Organ Donation News and Research

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Simple, no-cost intervention can increase the number of prospective donors

Researchers from Queens University, Boston University, University of Toronto, University of Rochester, and Treasury Board Secretariat, Government of Canada published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that tests a simple, no-cost intervention that can double registration rates, thus helping communities gradually increase the number of prospective donors.

26 Mar 2021

Push is on for states to ban organ transplant discrimination

Griffin Dalrymple is an energetic 7-year-old who loves going to school in Eureka, Montana. But two years ago, the boy described by his mother, Jayci, as a "ball of fire" was suddenly knocked back by severe bacterial pneumonia that hospitalized him for two weeks.

8 Mar 2021

Physical exercise helps improve mobility, increase quality of life of patients with chronic kidney disease

An improved physical condition with these exercises helps improve mobility in certain daily activities, increasing the quality of life of people with chronic kidney disease.

22 Jan 2021

Federal restrictions on corneal donations prevent vision-restoring surgery

Some forms of blindness and visual impairment can be cured with a corneal transplant surgery using donated eye tissue. However, federal regulations in the United States and Canada severely restrict the ability of sexually active gay and bisexual men from donating their eye tissue.

24 Sep 2020

Research offers new hope for kidney revival prior to transplantation

New research has demonstrated that kidneys can be revived prior to transplantation by delivering a cell therapy directly to the organ.

14 Jul 2020

C-Path's Transplant Therapeutics Consortium receives positive FDA response for its Letter of Intent

Critical Path Institute announced today that its Transplant Therapeutics Consortium has received a positive response to its Letter of Intent from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration detailing the decision to accept the Composite Biomarker Panel (iBox Scoring System) into the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Biomarker Qualification Program.

17 Jun 2020

Study investigates effectiveness of liver perfusion to improve the function of donor livers

A major study investigating the effectiveness of liver perfusion as a technique to improve the function of donor livers that would have otherwise been rejected has shown that up to 7 in every 10 could be used after just 4-6 hours of the assessment.

17 Jun 2020

Researchers successfully transplant fully functional mini livers into rats

Using skin cells from human volunteers, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have created fully functional mini livers, which they then transplanted into rats.

2 Jun 2020

Five important things to know about the new opt out organ donation law

From 20 May 2020, all adults in England are automatically considered potential organ donors following the introduction of the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Bill.

26 May 2020

Kidney transplants: Volume of services correlated with quality of treatment outcomes

In complex operations, is there a correlation between the volume of service provided per hospital and the quality of the treatment outcome? This question is addressed in eight commissions on minimum volumes that the Federal Joint Committee has issued to the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care.

22 May 2020

Fewer traffic collisions during shutdown means longer waits for organ donations

On Day Two of the San Francisco Bay Area's stay-at-home orders in March, Nohemi Jimenez got into her car in San Pablo, California, waved goodbye to her 3-year-old son and drove to her regular Wednesday dialysis appointment.

19 May 2020

Organ transplantations plummet amid coronavirus pandemic

The coronavirus disease has spread rapidly across nearly all countries across the globe, with more than 4.25 million people infected. The pandemic has taken a toll on the lives of people, especially those in locked down nations. Aside from the negative impact on economic and social aspects, patients who are sick with other diseases may also suffer from the effects of the pandemic.

12 May 2020

"Soft opt-out" system may increase consent rates for organ donation after death

Research published in Anaesthesia suggests that a "soft opt-out" system may increase consent rates for organ donation after death, which could boost the number of organs available for transplantation.

6 May 2020

First transplant of deceased donor's uterus in Sweden

The Swedish team responsible for uterine transplantation research has, for the first time, transplanted a uterus from a deceased donor. The operation proceeded without complications and the recipient is doing well.

18 Feb 2020

UC research could help identify organ donors at risk of developing kidney disease

Kidney transplantation is the gold standard treatment for end-stage kidney disease and is associated with an advantage over dialysis in both survival and quality of life.

11 Feb 2020

How lifesaving organs for transplant go missing in transit

When a human heart was left behind by mistake on a Southwest Airlines plane in 2018, transplant officials downplayed the incident. They emphasized that the organ was used for valves and tissues, not to save the life of a waiting patient, so the delay was inconsequential.

10 Feb 2020

Men in the UK could be allowed to donate sperm after death

A new analysis concludes that sperm donations taken from men after death are morally permissible.

22 Jan 2020

Debate continues over donor sperm from deceased men

A new article published in the Journal of Medical Ethics continues to defend the concept of sperm donation from dead men, in order to improve sperm quality, and quantity. This would go far in addressing the current deficiency of donor sperm.

21 Jan 2020

Triple transplant patients encourage people to register as organ and tissue donors

Four University of Chicago Medicine patients who received rare triple-organ transplants came together publicly for the first time to encourage people to register as organ and tissue donors, hoping to raise awareness about giving the gift of life during a holiday season focused on giving.

20 Dec 2019

Modern resuscitation science: Illuminating the complex processes of death

On Monday, November 18, 2019 the New York Academy of Sciences and the Critical Care and Resuscitation Research Program at NYU Langone will present a two part event titled What Happens When We Die? at the Academy's offices in downtown Manhattan.

15 Nov 2019