Transplant News and Research

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Living donors may be best source of insulin-producing islets for diabetes treatment

According to a new study in Clinical Transplantation, obtaining islet cells (clusters of pancreatic cells that create insulin) from living donors may be a solution to the shortage of islets available for transplantation.

27 Nov 2007

Isotechnika granted Norwegian patent for lead immunosuppressive drug

Isotechnika Inc. has announced that the Company has been issued Norwegian Patent No. 324042 for its lead immunosuppressive drug, ISA247.

27 Nov 2007

Researchers find new way to transplant new blood-forming stem cells into bone marrow of mice

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have taken a small but significant step, in mouse studies, toward the goal of transplanting adult stem cells to create a new immune system for people with autoimmune or genetic blood diseases.

22 Nov 2007

Lung transplants for cystic fibrosis may not be such a good option

Researchers in the United States say lung transplants do little to improve the outcomes for children with severe cystic fibrosis (CF) and often increases their risk of dying.

22 Nov 2007

Pediatric pediatric pulmonary expert comments on study of lung transplants for cystic fibrosis

Commenting on a study of lung transplantation for children with cystic fibrosis, a leading pediatric pulmonologist calls the study “startling” in an editorial in this week's New England Journal of Medicine that accompanies the study.

21 Nov 2007

Lung transplants do more harm than good to children with cystic fibrosis

Lung transplantation, the therapy almost every cystic fibrosis patient (CF) considers at some point to prolong survival, rarely helps children with the disease live longer and, in fact, often increases their risk of dying, University of Utah researchers conclude in the most extensive study of the issue to date.

21 Nov 2007

New technique provides stem cells without ethical and legal constraints

In a paper to be published Nov. 22 in the online edition of the journal Science, a team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers reports the genetic reprogramming of human skin cells to create cells indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells.

21 Nov 2007

New human rhinovirus associated with pediatric respiratory tract infection in Germany

Using a rapid, sensitive, and inexpensive diagnostic tool called MassTag PCR, scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health's Center for Infection and Immunity implicated a new human rhinovirus as the cause of severe pediatric respiratory tract infections in Europe.

21 Nov 2007

World-famous heart transplant hospital given the all-clear

World-famous Papworth hospital in Cambridgeshire, England, has been given the all-clear to resume heart transplant surgery.

20 Nov 2007

New organ allocation criteria associated with decreased deaths on liver transplant waiting list

Changing the method by which donated livers are allocated to potential transplant patients appears to have decreased the number of deaths among individuals on the waiting list as well as shortened the time to transplantation, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

19 Nov 2007

Gene chips provide new technique to evaluate organ rejection in kidney transplants

A new article appearing in American Journal of Transplantation describes a revolutionary technique for more clearly identifying the possibility of organ rejection in kidney transplants.

19 Nov 2007

Captopril may limit radiation kidney damage in bone marrow transplant patients

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee have found that the risk of radiation injury in normal tissue after exposure may be reduced by a drug in common use. Their study in press appears in the on line issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics.

15 Nov 2007

Higher-risk kidneys may help solve organ shortage facing older adults

New research from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center suggests that age alone shouldn't be a barrier to receiving a kidney transplant – and that using donated kidneys that would once have been discarded may help alleviate the burgeoning organ shortage among older adults.

14 Nov 2007

Transplant organs infect patients with HIV and hep C

The cases of four transplant recipients in the U.S. who contracted HIV from a single high-risk organ donor is being investigated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

13 Nov 2007

Mycophenolate mofetil therapy effective for reducing lupus flares

Mayo Clinic researchers have shown that an immunosuppressive drug used in organ transplant cases is effective in reducing flare-ups in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

13 Nov 2007

New approaches to wet age-related macular degeneration treatment

Two particularly notable research presentations at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Annual Meeting described new approaches to the treatment of "wet" Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of severe vision loss in the western world in people over age 50.

13 Nov 2007

Lungs' pressure needn't threaten heart transplant survival

Heart surgeons at Johns Hopkins say people who need heart transplants can largely avoid transplant failure due to elevated blood pressure in their lungs with the help of proper drug treatment.

6 Nov 2007

New comorbidity index helps predict post-transplant survival

Patients awaiting liver transplantation who also suffer from other medical problems may face poorer survival after transplantation.

6 Nov 2007

Breast cancer screening may not be cost-effective for older women on dialysis

For older women on dialysis, routine mammograms to screen for breast cancer may not be a cost-effective use of medical resources, according to a paper being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 40th Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Francisco.

6 Nov 2007

Blood-incompatible infant heart transplants safe, may save more lives

ABO-incompatible heart transplantation (heart transplantation among non-compatible blood groups) can be safely performed in infants a year old or younger, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2007.

6 Nov 2007