Copyright 2012 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/transplants/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241320.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241320.phpMedical researchers at the University of Alberta reviewed the medical records of more than 100 patients who had a liver scarring condition and discovered those who were losing muscle were more apt to die while waiting for a liver transplant...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241157.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241157.phpAfter 100 days in hospital and undergoing a complicated 6-organ transplant, 9-year-old Alannah Shevenell, from Maine, leaves Boston Children's Hospital today and goes home. Alannah has been treated for a rare form of cancer; an inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor continued to grow after all possible treatments failed, and was compromising her internal organs. A team of surgeons, led by Dr...Transplants / Organ Donations Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241078.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241078.phpFor patients with incurable pulmonary conditions, a lung transplantation is the only available treatment option. However, suitable donor organs are scarce, and even getting them to prospective recipients is not easy...Transplants / Organ Donations Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241094.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241094.phpAccording to a study in the February edition of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a specific predictor of 90-day survival after liver transplantation...Transplants / Organ Donations Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241010.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241010.phpThe current system for allocating donated lungs based on proximity and not on need appears to decrease the potential benefits of lung transplantation and increase the number of patients who die waiting, researchers said at an annual meeting of thoracic surgeons in Fort Lauderdale, Fla...Transplants / Organ Donations Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241002.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241002.phpResearchers from the U.K. determined that preoperative cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a specific predictor of 90-day survival following liver transplantation...Transplants / Organ Donations Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241005.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241005.phpNew research published online in the FASEB Journal details a new antibody, called "OPN-305" that may significantly improve survival outcomes for those receiving donated kidneys and other organs. OPN-305 works by preventing inflammation triggered by oxygen deprivation in the donated organ, allowing for better recovery after transplantation...Transplants / Organ Donations Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240907.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240907.phpNorthwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researchers have identified a new and unusual role for a key player in the human immune system. A protein initially believed to regulate one routine function within the cell has proven vital for another critical step in the activation of the immune system...Immune System / Vaccines Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240864.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240864.phpA new system for delivering a drug to organ transplant patients, which could avoid the risk of harmful side effects, is being developed by scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow...Transplants / Organ Donations Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240908.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240908.phpTransplant patients who develop head and neck cancer are more likely to be non-smokers and non-drinkers, and less likely than their non-transplant counterparts to survive past one year of diagnosis, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit...Transplants / Organ Donations Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240831.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240831.phpRapid discontinuation of the immunosuppressive steroid prednisone after a kidney transplant can help prevent serious side effects, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). Also, doing so does not appear to jeopardize the long-term survival of transplant patients and their new organs...Transplants / Organ Donations Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240876.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240876.phpAccording to Johns Hopkins researchers, individuals who donate a portion of their liver for live transplantation usually recover safely from the procedure and can expect to live long, healthy lives. The study is published in the February issue of the journal Gastroenterology. Dorry L. Segev, M.D., Ph.D...Transplants / Organ Donations Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240769.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240769.phpScientists with the new Children's Research Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified the environment in which blood-forming stem cells survive and thrive within the body, an important step toward increasing the safety and effectiveness of bone-marrow transplantation. Institute investigators led by Dr...Blood / Hematology Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240742.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240742.phpA molecule embedded in the membrane of human liver cells that aids in cholesterol absorption also allows the entry of hepatitis C virus, the first step in hepatitis C infection, according to research at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240607.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240607.phpExtracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support in awake, non-intubated patients may be an effective strategy for bridging patients to lung transplantation, according to a new study from Germany. "As waiting times for donor organs continue to increase, so does the need for bridging strategies for patients with end-stage lung disease awaiting transplantation," said Marius M...Transplants / Organ Donations Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240453.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240453.phpResearch from the University of Michigan Health System shows the risk for kidney failure among liver transplant recipients is higher following the implementation of Model of End Stage Liver Disease (MELD), a policy change in 2002 that altered how liver transplant allocation is decided. The study, led by Pratima Sharma, M.D., M.S...Transplants / Organ Donations Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240397.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240397.phpA study in the January 18 issue of JAMA reveals that the majority of children who received liver transplant grafts from a parent were able to stay off immunosuppression therapy for at least 1 year with normal graft function after gradual withdrawal from the therapy...Transplants / Organ Donations Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240390.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240390.phpNurse Allison Batson donated one of her own kidneys to 23-year old patient, Clay Taber; somebody she barely knew, after working on the transplant department of Emory University Hospital for over two years. Allison was not even Clay's primary nurse, but says she felt an instant connection with him. Taber, from Columbus, Ga...Transplants / Organ Donations Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240356.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240356.phpA new study by Johns Hopkins researchers published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, has revealed that thousands of U.S. senior citizens with kidney disease are good candidates for transplants and would be able to receive them if physicians would overcome past outdated medical biases and put these patients on transplant waiting lists...Transplants / Organ Donations Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240287.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240287.phpThousands more American senior citizens with kidney disease are good candidates for transplants and could get them if physicians would get past outdated medical biases and put them on transplant waiting lists, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers...Transplants / Organ Donations Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240170.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240170.phpThe great variation of a specific form of immune genes makes organ transplants so complicated. On the other hand, we need such a great variability in order to resist infectious diseases. This is why it also plays a major role in the selection of sexual partners. Up until now, the mechanisms for maintaining this standing genetic variation have remained an evolutionary puzzle...Immune System / Vaccines Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239892.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239892.php Results may have important implications for counseling parents on organ donation Children with a rare, life-threatening disease that is the most common cause of neonatal liver failure - biliary atresia - better tolerate liver transplants from their mothers than from their fathers, according to a UCSF-led study...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239840.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239840.phpIn March 2011, a surgical team at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) performed the first full face transplantation (FFT) in the United States and went on to complete a total of three FFTs this year...Cosmetic Medicine / Plastic Surgery Tue, 03 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239813.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239813.phpCorrecting anemia, a red blood cell deficiency, can preserve kidney function in many kidney transplant recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results indicate that aggressively treating anemia may help save the kidneys and possibly the lives of many transplant recipients...Urology / Nephrology Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239673.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239673.php Research published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia suggests that organ donation rates in the UK could be increased if the current issues affecting declined consent are improved. At present, only 30% of the UK population are registered on the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR). From 2003 to 2005, the overall consent rate for donation after brain death (DBD) was 59%...Transplants / Organ Donations