Liver Transplant News and Research

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When a patient presents with end stage liver disease or liver failure he or she may be considered for a liver transplantation. The first step in this is often a rigorous assessment and being placed on a waiting list.

Ionic liquid formulation kills cancer cells, allows uniform distribution of chemotherapy to tumors

A Mayo Clinic team, led by Rahmi Oklu, M.D., Ph.D., a vascular and interventional radiologist at Mayo Clinic, in collaboration with Samir Mitragotri, Ph.D., of Harvard University, report the development of a new ionic liquid formulation that killed cancer cells and allowed uniform distribution of a chemotherapy drug into liver tumors and other solid tumors in the lab.

11 Feb 2021

Patients fend for themselves to access highly touted covid antibody treatments

By the time he tested positive for covid-19 on Jan. 12, Gary Herritz was feeling pretty sick. He suspects he was infected a week earlier, during a medical appointment in which he saw health workers who were wearing masks beneath their noses or who had removed them entirely.

20 Jan 2021

Researchers design armored immune cells to attack recurring cancer in liver transplant patients

Duke-NUS Medical School researchers, together with collaborators in Singapore, have designed armored immune cells that can attack recurring cancer in liver transplant patients, while temporarily evading immunosuppressant drugs patients take to avoid organ rejection.

19 Jan 2021

Study highlights racial disparities in liver transplantation listing

A new study of liver transplant centers confirms that non-Hispanic white patients get placed on liver transplant waitlists at disproportionately higher rates than non-Hispanic Black patients.

11 Jan 2021

Study: Frailty is a risk factor among women waiting for liver transplants

Women awaiting liver transplants in the United States are known to be about one-third more likely than men to become too ill to undergo surgery or die before receiving a liver.

4 Jan 2021

Scientists find significant differences in liver-related mortality rates in the U.S

When they set out to study local levels of death from liver diseases in the U.S., University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Emory researchers found significant differences in death rates even within the same state, according to a recently published study in Gastroenterology.

19 Nov 2020

Convalescent plasma in COVID-19 can be effective, especially early in disease

A team of researchers in the United States have conducted an extensive literature review looking at the usage of convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients to treat those with an impaired immune system. Their study, titled “Therapeutic use of convalescent plasma in COVID-19 patients with immunodeficiency: A systematic review,” has been released on medRxiv*, the preprint server.

12 Nov 2020

Scientists uncover surprising players in acute liver failure

Acute liver failure is a devastating, rapidly progressing disease that results in death in 80% of cases, unless an emergency liver transplant is performed. In the developed world, its leading cause is a substantial overdose of acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol.

27 Oct 2020

AI improves outcomes in traffic accident victims, predicts survival after liver transplantation

New applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in health care settings have shown early success in improving survival and outcomes in traffic accident victims transported by ambulance and in predicting survival after liver transplantation, according to two research studies presented at the virtual American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2020.

5 Oct 2020

European Commission approves first drug for hepatitis D

What started off as basic research 25 years ago has now lead to a successfully approved drug: The entry blocker bulevirtide (brand name Hepcludex, formerly known as Myrcludex B), jointly developed by researchers from Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg, the DZIF and other partners, has now been approved by the European Commission.

5 Aug 2020

Aerobic exercise may be more important for improvement in patients with fatty liver diseases

A new study from Trinity College Dublin highlights that fitness may be a more important clinical endpoint for improvement in patients with fatty liver diseases during exercise trials, rather than weight loss.

29 Jul 2020

Analysis: How a COVID-19 vaccine could cost Americans dearly

Yes, of course, Americans' health is priceless, and reining in a deadly virus that has trashed the economy would be invaluable.

8 Jul 2020

HCV-positive organs can be safely used for transplantation, study shows

Patients who received a transplanted liver infected with hepatitis C and were later treated for the infection performed as well in recovery as transplant patients who received an organ free of infection, according to study from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and UC Health recently published in the journal Liver Transplantation.

22 Jun 2020

Study investigates effectiveness of liver perfusion to improve the function of donor livers

A major study investigating the effectiveness of liver perfusion as a technique to improve the function of donor livers that would have otherwise been rejected has shown that up to 7 in every 10 could be used after just 4-6 hours of the assessment.

17 Jun 2020

Novel antisense drug shows promise to improve health of people with NAFLD

Using a first-of-its-class drug in a clinical trial, an international research effort headed by a scientist at University of California San Diego School of Medicine reports that inhibition of a key enzyme safely and effectively improved the health of persons with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a chronic metabolic disorder that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

16 Jun 2020

Research team provides new insights on the communication between liver and brain

A research team in Vienna is investigating how calorie intake, liver activity and fat storage interact and what role the central nervous system plays in this.

10 Jun 2020

Fecal transplants could be used as treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

A new study from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University suggests that fecal transplants could be used as a treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

9 Jun 2020

A promising treatment for chronic inflammatory liver disease

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare, chronic, inflammatory disease of the bile ducts and is difficult to treat.

14 May 2020

Study identifies protein vital for liver restoration and regeneration after transplant

Researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Barcelona and the CELLEX Biomedical Research Centre from IDIBAPS have identified in a study with mice a protein which is fundamental to guarantee the restoration and regeneration of the liver after a transplant or hepatic surgery.

6 May 2020

Growth hormone plays a key role in increasing survival rates following liver surgery

Growth hormone has been identified as playing a key role in reducing inflammation and increasing survival rates following liver surgery.

5 May 2020