Combined heart-renal transplant from the same donor after failure of a first renal transplant due to chronic rejection

Combined heart and renal transplantation from the same donor is an uncommon procedure. We describe the case of a patient with prior kidney transplantation whose renal graft had to be removed a few years later because of chronic rejection. The patient then developed severe hypertensive and ischemic left ventricular dysfunction. Combined heart and kidney transplantation was performed several years after the first renal transplantation. This observation is the first description of a combined heart and kidney transplantation after removal of a former renal graft whose failure was due to chronic rejection. Great care was taken to avoid identical MHC antigens (HLA-A; -B; -DR) between the two donors, to prevent recurrent rejection of the grafted organs. After 18 months, no rejection was detected in either organ. This case report confirms the feasibility of this complex procedure, provided care is taken to avoid identical HLA groups between the two donors so as to reduce immunological complications.