Fabian Halleck's research while affiliated with Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and other places

Publications (184)

Article
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Women of childbearing age show increased fertility after kidney transplantation. Of concern, preeclampsia, preterm delivery, and allograft dysfunction contribute to maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. We performed a retrospective single-center study, including 40 women with post-transplant pregnancies after single or combined pancreas–k...
Article
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Background: High numbers of unknown classifications and inconsistent methodologies in previous studies make the interpretation of causes leading to graft loss difficult. In addition, data on a holistic view looking at both death with a functioning graft (DWF) and death-censored graft failure (DCGF) are sparse. Methods: In this single-center stud...
Article
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Patient care after kidney transplantation requires integration of complex information to make informed decisions on risk constellations. Many machine learning models have been developed for detecting patient outcomes in the past years. However, performance metrics alone do not determine practical utility. We present a newly developed clinical decis...
Article
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Development of donor-specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) antibodies (DSA) remains a major risk factor for graft loss following organ transplantation, where DSA are directed towards patches on the three-dimensional structure of the respective organ donor’s HLA proteins. Matching donors and recipients based on HLA epitopes appears beneficial for t...
Article
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Background De novo donor-specific HLA antibodies (dnDSA) are key factors in the diagnosis of antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) and related to graft loss. Methods This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the natural course of dnDSA in graft function and kidney allograft survival and to assess the impact of mean fluorescence intensity (MFI...
Article
Background It is known that kidney transplantation (KTx) decreases mortality rate and increases life expectancy about 10 years compared with dialysis, particularly in patients with diabetes. However, cardiovascular disease is still the most common cause of death after transplantation. Purpose The evaluation of the cardiovascular risk after success...
Preprint
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Background: In the information extraction and natural language processing domain, accessible datasets are crucial to reproduce and compare results. Publicly available implementations and tools can serve as benchmark and facilitate the development of more complex applications. However, in the context of clinical text processing the number of accessi...
Article
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The immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in kidney transplant recipients is limited, resulting in inadequately low serological response rates and low immunoglobulin (Ig) levels, correlating with reduced protection against death and hospitalization from COVID-19. We retrospectively examined the time course of anti-SARS-CoV-2 Ig antibody levels afte...
Preprint
Full-text available
Patient care after kidney transplantation requires integration of complex information to make informed decisions on risk constellations. Many machine learning models have been developed for detecting patient outcomes in the past years. However, performance metrics alone do not determine practical utility. Often, the actual performance of medical pr...
Article
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Mortality from COVID-19 among kidney transplant recipients (KTR) is high, and their response to three vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 is strongly impaired. We retrospectively analyzed the serological response of up to five doses of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in KTR from 27 December 2020 until 31 December 2021. Particularly, the influence of the differe...
Article
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Background Transplant glomerulopathy (TG) may indicate different disease entities including chronic AMR (antibody-mediated rejection). However, AMR criteria have been frequently changed, and long-term outcomes of allografts with AMR and TG according to Banff 2017 have rarely been investigated. Methods 282 kidney allograft recipients with biopsy-pr...
Article
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Background: Obesity in the recipient is linked to inferior transplant outcome. Consequently, access to kidney transplantation (KT) is often restricted by body mass index (BMI) thresholds. Bariatric surgery (BS) has been established as a superior treatment for obesity compared to conservative measures, but it is unclear whether it is beneficial for...
Article
Background: The most common definition of delayed graft function (DGF) relies on dialysis during the first week post-transplant and does not consider DGF severity. The impact of DGF severity on long-term graft outcome remains controversial. Methods: We analysed 627 deceased-donor kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) transplanted in 2005-2015 at o...
Preprint
Immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in kidney transplant recipients is limited, resulting in inadequately low serological response rates and low immunoglobulin (Ig) levels, correlating with reduced protection against death and hospitalization from COVID-19. We retrospectively examined the time course of anti-SARS-CoV-2 Ig antibody levels after up...
Article
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Background: Antiviral drugs have shown little impact in patient infected with acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Especially for immunocompromised persons positive for SARS-CoV-2, novel treatments are warranted. Recently, the U.S. FDA has granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) to two monoclonal antibodies (mAb) targeting the viral s...
Article
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Transplant recipients exhibit an impaired protective immunity after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, potentially caused by mycophenolate (MPA) immunosuppression. Recent data from autoimmune patients suggest that temporary MPA hold might significantly improve booster vaccination outcomes. We applied a fourth dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to 29 kidney transplant...
