Kidney Transplant News and Research

RSS

A kidney transplant is an operation where a healthy kidney from one person (the donor) is transferred to a person who has little or no kidney function (the recipient).

First NY to LA living-donor transplant chain results in three lifesaving kidney transplants at UCLA

The lives of three Los Angeles-area kidney transplant patients were transformed by one of the West Coast's first three-way living donor kidney transplant chains, made possible through the generosity of a non-directed, altruistic kidney donor from New York City -- announced today at a joint news conference.

4 Aug 2008

New medical procedure for kidney donor surgery

Advanced Surgical Concepts is pleased to announce that surgeons have used its TriPort device to complete a kidney transplant through only a small incision in the donor's bellybutton.

28 Jul 2008

Statins appear to improve survival in kidney transplant recipients

For patients receiving kidney transplants, treatment with cholesterol-lowering "statin" drugs may lead to longer survival, reports a study in the November 2008 Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

23 Jul 2008

Kidney transplants less successful at night

Kidney transplants should be carried out during the day if possible. At least this is the conclusion suggested by a survey just published by urologists and internists at the University of Bonn (Transplantation Proceedings, vol. 40, p. 1341 ff.).

15 Jul 2008

Penn researchers propose major changes to informed consent for transplantation

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine physicians and bioethicists are calling for a new, more standardized way for patients in need of organ transplants to be informed of the risks they face. If adopted, their policy recommendations could promote greater equity in how organs are allocated while restricting patients' abilities to "cherry-pick" the best organs.

26 Jun 2008

DialysisPPO files provisional patent for dialysis cost containment

DialysisPPO, a Pennsylvania Corporation providing cost containment solutions to the health plan market, has filed a provisional patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) covering its business method that enables health plans to significantly lower their exposure to the high cost of dialysis services while simultaneously improving the benefits to plan participants.

2 Jun 2008

Anti-rejection drug sirolimus may prolong organ life in noncompliant kidney transplant patients

New research from the University of California, San Diego Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, shows that the anti-rejection drug sirolimus (brand name Rapamune) may help prolong the clinical benefit of transplanted kidneys and delay rejection, especially in patients who do not regularly take their prescribed medications (are "non-compliant"). While the transplant field has been highly successful at reducing rejection and graft loss in the first year, post-transplant, reducing risk for graft rejection in the long-term has proved more difficult.

2 Jun 2008

Anti-rejection drug sirolimus may increase risk of diabetes after kidney transplant

For patients undergoing kidney transplantation, treatment with the anti-rejection drug sirolimus may lead to an increased risk of diabetes, reports a study in the July Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

22 May 2008

Kidney disease substantially worsens in a fourth of African Americans despite therapy for hypertension

The best available treatment for chronic kidney disease from high blood pressure did not keep the disease from substantially worsening in about a fourth of African-Americans studied, according to long-term results of a National Institutes of Health study published April 28, 2008, in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

5 May 2008

Expert says solve kidney donor crisis by paying for organs

A senior medical specialist has caused controversy over his comments regarding organ donations.

5 May 2008

Bioartificial kidney speeds recovery, reduces mortality

Another promising clinical trial for the bioartificial kidney is offering researchers even more hope that within the next few years the device will be available to save lives of patients with acute renal failure.

24 Apr 2008

Feta cheese helps combat food poisoning

Eating Feta cheese made from raw milk in small seaside tavernas when you are on holiday in Greece could be a good way to combat food poisoning, according to researchers speaking today (Thursday 3 April 2008) at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting being held this week at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

3 Apr 2008

New hope for children with bilateral Wilms tumors

Physicians at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have demonstrated that children with bilateral Wilms tumor, a cancer of the kidneys, can retain normal function in both kidneys by undergoing a procedure called bilateral nephron-sparing surgery, even when preoperative scans suggest that the tumors are inoperable.

25 Mar 2008

New drug targets for Huntington's disease

Research funded by the Wellcome Trust has provided a number of promising new drug targets for Huntington's disease, a neurodegenerative disease.

25 Mar 2008

Discovery could lead to much-needed kidney failure treatment

The unwanted activation of an important cell-signaling pathway may play a role in two kidney problems that are major causes of end-stage renal disease, scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found.

13 Mar 2008

Kidney donor age linked to aortic siffening

Transplantation of kidneys from older donors is followed by increased stiffening of the recipient's aorta - which may help to explain the higher rates of cardiovascular disease and death in patients receiving kidneys from "expanded criteria" donors, reports a study in the April Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

22 Feb 2008