Page 144 - Physical activity in recipients of solid organ transplantation - Edwin J. van Adrichem

Chapter 7
hygienic precautions. In the current expedition, precautions were taken to optimize
hygienic circumstances by instructing the cooking sta
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a route and schedule providing su
e limited sample size that is inherent to an expedition of this type makes overall

to boil or heat all food su

cient time to

ciently,
using hand sanitizer frequently, using bottled water for transplant participants in the lower
regions (with higher risk of contamination), and using boiled and puri

ed water only at the
highest altitudes. As the most important prophylactic strategy to avoid acute mountain
sickness is a slow rate of ascent,
acclimatize is considered mandatory.

generalizability moderate to low.

e group of transplant participants consisted of persons
with a variety of organs transplanted, which shows the possibility of climbing Mount
Kilimanjaro after various transplantation types but renders limited general conclusions per
group. Furthermore, the study is limited by the fact that the control group was not matched
to the transplant participants, as a convenience control group was used. However,
comparison of both groups before the expedition on relevant parameters did not reveal any
statistical signi

cant or clinically relevant between group di
Conclusion
Although a high altitude expedition is considered extremely challenging this study

erences and the control group
is therefore seen as acceptable.
demonstrates that carefully prepared people after various types of organ transplantation can
perform strenuous physical activity at high-altitude.
high-altitude showed to be good and comparable to non-transplanted controls.
con
rms what was previously found in liver transplant recipients. A wonderful ‘side-e

eir tolerance to physical activity at

is

ect’
was the incredible boost in self-con

dence for all of the transplant participants,
accomplished due to the sheer fact that they had been invited to participate and to reaching
goals that they perceived to be out of reach before. We hope this might provide an
optimistic perspective for those awaiting an organ transplant and also for people that have
already received an organ transplant. Considerable heights can be achieved with training, a
good lifestyle, and incredible perseverance.
Acknowledgments

e authors would like to thank all employees of the Groningen Transplant Center that
contributed to the expedition and especially Anouk de Joode, Bart Span, Johan
Brugemann, Hendyke Gerds, Aad van der Berg, and Gerda Drent for their contribution to
patient selection. Our gratitude is also o

ered to Johan Wempe, Monica Leever, Maria
Heuving, and Frank van Dijk of the Center of Rehabilitation of the University Medical
Center Groningen for their contribution during the selection day. Special appreciation is
extended to Corien Verschuuren, Anouk Verschuuren, and Mirka Haken for their
contribution to collecting data during the climb. We thank Wim Krijnen for assistance
with the majority of the statistical analysis. Professional mountaineer René de Bos led the
expedition for which we are extremely grateful.
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