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.

Substance abuse treatment before, after liver transplantation has lower alcohol relapse rates

New research reports that liver transplant recipients who receive substance abuse treatment before and after transplantation have much lower alcohol relapse rates than those untreated or only treated prior to transplantation.

4 Oct 2013

Saint Luke's liver transplantation program receives CMS certification

The liver transplantation program at Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City has received certification by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. The certification is an important step in enhancing the hospital's ability to care for Medicare-covered patients suffering from end-stage liver disease, and attract other insurers who base their coverage on the CMS certification.

2 Oct 2013

Researchers develop renal risk index to predict post-transplant end-stage renal disease

End-stage renal disease is one of the major public health problems among solid organ transplant recipients that is associated with death after transplant and high cost of care.

2 Oct 2013

MacLean Center receives Cornerstone Award for outstanding contributions in field of bioethics

The University of Chicago Medicine's MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics has been awarded the prestigious Cornerstone Award from the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities for "outstanding contributions from an institution that has helped shape the direction of the fields of bioethics and/or medical humanities."

25 Sep 2013

Domino transplant saves patient suffering from liver cancer

Tiffany Schwantes was going to die without a new liver. The 31-year old mother of two suffered from an aggressive form of liver cancer and, because of organ allocation rules, she could not be placed high enough on the liver transplant list to receive a new liver in a timely manner.

19 Sep 2013

Study shows fat transplantation may treat inherited metabolic diseases

Transplanting fat may treat such inherited metabolic diseases as maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) by helping the body process the essential amino acids that these patients cannot, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

12 Sep 2013

Hepatitis C services in the UK: an interview with Louise Campbell, senior liver nurse at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Within the UK there are several centres whose nurse specialists work to a best practice model, delivering care and achieving outcomes which are extremely high in areas of patient retention, adherence to medication and completion of the treatment regimen. With this they achieve cure rates which are some of the highest in the World.

9 Sep 2013

UCLA researchers receives $13M Early Translational grants to advance innovative discoveries using stem cells

Four researchers from UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research have received Early Translational Research Awards totaling approximately $13 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell agency. The UCLA researchers received four of the 12 total awards; no other institution received more than one.

4 Sep 2013

Argininosuccinic aciduria (ASA) and gene therapy: an interview with Dr Julien Baruteau, UCL Institute for Women's Health, London

This rare genetic condition can theoretically affect patients at any age but symptoms are more often observed in childhood and even uncommonly during the first days of life.

2 Sep 2013

Stem cell researchers receive Early Translational research awards from CIRM

Four prominent researchers from UCLA's Eli & Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research have received Early Translational research awards totaling approximately $13 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) the state stem cell agency. The UCLA researchers received four of the 12 total awards; no other applicant institution received more than one award.

30 Aug 2013

Keck Foundation awards $2M grant to UCLA scientists to improve quality of donor livers

A team of scientists from the UCLA Departments of Surgery and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine have been awarded a three-year, $2 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to fund research aimed at increasing the quality of donor livers.

28 Aug 2013

Researchers develop ddPCR technology to quantify rejection biomarker in organ transplant injury

A recently reported blood test for the early detection of organ transplant injury could enable more timely therapeutic intervention in transplant patients and thus help to avoid longer term damage. As described by scientists at the University Medical Center G-ttingen and Chronix Biomedical, a molecular diagnostics company, the new method uses Bio-Rad Laboratories' Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR-) technology to overcome the obstacles of earlier tests, which were both time-consuming and costly.

28 Aug 2013

Redistricting - not just for politics - now being considered for liver transplant waiting list system

Where you live can affect your chances of getting a liver transplant, and your risk of dying while waiting. The nation's transplant network says it's time to make the system fairer - and it may take a cue from how politicians redraw voting maps.

21 Aug 2013

Nearly 59% of liver transplant patients experience metabolic syndrome

Nearly 59 percent of liver transplant patients experience metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes, according to a study lead by liver specialist Eric R. Kallwitz, MD, of Loyola University Medical Center.

8 Aug 2013

Exercise could reduce metabolic disease complications in patients post-transplantation

New research reveals that metabolic syndrome—risk factors that can lead to heart disease and/or stroke—is common in liver transplant recipients, with rates highest at one year following the procedure.

7 Aug 2013

Exercise could help reduce metabolic syndrome problems in liver transplant recipients

New research reveals that metabolic syndrome-risk factors that can lead to heart disease and/or stroke-is common in liver transplant recipients, with rates highest at one year following the procedure.

7 Aug 2013

Interferon-free treatment for genotype-1b hepatitis C patients: an interview with Professor Wulf Boecher, Boehringer Ingelheim

Genotype 1 is, worldwide, the most prevalent genotype of the hepatitis C virus. It accounts for around seventy percent of all hepatitis C infections.

30 Jul 2013

Hepatitis C (HCV) testing for baby boomers: an interview with Dr. Donald Jensen, Director, Center for Liver Diseases, University of Chicago

The USPSTF agreed with the CDC that since most patients (75%) who are currently infected with hepatitis C were born between 1945 - 1965, and since risk-based screening has not been successful in identifying these individuals, that a one time age-based hepatitis C blood test was necessary.

29 Jul 2013

Researchers provide new model for studying drug targets and therapies for AIH

A gene mutation disrupts the activity of certain immune cells and causes the immune system to erroneously attack the liver, according to a new animal study from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

24 Jul 2013

FDA approves Astellas' ASTAGRAF XL for prophylaxis of organ rejection in kidney transplant patients

Astellas Pharma US, Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved ASTAGRAF XLTM (tacrolimus extended-release capsules) for the prophylaxis of organ rejection in patients receiving a kidney transplant with mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids, with or without basiliximab induction.

20 Jul 2013