limited. Expert recommendations suggest capturing clinical information beyond traditional sources to improve surveillance of co-morbid conditions from living kidney donors. Currently the United Network for Organ Sharing is responsible for collecting and reporting follow-up data for all living donors from U.S. transplant centers. Under policy implemented in February of 2013, transplant centers must submit follow-up date for two years after donation, but current processes often yield to incomplete and untimely reporting. This dissertation uses a statewide Health Information Exchange as a new clinical data source to 1) retrospectively identify a cohort of living kidney donors, 2) understand their follow-up care patterns, and 3) observe selected clinical outcomes including hypertension, diabetes and post-donation renal function.

The use of quality-of-life as an outcome measure provides detailed information about the effectiveness of medical treatments than morbidity or mortality rates alone. The use of quality-of-life data in the clinical setting can inform patients regarding treatment options, treatment benefits and costs. In competing health care markets, outcome measurement is regarded as important as it is concerned with the impact of health care practice and affects health policy decisions. Doessel (1978) conducted the first Australian study on the cost-effectiveness analysis of renal replacement therapies. The study was based on Klarman, Francis & Rosenthal's (1968) the study, where the output was measured in terms of the number of life years gained from kidney transplantation, and a twenty-five percent weight was allocated in an attempt to capture quality-of-life from kidney transplantation. Doessel (1978) used two sources of data: Australian data (Disney 1974) and European data (Gurland et al. 1973; Shiel et al. 1974). The study measured life years gained, and agreed with the Klarman et al. (1974) findings that transplantation is the most effective way to increase life expectancy of persons with chronic renal disease (Butler & Doessel 1989). The outputs of the alternative treatments were not reported in monetary terms; the study focused on life years gained as the output measure. Hence the importance of this current study, which includes a cost-effectiveness analysis for cadaver liver, and living kidney transplantation for end-stage liver and kidney disease patients. Calls to respect patient autonomy and to produce patient-centered outcomes have recently brought the patient’s point of view back into the center of clinical medicine (Sullivan 2003). Survival rates indicate one measure of outcome however they do not reflect patients’ perceptions of health benefit or experiences. Noting that patients’ psychosocial effect on functioning is of more concern to them than their physical Thesis Preamble iii ability, that more accurate knowledge of patients’ conditions be measured prior to transplantation (Tarter et al. 1991). Recently researchers advocated investigating transplant patients' states of health to assess the social benefit of these expensive health care services from their perspective (Joralemon & Fujinaga 1997). The current study's mixed method, bridges the gaps in treatment outcome measurements, as the mixed method applied (Creswell 1994; Sim & Sharp 1998) prospectively measured quality-oflife, determined health utility, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). The study reported the living donors experience of the donation process, described their needs; expressed using a new psychosocial model supporting future living kidney donor's during the donation process.