On October 4, NewYork-Presbyterian is celebrating Organ Donor Enrollment Day by launching a new campaign to educate New Yorkers about the need for organ donations and encourage people across the state to become organ donors.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded two five-year grants to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center worth more than $5 million to prospectively study the effects of a genetic variation in organ donors that appears to contribute to survival of kidneys after transplantation.
The first code of ethical behavior for sharing videos of plastic surgery on social media -- written by Northwestern Medicine authors -- will be published in the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal Sept. 28 and presented Oct. 6 at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) annual meeting in Orlando.
Cystic fibrosis patient Fanny Vlahos was pregnant when she caught pneumonia and her lung function declined drastically. By the time her son was four months old, Mrs. Vlahos was tethered to an oxygen tank and too weak to pick him up. But a double lung transplant has enabled Mrs. Vlahos to breathe easily again.
A new UCLA-led study published in the September issue of the peer-reviewed journal Transplantation traces how the first three “kidney voucher” cases led to 25 lifesaving kidney transplants across the United States.
Leukemia survivor Jeffrey Hoffman owes his life to a complete stranger who altruistically donated bone marrow cells for Mr. Hoffman's successful bone marrow transplant. "It was a very noble thing to do," Mr. Hoffman said.
On September 10, 2017, Mr. Hoffman (left) met his donor, Zachary Gold (right), for the first time, during Loyola Medicine's Bone Marrow TransplantCelebration of Survivorship. About 400 patients, family members, caregivers, donors, doctors and nurses attended the annual event at Loyola’s Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center.
Nisanne Ghonemi's research seeks to address a universal problem in kidney transplant surgery that can result in failure of the organ graft. Her research will explore the use of a class of drugs known as prostacyclins to reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury to a transplanted kidney from a deceased patient that can result in failure of the organ graft.
The Department of Homeland Security has turned to ASU researchers for help developing advanced tools that will improve operations in DHS organizations, including the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Customs and Border Patrol.
Alina Franke registered to donate her bone marrow in Hamburg, Germany, in 2009. She wound up being the one person in 24 million around the world on the Be The Match registry to be the perfect match that Jimmy Roberson needed.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Bayer have agreed on a five-year strategic research alliance to evaluate new drug candidates for the treatment of kidney diseases, with the goal of accelerating the translation of innovative approaches from the laboratory to pre-clinical development.
UCLA has received an $8.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research ways to help donated livers last longer and improve outcomes for transplant recipients.
Researchers in Germany have demonstrated that hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplants can be improved by treatments that temporarily prevent the stem cells from dying. The approach, which is described in a paper to be published September 7 in The Journal of Experimental Medicine, could allow those in need of such transplants, including leukemia and lymphoma patients, to be treated with fewer donor stem cells while limiting potential adverse side effects.
A synthetic version of low molecular weight heparin is poised for clinical trials and development as a drug for patients with clotting disorders, and those undergoing procedures such as kidney dialysis, heart bypass surgery, stent implantation, and knee and hip replacement.
Margaux Mustian and Laura Hickman say they pursued a career in transplant surgery in part due to the teaching and training they received from longtime UAB transplant surgeon Mark Deierhoi.
Heat therapy may be a promising treatment against cancer and autoimmune diseases. University of Kentucky researchers exposed colorectal cancer cells and T-cells to temperatures high and low temperatures to observe the effects on cellular energy production.They will present their findings at the Physiological Bioenergetics: Mitochondria from Bench to Bedside conference in San Diego.
Under the leadership of Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientist Dr. Joachim Kohn, a civilian research program established by the U.S. Department of Defense to focus on regenerative medicine for the treatment of battlefield injuries has made great strides that culminated in a total face transplant performed at the Cleveland Clinic in May.
• There are very few high quality studies on strategies to increase living kidney donation.
• From the limited data available, educational interventions directed at potential recipients and their social networks are the most promising.
A new University of Michigan study finds slightly more than half of heart patients are admitted to the CICU for noncardiac conditions, such as sepsis or renal failure, rather than for a heart condition.
The design of aeroplane wings and storing organs for transplant could both become safer and more effective, thanks to a synthetic antifreeze which prevents the growth of ice crystals, developed by researchers at the University of Warwick.
The University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center began helping New Mexicans with blood disorders a little more than one year ago. It is the state’s only bone marrow transplant program. The program offers treatment choices for people with lymphoma and myeloma and will expand to help people with other blood disorders.
