Transplant News and Research

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San Antonio students aim to raise $500,000 to save the life of Adrian Flores-Saucedo

They started out a small group of students from San Antonio universities coming together regularly to pray for the world around them, now 25 members of the St. Matthew's Catholic Church prayer group Oriens have embarked on a more challenging mission, a humanitarian effort to try and raise $500,000 to save the life of Adrian Flores-Saucedo, a seven-year-old boy from Piedras Negras, Mexico in desperate need of a heart transplant.

7 Apr 2007

Serious side effects from large amounts of niacin

Taking excessive doses of a common vitamin in an attempt to defeat drug screening tests may send the user to the hospital -- or worse.

5 Apr 2007

New hope for emphysema sufferers

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are now studying an investigational treatment that may offer a significant new, minimally-invasive option for those suffering from advanced widespread emphysema.

5 Apr 2007

New blood test to rapidly detect levels of radiation exposure

In the event of a nuclear or radiological catastrophe -- such as a nuclear accident or a "dirty bomb" -- thousands of people would be exposed to radiation, with no way of quickly determining how much of the deadly substance has seeped inside their bodies.

4 Apr 2007

Voluntary living liver donors should undergo a careful, but quick, workup

...and their desire for altruism should not be hampered by negativism from the transplant community, say the authors of a new study in the April issue of Liver Transplantation, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS).

4 Apr 2007

Filtering white cells from donor blood before transfusion is much safer for patients

The practice of removing the white cells from blood is called leukoreduction. But despite the recommendations of two national advisory committees in 10 years that voted in favor of all patients in the United States receiving leukoreduced blood, ("universal leukoreduction"), the practice is still not wholly supported in the medical community, nor recommended by the Food and Drug Administration. Part of the reason is fear of increased cost.

3 Apr 2007

Xenotransplantation - what are the barriers?

Given the huge shortage of donor organs, researchers have been trying to find ways to transplant animal organs across different species (known as "xenotransplantation"), with the eventual aim of transplanting animal organs into humans.

2 Apr 2007

Major step forward for islet transplantation in diabetes patient

Living Cell Technologies Limited has announced it has published evidence outlining the survival and identification of live porcine islet cells and insulin production in a human patient 10 years after receiving a pig islet cell transplant.

2 Apr 2007

Gender differences and skin cancer

Inherent gender differences – instead of more sun exposure – may be one reason why men are three times more likely than women to develop certain kinds of skin cancer, say researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center.

2 Apr 2007

Effect of gender on the development of UVB-induced skin cancers

Inherent gender differences "instead of more sun exposure" may be one reason why men are three times more likely than women to develop certain kinds of skin cancer, say researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center.

2 Apr 2007

Blueprint for cell, tissue and organ donation and transplantation

This week, at the second Global Consultation on Transplantation the World Health Organization (WHO) presented countries and other stakeholders with a blueprint for updated global guiding principles on cell, tissue and organ donation and transplantation.

30 Mar 2007

New treatments and interventions for chronically impaired cardiac patients

Whether a patient is awaiting a heart transplant or living with chronic heart failure, cardiologists are continuously looking for new therapies that address short-term and/or long-term needs of chronically impaired cardiac patients.

30 Mar 2007

Gene expression profiling shows how transplanted heart is performing

New research suggests a genomic test may provide detailed information on how well a transplanted heart is performing.

30 Mar 2007

New cardiovascular treatment approaches

In an era of increasing death and illness from heart and blood vessel disease - which also can impair kidney function - Mayo Clinic researchers have designed two promising new cardiovascular treatment approaches.

30 Mar 2007

Treating congenital heart defects in babies still in the womb

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Brigham and Women's Hospital reviewed the cases of 80 fetuses who had prenatal cardiac interventions during a six-year period (most often to avert hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

30 Mar 2007

Newly discovered peptide could help transplant for diabetes

A peptide developed by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College may expand the availability and durability of islet cell transplant for patients with type-1 diabetes, which is characterized by a lack of these insulin-producing cells.

21 Mar 2007

Hand transplant patient returns home

David F. Savage, the third person in the United States to receive a human hand transplant, will return home to Bay City, Michigan this weekend.

15 Mar 2007

House passes bill that would allow 'paired' kidney donations

The House on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation (HR 710) to specify that "paired" kidney donations do not violate laws prohibiting compensation for organ donations, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

11 Mar 2007

New Jersey hospital launches program encouraging expectant couples to bank adult stem cells

Livingston, New Jersey-based Saint Barnabas Medical Center officials on Tuesday announced that the clinic has partnered with LifebankUSA to launch a program devoted to encouraging expectant couples to bank both umbilical cord blood and placental stem cells, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.

11 Mar 2007