The Kidney in Heart Transplantation, Tale of a Journey

pp. 146-151

Abstract

The aim of this update is to highlight the relationship between the heart and the kidney throughout the entire journey involved
in heart transplantation.
Faced with heart transplantation, the cardiovascular and renal systems behave as mates of a journey that, at times, is difficult
to determine when it starts, and that forces them to overcome different obstacles, such as hemodynamic changes, neurohumoral
and inflammatory response, surgical injury, immune reaction, and drug toxicity. This relationship can be seen as an
adventure that they must inevitably share.
We will try to accompany both organs in this journey, but paying special attention to the kidney, describing the associations
and the protection and damage mechanisms that are generated throughout its course.
In this journey we can recognize solidarity responses to maintain the balance between both systems, but in this attempt to
protect, collateral injury occurs.