Organ Donation News and Research

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AST urges Senate Finance Committee to adopt a health care provision for transplant drug extension

As the Senate Finance Committee prepares to vote on the amended health care reform package, members of the American Society of Transplantation (AST) arrived on Capitol Hill armed with a letter encouraging the Senate to adopt a health care provision that will extend Medicare's coverage of post-transplant drugs, which are critical to maintaining the health of the transplant patient. Immunosuppressive drugs are currently covered for a period of 36 months.

9 Oct 2009

New England Donor Registry launched by Donate Life

Donate Life New England, a joint project of two federally designated organ procurement organizations that serve New England, today announced that individuals can now – for the first time – enroll online in the New England Donor Registry at www.donatelifenewengland.org.

8 Oct 2009

Research study suggests possibility of safely expanding donor kidney pool by 10 to 15 percent

Kidneys recovered from deceased donors with acute renal failure (ARF) - once deemed unusable for transplant - appear to work just as well as kidneys transplanted from deceased donors who do not develop kidney problems prior to organ donation, according to a new study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

3 Oct 2009

Lessons for America: comparing health systems across Europe

Forbes published a package of articles and opinion pieces called "Public Vs. Private Health Care," which compares health care systems across Europe.

4 Sep 2009

Reference guide to assist grievers during the first hours and days following a sudden and unexpected death

The number of immediate considerations following the death of loved one can be daunting, but the aftermath of an unexpected death can be especially traumatic for grievers. In partnership with the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Caring Connections: A Hope and Comfort in Grief Program of the U. College of Nursing has released a reference guide to assist grievers during those first hours and days following a sudden and unexpected death.

29 Aug 2009

Uncontrolled NHBDs could help counter the shortage of kidney grafts in France

A pilot study of a system for harvesting kidneys from non-heart-beating donors where attempts of resuscitation after a witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have failed (uncontrolled NHBDs) resulted in 21 successful kidney transplants - a 10% increase in the transplantation rate - over 17 months.

28 Aug 2009

Hospital dramatically increases transplant donations by integrating bereavement and donor services

A UK hospital that combined its bereavement and donation services saw a forty-fold increase in tissue donations, such as corneas, in just five years, according to research in the August issue of Anaesthesia.

30 Jul 2009

Young binge drinker dies after he was refused a liver transplant

A 22 year old British man who was refused a liver transplant has died from cirrhosis of the liver after a binge-drinking habit which began when he was age 13.

22 Jul 2009

Economy squeezing access to health care

As unemployment rises, many Florida women are "turning to federally subsidized mammograms and pap smears, and county health officials are worried they could be overwhelmed," The Orlando Sentinel reports.

15 Jul 2009

Johns Hopkins leads first 16-patient, multicenter "domino donor" kidney transplant

Surgical teams at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit successfully completed the first eight-way, multihospital, domino kidney transplant. The transplant involved eight donors - 3 men and 5 women along with eight organ recipients - 3 men and 5 women. "All Johns Hopkins patients are in good condition and are recovering as anticipated," according to Robert A. Montgomery, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center.

7 Jul 2009

Future of organ transplantation - microscopic beads that create "designer " immune cells

The future of organ transplantation could include microscopic beads that create "designer" immune cells to help patients tolerate their new organ, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

6 Jul 2009

Number of black organ donors increases in Michigan, many blacks still reluctant to donate organs

Although the number of blacks who are registered as organ donors in Michigan has increased in the last 15 years, many are still reluctant to be organ donors, the Detroit News reports.

22 May 2009

Transplant physicians express serious concern about organ procurement practices in China

The globalization of health care and the growth of "transplant tourism" (traveling abroad to purchase donor organs and undergo organ transplantation) have outpaced the implementation of internationally accepted ethical standards for procurement of organs for transplantation.

22 Apr 2009

Changing the way organ donation requests are made could prevent relatives denying consent

Timing and whether a transplant coordinator makes the request are key factors in whether relatives consent to organ donation, according to a study published on bmj.com today.

22 Apr 2009

New York Times examines use of message placement on TV programs

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is "set to expand its involvement" with the entertainment industry and "spend more money on influencing popular culture" through a new deal with Viacom, the parent company to television networks that include MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and BET, the New York Times reports.

5 Apr 2009

Enteroviruses may play role in type 1 diabetes

A team of researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West of England, the University of Brighton and the Department of Pathology at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, has found that a common family of viruses (enteroviruses) may play an important role in triggering the development of diabetes, particularly in children.

5 Mar 2009

Surgeons remove healthy kidney through donor's vagina

In what is believed to be a first-ever procedure, surgeons at Johns Hopkins have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor's vagina.

2 Feb 2009

Kidney transplant survival can be long-term for people with HIV

A Johns Hopkins study finds that HIV-positive kidney transplant recipients could have the same one-year survival rates for themselves and their donor organs as those without HIV, provided certain risk factors for transplant failure are recognized and tightly managed.

19 Jan 2009

Presumed consent or opt-out system may increase organ donation rates

There is currently insufficient supply of donor organs to meet the demand for organ transplantations in the UK. The number of patients registered for a transplant continues to increase. In March 2008, 7,655 patients were on the active transplant list; 506 died in 2007-2008 while waiting for their transplant.

15 Jan 2009

First tissue-engineered windpipe transplant

The first tissue-engineered trachea (windpipe), utilising the patient's own stem cells, has been successfully transplanted into a young woman with a failing airway.

18 Nov 2008