Preprint
Full-text available
Mortality from COVID-19 among kidney transplant recipients (KTR) is high, and their response to three vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 is strongly impaired. We retrospectively analyzed serological response of up to five doses of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in KTR from December 27, 2020, until December 31, 2021. Particularly, the influence of different dose a...
Article
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Immunosuppression increases the risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Morbidity and mortality of this disease in kidney transplant patients are higher than in the general population. As the vaccination response of transplant patients is weak, serological monitoring was performed. In this cohort study, we analyzed the determinants of v...
Article
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This article gives a personal, historical, account of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on transplantation services. The content is based on discussions held at two webinars in November 2020, at which kidney transplantation experts from prestigious institutions in Europe and the United States reflected on how the pandemic affected working practic...
Article
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Background: Arterial stiffness and phase angle (PhA) have gained importance as a diagnostic and prognostic parameter in the management of cardiovascular disease. There are few studies regarding the differences in arterial stiffness and body composition between renal transplant recipients (RTRs) receiving belatacept (BELA) vs. calcineurin inhibitor...
Preprint
Transplant recipients exhibit an impaired protective immunity after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, potentially caused by mycophenolate (MPA) immunosuppression. Recent data from autoimmune patients suggest that temporary MPA hold might significantly improve booster vaccination outcomes. We applied a fourth dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine during temporary (5 wee...
Article
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The Banff 2017 report permits the diagnosis of pure chronic antibody-mediated rejection (cAMR) in absence of microcirculation inflammation. We retrospectively investigated renal allograft function and long-term outcomes of 67 patients with cAMR, and compared patients who received antihumoral therapy (cAMR-AHT, n = 21) with patients without treatmen...
Article
Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that solid organ transplant recipients, as opposed to the general population, show strongly impaired responsiveness towards standard SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-based vaccination, demanding alternative strategies for protection of this vulnerable group. Methods: In line with recent recommendations, a third dose of eit...
Article
Objective: Regional Citrate Anticoagulation (RCA) for Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) is widely used and leads to an excellent clottingfree filter survival. Despite strict adherence to protocols, in some cases recurrent early filter-clotting occurs. The aim of this observational study was to evaluate the underlying causes and the effica...
Article
Objective: Regional Citrate Anticoagulation (RCA) for Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy (CRRT) is widely used and leads to an excellent clottingfree filter survival. Despite strict adherence to protocols, in some cases recurrent early filter-clotting occurs. The aim of this observational study was to evaluate the underlying causes and the effica...
Poster
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Expert survey with strategic evaluation of approach and usability of a prototype ("digital platform as a solution for improving communication in the context of waiting list management"). Usability testing of the transplant module of the "comjoodoc" platform, which enables data exchange between dialysis and transplant centers. Overall, the approach...
Preprint
Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that solid organ transplant recipients, as opposed to the general population, show strongly impaired responsiveness towards standard SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-based vaccination, demanding alternative strategies for protection of this vulnerable group. Methods: In line with recent recommendations, a third dose of eit...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives: Right laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (RLDN) is no longer regarded inferior to left LDN (LLDN). However, this knowledge is based on many studies suffering from inherent learning curves, center-specific imbalances, and different laparoscopic techniques. Methods: Pure LDNs at a high-volume referral center from 2011 to 2016 were retrospe...
Article
Background: Post-transplantation diabetes mellitus (PTDM) might be preventable. Methods: This open-label, multicenter randomized trial compared 133 kidney transplant recipients given intermediate-acting insulin isophane for postoperative afternoon glucose ≥140 mg/dl with 130 patients given short-acting insulin for fasting glucose ≥200 mg/dl (con...
Article
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(1) Background: Simultaneous pancreas–kidney transplantation (SPKT) is a standard therapeutic option for patients with diabetes mellitus type I and kidney failure. Early pancreas allograft failure is a complication potentially associated with worse outcomes. (2) Methods: We performed a landmark analysis to assess the impact of early pancreas graft...
Article
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Background: Transplant glomerulopathy (TG) is one of the main causes of post-transplant proteinuria (PU). The features and possible risk factors for proteinuria in TG patients are uncertain. Methods: We investigated all patients who had biopsy-proven TG from 2000 to 2018 in our center. The clinical and histological data were compared between two gr...
