Liver Transplantation News and Research

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MassBiologics gets FDA orphan drug designation for MBL-HCV1 antibody

MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School has received an orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for MBL-HCV1, a monoclonal antibody developed to prevent hepatitis C virus recurrence in patients receiving a liver transplant.

5 Dec 2013

Study brings effective hepatitis C cure closer to reality

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have determined the most detailed picture yet of a crucial part of the hepatitis C virus, which the virus uses to infect liver cells. The new data reveal unexpected structural features of this protein and should greatly speed efforts to make an effective hepatitis C vaccine.

29 Nov 2013

Livers from donors with pre-hospital cardiac arrest considered for transplant

Researchers from the U.K. suggest that using organs from donors after circulatory death (DCD) who also suffered a previous cardiac arrest out of the hospital environment could expand the pool of available livers for transplant.

11 Nov 2013

Simple tool to identify patients at risk of engaging in "medication tradeoffs" after liver transplantation

Researchers at Northwestern University and Emory University propose a simple tool to identify patients who are at risk of engaging in "medication tradeoffs." The study authors address the problem of patients with financial hardship who make the regular choice of meeting basic needs such as buying food rather than paying for medications after receiving a liver transplant.

4 Nov 2013

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

Canada should start screening 'Baby Boomers' for hepatitis C virus infection, say liver specialists

Canada should begin screening 'Baby Boomers' for the hepatitis C virus infection, since this age group is likely the largest group to have the illness, and most don't know they have it, say a group of liver specialists in the Toronto Western Hospital Francis Family Liver Clinic. Unlike many other chronic viral infections, early treatment makes hepatitis C curable.

1 Oct 2013

Mount Sinai physician-scientists join DILIN to help find causes, diagnostics for drug-induced liver injury

In an effort to better understand and develop prevention strategies for drug-induced liver injury, physician-scientists from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have joined the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network, a National Institutes of Health-funded consortium of only six academic medical centers in the United States.

12 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

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

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

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

Research shows split liver transplantation carries no increased risk of failure in either recipient

Split liver transplantation carries no increased risk of failure in either recipient, allowing surgeons to safely save two lives from a single donated organ (graft), according to new research from Boston Children's Hospital published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

19 Jul 2013

Researchers develop new model for more equitable allocation of livers for transplantation

Using the same type of mathematical formulas used to draw political redistricting maps, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have developed a model that would allow for the more equitable allocation of livers from deceased donors for transplantation.

12 Jul 2013

Acetaminophen overdose survivors have lower overall health following acute liver failure

Spontaneous survivors of acetaminophen overdose have significantly lower overall health compared to survivors or transplant recipients following acute liver failure caused by non-drug induced liver injury according to a new study published online in Liver Transplantation, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases and the International Liver Transplantation Society.

10 Jul 2013

Research reveals transplantation of partial livers from deceased adult has become less risky for infants

New research reveals that transplantation of partial livers from deceased adult and teen donors has become less risky for infants and young children, helping to save these young lives.

11 Jun 2013

Greenwall Foundation names Peter Reese as 2013 Greenwall Faculty Scholar in Bioethics

The Greenwall Foundation has named Penn Medicine's Peter Reese, MD, MSCE, a leading voice for improving organ donor rates and access to transplant, as a 2013 Greenwall Faculty Scholar in Bioethics.

10 Jun 2013

Liver regeneration using cell therapy may be possible, study suggests

Liver transplantation is the mainstay of treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease, the 12th leading cause of death in the United States, but new research from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, published in the online journal Cell Stem Cell today, suggests that it may one day become possible to regenerate a liver using cell therapy in patients with liver disease.