Lung Transplant News and Research

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A pulmonary transplant (or lung transplant) is a surgical procedure in which a diseased lung is removed and replaced with a healthy lung from a donor. A lung transplant will often be recommended if a person has advanced lung disease that is unresponsive to other treatments and/or when a person's life expectancy is likely less than 2-3 years. A lung transplant is considered for those suffering from the following conditions:

St. Vincent's Hospital performs Australia's first implant of SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart

On Aug. 5, St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney performed Australia's first implant of the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart. The patient, a 50-year-old male suffering from total heart failure, is the first recipient of the Total Artificial Heart in the Southern Hemisphere. The surgery was performed by heart surgeons Drs. Phillip Spratt and Paul Jansz.

20 Aug 2010

Australia’s first artificial heart in place

Angelo Tigano, 50 was given only two weeks to live at the start of this month. But last week surgeons at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney gave him the country's first artificial heart after a five-hour operation to keep him alive.

16 Aug 2010

PFF announces introduction of Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Enhancement Act in US Senate

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation (PFF) today announced that the Pulmonary Fibrosis Research Enhancement Act (PFREA) was introduced in the United States Senate. The PFREA was introduced by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), and the PFF has offered its unconditional endorsement to pass this important legislation on behalf of the pulmonary fibrosis community.

5 Aug 2010

Alnylam second-quarter revenues increase to $26.6 million

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today reported its consolidated financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2010, and company highlights.

5 Aug 2010

CPF announces nationwide advertising campaign to increase awareness about PF

The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis announced today a nationwide advertising campaign to spread the word about Pulmonary Fibrosis is underway in an untraditional setting – on the nation's interstates. Together, a billboard ad and truck ads are part of a nationwide campaign to raise eyebrows and awareness of the deadly lung disease.

30 Jul 2010

First triple-organ transplantation performed on young Brenham resident at Texas Children's Hospital

Texas Children's Hospital in Houston has performed the hospital's first triple-organ transplant on a 16-year-old Brenham resident. The patient, Taylor Sherrouse, underwent a 13-hour surgery on Tuesday, June 22 to replace her heart, lungs and liver, which had been severely damaged by cystic fibrosis. Taylor is one of only three pediatric patients in the country this decade to receive heart, lungs and liver in one operation.

15 Jul 2010

Researchers examine impact of genetic ancestry on measures of lung function

Americans with lung disease may face a far greater level of lung damage than either they or their doctor suspect, depending on their individual genetic heritage, according to research published online July 7 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research implications range from diagnosing the severity of asthma, to disability decisions or eligibility for lung transplants, researchers say.

13 Jul 2010

Successful growth of mouse embryonic stem cells in rat lungs raises hopes for engineering human transplants

For someone with a severe, incurable lung disorder such as cystic fibrosis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a lung transplant may be the only chance for survival. Unfortunately, it's often not a very good chance. Matching donor lungs are rare, and many would-be recipients die waiting for the transplants that could save their lives.

29 Jun 2010

NBC's TODAY Show to focus on PF in an interview with a patient from California

The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis announced today one of the first major national media coverage opportunities for the CPF and Pulmonary Fibrosis. NBC's TODAY Show will focus on the disease in an interview with California patient Bob O'Rourke, who suffers from the disease and will die from it unless he receives a lung transplant in time.

15 Jun 2010

RNAi therapy shuts down gene critical to RSV, prevents virus replication

John DeVincenzo, MD, professor and researcher in the Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Sciences at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has proven for the first time that a totally new concept in drug design can be used to treat human disease. Dr. DeVincenzo, who also serves as a children's infectious diseases specialist at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, conducted his study at the Children's Foundation Research Center, a UT Health Science Center partner located at Le Bonheur.

29 May 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals reports consolidated financial results for first quarter 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, today reported its consolidated financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010, and company highlights.

6 May 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals publishes encouraging results from Phase II GEMINI study in PNAS

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has published results from its Phase II GEMINI study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). These data, previously presented at the International Symposium on Respiratory Viral Infections in Singapore in 2008, showed human proof of concept with an RNAi therapeutic in a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study.

27 Apr 2010

IL-10 Gene Therapy helps repair damaged lungs found unfit for transplant

Promising research brings hope for the almost two thousand lung transplant candidates who currently make up The United Network for Organ Sharing's (UNOS) wait list. A new technique that uses gene therapy to help repair damaged lungs previously found unfit for transplant shows promise for addressing the critical shortage of healthy donor organs.

22 Apr 2010

Stem cell scientists receive stimulus grants to study lung and blood disorders

Stem cell scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) were awarded stimulus grants totaling almost $2 million to research experimental treatments for blood disorders and inherited lung diseases affecting children.

13 Apr 2010

Lung transplant patients may one day benefit from synthetic peptide, researchers report

Lung transplant patients may one day benefit from a synthetic peptide that mimics the body's natural ability to reduce excess fluid accumulation, Medical College of Georgia researchers report.

26 Mar 2010

CPF, PFF applaud PF patients' efforts to plead with FDA Advisory Panel regarding lack of treatment options

The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis and the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation are applauding the efforts of Pulmonary Fibrosis (PF) patients and family members for their work to convey to the FDA and an FDA Advisory Committee the sense of urgency and desperation regarding the disease and the lack of treatment options.

15 Mar 2010

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals initiates ALN-RSV01 Phase IIb trial in adult lung transplant patients for RSV infection

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that it has initiated a Phase IIb trial in adult lung transplant patients with ALN-RSV01, an RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. RSV infection in lung transplant patients represents an important unmet medical need; the condition is associated with significant morbidity, including the development of acute lung transplant rejection in 10% to 20% of infected patients.

22 Feb 2010

PARI Pharma commences enrollment in L-CsA Phase 2b efficacy study

PARI Pharma has enrolled the first patient in its Phase 2b clinical trial studying inhaled liposomal cyclosporine A (L-CsA) delivered via a customized Investigational eFlow Nebulizer System. The multinational study is investigating the safety and efficacy of PARI's L-CsA formulation. In previous clinical trials, reactions from physicians and lung transplant recipients to PARI's drug-device combination were encouraging.

11 Feb 2010

New study may allow scientists to develop screening test for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

A simple blood test could predict which patients with the lung-scarring disease known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are soon to get far worse, an indicator that could one day influence their treatment, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

4 Feb 2010

Double-lung transplant donation saves life

Kurt Penner, who in 2002, was days away from dying of emphysema received a life-saving double-lung transplant through the Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN). On December 27, he'll be carrying the 2010 Olympic torch for 300 metres through the streets of Woodstock, Ontario, thanks to that donation.

24 Dec 2009