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.

Livers have a cumulative age of at least 100 years, researchers find

There is a small, but growing, subset of livers that have been transplanted and have a cumulative age of more than 100 years, according to researchers from University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and TransMedics, Andover, Massachusetts.

17 Oct 2022

Study opens up new approaches for treating fatty liver disease

A study group at MedUni Vienna has identified a regulatory loop controlled by leptin, by which this adipocyte-derived hormone regulates hepatic lipid metabolism via the autonomic nervous system.

11 Oct 2022

Chronic liver disease in COVID-19 patients

A recent study summarizes the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients with chronic liver disease.

10 Oct 2022

Study offers support for increasing the use of living donor liver transplantation in Western countries

Demand for donor livers for transplant patients outstrips supply with over 15% of waitlist patients dying after a year.

26 Sep 2022

Embedded bias: How medical records sow discrimination

David Confer, a bicyclist and an audio technician, told his doctor he "used to be Ph.D. level" during a 2019 appointment in Washington, D.C. Confer, then 50, was speaking figuratively: He was experiencing brain fog — a symptom of his liver problems. But did his doctor take him seriously? Now, after his death, Confer's partner, Cate Cohen, doesn't think so.

26 Sep 2022

A triad of obesity, heavy alcohol use, and coagulopathy predicts return to OR after liver transplant

Liver transplant surgery is a vital and life-saving procedure, but it also is associated with a high rate of postoperative complications.

26 Aug 2022

Machine learning models can predict posttreatment recurrence in patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma

According to ARRS' American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), machine learning models applied to presently underutilized imaging features could help construct more reliable criteria for organ allocation and liver transplant eligibility.

17 Aug 2022

UW cardiologists employ catheter-delivered device to retrieve a benign tumor from the heart

Interventional cardiologists at the UW Medicine Heart Institute in Seattle recently performed a first-in-human procedure, successfully employing a catheter-delivered device to retrieve a benign tumor from inside a patient's heart.

17 Aug 2022

Extracellular vesicle-based surface protein assay likely to lead to a better way to detect early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma

Primary liver cancer, the third-leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, takes more than 30,000 lives in the United States each year. The high mortality rates can be attributed in part to the fact that a significant portion of the patients are detected at a late stage, when potentially curative treatments are no longer an option. Unfortunately, today's screening methods are not able to routinely provide accurate, early detection.

5 Aug 2022

Transplant remains the standard of care for liver cancer patients, regardless of age

Physicians and researchers from UK HealthCare's Transplant Center and the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center conducted a study of patients over the age of 70 with a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and how the outcomes of ablative treatments compare to liver transplants.

28 Jul 2022

SLU and industry partners report the first effective drug to treat rare, genetic liver disease

Researchers at Saint Louis University's School of Medicine, in collaboration with Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceuticals, report the first effective drug to treat a rare, genetic liver disease that formerly could only be treated with a liver transplant.

26 Jul 2022

Researchers discover the first effective drug to treat rare, genetic liver disease

8 Jul 2022

Widely used hospital gowns show signs of exposing workers to infection

Disposable gowns designed to deflect the splatter of bodily fluids, used in thousands of U.S. hospitals, have underperformed in recent and ongoing laboratory tests and may fall short of safety standards, leaving health care workers with a greater risk of infection than advertised.

6 Jul 2022

Studies discover multiple gene variants that contribute to the risk and severity of NAFLD in children

In a pair of overlapping studies, a diverse team of researchers, led by scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, have deepened investigations into the genetic origins of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children, describing multiple gene variants (including some previously unknown) that contribute to the risk of developing NAFLD and gene variants associated with the severity of the liver disease.

27 Jun 2022

Increasing growth hormone levels can improve liver health in patients with NAFLD

Growth hormone improves liver health in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by reducing liver fat and inflammation, according to a new study presented Tuesday, June 14 at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga.

14 Jun 2022

Study outlines risk factors for autoimmune hepatitis after liver transplant

A multicenter study performed by a large international consortium that includes UT Southwestern has outlined a set of risk factors and outcomes for patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) that recurs after liver transplantation.

20 May 2022

Study finds significant decline in attending adult health care appointments among pediatric transplant patients

Young adults who received organ transplants as children may not be regularly attending their doctor appointments after leaving their pediatric providers.

28 Apr 2022

Siemens Healthineers launches Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) Test in the U.S.

The Enhanced Liver Fibrosis (ELF) Test from Siemens Healthineers is now available in the United States, providing broad clinical access to the minimally invasive prognostic tool.

From Siemens Healthineers Laboratory Diagnostics 17 Mar 2022

SLU physician-scientist receives NIH funding for Short Bowel Syndrome research

A Saint Louis University School of Medicine scientist and SLUCare physician has received funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS).

16 Mar 2022

Transformational $104 million gift will help VCU to expand treatment options for liver diseases

Virginia Commonwealth University will radically expand treatment options for liver and liver-related metabolic diseases thanks to a historic, transformational $104 million gift from Richard Todd Stravitz, M.D., and his family's Barbara Brunckhorst Foundation.

15 Feb 2022