A routinely used hospital tool can predict which liver transplant recipients are more likely to do poorly after surgery, according to a study led by Cedars-Sinai. The findings could help doctors identify which patients should receive physical therapy or other targeted interventions to improve their recovery.
An experimental treatment derived from a potentially deadly microorganism may provide lifesaving help for kidney transplant patients, according to an international study led by investigators at Cedars-Sinai. The study found that treating patients with the drug IdeS® before transplantation significantly reduced, and in most cases eliminated, donor-specific antibodies that can cause rejection or failure of the new organ.
• From 2007-2012, deceased donor kidneys in the United States were offered a median of 7 times before finally being accepted for transplantation.
• Such refusals may have contributed to racial and ethnic disparities that exist in access to transplantation in the United States.
• A molecular analysis of the mismatch between the tissues of donors and recipients helped predict which recipients required high doses of immune modulating drugs and which needed only low doses.
Across the country, there are 58 Organ Procurement Organizations (OPO), which are responsible for recovering and distributing organs and tissues for life-saving and life-enhancing transplants. Each OPO is designated to serve a specific geographic area and works with the transplant centers in their area to match donors with recipients. With more than 117,000 people awaiting a lifesaving organ transplant, these OPOs work very hard to identify as many organ donors as possible to help save these lives. But according to a study published today in the American Journal of Transplantation, there seem to be significant differences in the results of these efforts.
The first app and score to determine the one-year risk of a liver transplant patient dying or being hospitalized for a heart attack or other cardiovascular complication has been developed by Northwestern Medicine scientists.
The first app and score to determine the one-year risk of a liver transplant patient dying or being hospitalized for a heart attack or other cardiovascular complication has been developed by Northwestern Medicine scientists.
In a new study published in Prosthetics and Orthotics International, Mayo Clinic researchers describe the direct medical costs of falls in adults with a transfemoral amputation. In this type of amputation, the leg is amputated above the knee. This work “provides a comparison for policymakers when evaluating the value of more expensive … technologies,” say the authors.
A veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard recently received a new heart and liver at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), one of only a handful of hospitals that have performed the dual transplant surgery this year.
Loyola Medicine is enrolling patients in the first major study of a rare, debilitating lung disease that disproportionately affects people from Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans who have the disease, Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS), are believed to have descended from a single founding patient.
• Kidney biopsy results had no impact on the function of kidneys transplanted from living donors.
• Outcomes following kidney transplantation using deceased donor kidneys were influenced by biopsy findings; however, even transplantation with kidneys with the worst biopsy findings would result in 5 additional years of life for a patient compared with remaining on dialysis.
• Most deceased donor kidneys with suboptimal biopsy results were still functioning 5 years after transplantation.
Researchers at the University of Virginia have received more than $8.6 million to support efforts that could dramatically increase the number of lungs available for transplant – and then save the lives of the people who receive them.
Surgeons at Johns Hopkins Medicine report that their first series of a minimally invasive procedure to treat chronic pancreas disease, known as severe pancreatitis, resulted in shorter hospital stays, less need for opioids and fewer complications, compared with standard surgical approaches.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Toronto have uncovered the first molecular steps that lead to immune system activation and eventual rejection of a transplanted organ.
In a Canadian first, a medical team has implanted a wireless device inside a heart failure patient, permitting clinicians to monitor the patient’s cardiovascular status – virtually and in real-time – and proactively adjust treatment to prevent costly, potentially unnecessary hospitalization.
In the first such collaboration of its kind, an expert panel of rheumatologists and orthopedic surgeons has developed guidelines for the management of anti-rheumatic medication in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement. The goal was to lower the risk of infection, which is linked to the use of the medications.
Scientists have discovered that a subset of immune cells called nonclassical monocytes (NCMs), previously unknown to reside in the lungs, play a key role in driving primary graft dysfunction (PGD), the leading cause of death after lung transplantation. The study demonstrates targeting these cells could lead to novel treatments for PGD, a complication that currently impacts more than half of transplant patients.
UAB researchers have made the first direct demonstration that fecal donor microbes remained in recipients for months or years after a transplant to treat the diarrhea and colitis caused by recurrent Clostridium difficile infections.
• A new calculator estimates the likelihood that a given patient who receives a kidney transplant from a particular living donor will maintain a functioning kidney.
• The calculator may be especially useful for kidney paired donation.