Article
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Patients with kidney failure are at increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection making effective vaccinations a critical need. It is not known how well mRNA vaccines induce B and plasma cell responses in dialysis patients (DP) or kidney transplant recipients (KTR) compared to healthy controls (HC). We studied humoral and B cell responses of 35 HC, 44 D...
Article
Novel mRNA-based vaccines have been proven powerful tools to combat the global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV2 with BNT162b2 (trade name: Comirnaty) efficiently protecting individuals from COVID-19 across a broad age range. Still, it remains largely unknown how renal insufficiency and immunosuppressive medication affect development of vaccine induced...
Article
Full-text available
Patients with kidney failure have notoriously weak responses to common vaccines. Thus, immunogenicity of novel SARS-CoV-2 vaccines might be impaired in this group. To determine immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with chronic dialysis, we analyzed the humoral and T-cell response after two doses of mRNA vaccine Tozinameran (BNT162b2...
Article
Background and Aims Patients with chronic kidney disease suffer often from cardiovascular diseases, especially high blood pressure and its complications such as stroke and heart attack. After kidney transplantation, this condition persists and can in addition harm the graft. However, outpatient care surveillance is not ideal to treat high blood pre...
Article
Background and Aims Living donor kidney transplantation [LDKT] is associated with best patient survival and life quality among kidney replacement therapies in case of chronic kidney disease. Yet, numerous previous studies have reported inconsistent results. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of recipient and donor characteristic...
Article
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Introduction: In renal transplant recipients (RTRs), cardiovascular (CV) complications are associated with non-traditional risk factors, such as a decline in graft function, immunosuppressive therapy, time of dialysis before transplantation, inflammation and anemia. Higher value of arterial stiffness is the consequence of risk factors and it can l...
Article
Background Few studies have thoroughly investigated the causes of kidney graft loss (GL), despite its importance. Methods A novel approach assigns each persistent and relevant decline in renal function over the lifetime of a renal allograft to a standardized category, hypothesizing that singular or multiple events finally lead to GL. An adjudicati...
Preprint
Patients with kidney failure are at increased risk during the COVID-19 pandemic and effective vaccinations are needed. It is not known how efficient mRNA vaccines mount B and plasma cell responses in dialysis patients (DP) or kidney transplant recipients (KTR) compared to healthy controls (HC). We studied humoral and B cell responses of 25 HC, 44 D...
Article
The MACCS (Medical Assistant for Chronic Care Service) platform enables secure sharing of key medical information between patients after kidney transplantation and physicians. Patients provide information such as vital signs, well-being, and medication intake via smartphone apps. The information is transferred directly into a database and electroni...
Preprint
Full-text available
Novel mRNA-based vaccines have been proven powerful tools to combat the global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV2 with BNT162b2 efficiently protecting individuals from COVID-19 across a broad age range. Still, it remains largely unknown how renal insufficiency and immunosuppressive medication affect development of vaccine induced immunity. We therefore c...
Preprint
Objective: Patients with kidney failure have notoriously weak responses to common vaccines. Thus, immunogenicity of novel SARS-CoV-2 vaccines might be impaired in this group. To determine immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in patients with chronic dialysis, we analyzed the humoral and T-cell response after two doses of mRNA vaccine Tozinamera...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a major health-care burden. Increasing evidence suggests that a considerable proportion of patients are affected by a monogenic kidney disorder. Methods In this study, the kidney transplantation waiting list at the Charité was screened for patients with undetermined cause of CKD. By next-generation sequencin...
Article
Background/Objective Tacrolimus HEXAL®/Crilomus® is an approved generic immunosuppressant for the prevention and treatment of rejection following renal transplantation. For safe and socioeconomically efficient conversion from the innovator to generic formulation, high-quality data are necessary, in view of the different and country-specific comorbi...
Article
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Besides the liver, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection also affects kidney allografts. The aim of this study was to longitudinally evaluate viscoelasticity changes in the liver and in kidney allografts in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) with HCV infection after treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs). Fifteen KTRs with HCV infection...
Article
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Background: The number of patients returning to dialysis after graft failure increases. Surprisingly, little is known about the clinical and immunological outcomes of this cohort. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 254 patients after kidney allograft loss between 1997-2017 and report clinical outcomes such as mortality, relisting, retransplant...
Article
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Transplant candidates are facing incremental mortality risks on the waiting list. Here, we report a novel strategy to expand the donor pool by including hepatitis C seropositive (HCV+) donors. We investigated a pre-exposure prophylactic (PrEP) treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAA) to allow transplantation for HCV seronegative (HCV-) kidney...
Article
Background Late antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR) is a leading cause of transplant failure. Blocking IL-6 has been proposed as a promising therapeutic strategy. Methods We performed a phase 2 randomized pilot trial to evaluate the safety (primary endpoint) and efficacy (secondary endpoint analysis) of the anti–IL-6 antibody clazakizumab in late A...
Article
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Introduction: Arterial stiffness parameters can be used as a predictor of cardiovascular events in the general population and renal transplant recipients (RTRs). Additionally, the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone-system (RAAS) blockade mitigates arterial stiffness in the general population. There are no sufficient data concerning the role of the RAAS...
Article
Full-text available
Proteinuria and transplant glomerulopathy (TG) are common in kidney transplantation. To date, there is limited knowledge regarding proteinuria in different types of TG and its relationship to allograft survival. A retrospective cohort analysis of TG patients from indication biopsies was performed to investigate the relationship of proteinuria, hist...
Article
Background Transplant recipients are prone to develop severe infections due to immunosuppression. Therefore, studying the manifestation of SARS-CoV-2-infection in transplant patients is of special importance. Methods 112 transplant patients consecutively visiting the outpatient-department of two German transplant-centers were included after writte...
Article
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Background De-novo malignancies after kidney transplantation represent one major cause for mortality after transplantation. However, most of the studies are limited due to small sample size, short follow-up or lack of information about cancer specific mortality. Methods This long-term retrospective analysis included all adult patients with complet...
Article
Purpose of review: Although a widely recognized and complex pathophysiological condition, sarcopenic obesity remains less appreciated and may elude diagnosis and workup in both kidney transplant waitlisted candidates and kidney transplant recipients. The lack of consensus definition, and practical diagnostic tools for evaluating waitlisted candida...
Article
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eHealth (“electronic” Health) is a new field in medicine that has the potential to change medical care, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. In this review, we analyzed the current status of eHealth in transplantation by performing a PubMed search over the last 5 years with a focus on clinical studies for post‐transplant care. We retrieved 463 ma...
Conference Paper
Tools and resources to automatically process clinical text are very limited, particularly outside the English speaking world. As many relevant patient information within electronic health records are described in unstructured text, this is a clear drawback. In order to slightly overcome this problem, we present information extraction models for Ger...
Article
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The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 denotes a global health issue. Data regarding COVID-19 incidence in kidney transplant recipients (KTR) are sparse. From 19 March to 19 May 2020, we performed a systematic screening for COVID-19 in KTR. Tests included serum analysis for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using S protein-based...
Chapter
Patienten nach erfolgreicher Nierentransplantation müssen meist einen komplizierten Medikationsplan einnehmen und im Alltag verschiedene Vorgaben beachten. Nicht jedem gelingt dies, was zu kurz-oder langfristigem Verlust der Transplantatfunktion mit der dann notwendigen Wiedereinleitung der Dialyse führen kann. Die Dialyse erzeugt hohe Kosten für d...
Article
Background: Anti-HLA immunization determined by Panel Reactive Antibody (PRA) is known to have a negative impact on patient and graft survival. The predictive value of peak PRA (pPRA) on immunologic outcome, however, and the individual effects of anti-HLA class I and II antibodies remain uncertain. Methods: The influence of HLA immunization on i...
Article
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The collection of lymphatic fluids (lymphoceles) is a frequent adverse event following renal transplantation. A variety of surgical and medical factors has been linked to this entity, but reliable data on risk factors and long-term outcomes are lacking. This retrospective single-center study included 867 adult transplant recipients who received a k...
Article
COVID-19 has emerged as a global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. So far, viral targets of cellular immunity and factors determining successful mounting of T-cell responses are poorly defined. We therefore analyzed cellular responses to membrane, nucleocapsid and spike protein in individuals suffering from moderate or severe infection and after recov...
Article
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Mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT‐) cells represent a semi‐invariant T‐cell population responsive to microbial vitamin B metabolite and innate cytokine stimulation, executing border tissue protection and particularly contributing to human liver immunity. The impact of immunosuppressants on MAIT cell biology alone and in context with solid organ...
Article
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Background and Aims Arterial stiffness, altered body composition (increased body fat mass and decreased soft lean mass) and cell membrane integrity (Phase Angle) are acknowledged risk factors for adverse outcomes after kidney transplantation related to cardiovascular diseases. Phase angle is a linear method of measuring the relationship between ele...