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Liver-transplant patient demographic info can help predict hospital readmission

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Brittany Damazio led study as an undergraduate researcher during the pandemic

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The age, sex, and other demographic information about a patient can be used to predict whether they will need to be readmitted following a liver transplant, according to new research spearheaded by recent Penn State graduate Brittany Damazio.

Damazio led the analyses and writing on a recent publication in the Journal of Liver Transplantation as an undergraduate researcher in health policy and administration. In the paper, the researchers identified common traits among people who were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days following a liver transplant. This work could one day help doctors prevent readmissions. Read more from Penn State News.

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Death Risk in Pediatric Liver Transplant Patients After Transfer to Adult Healthcare

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For a study, researchers sought to examine the relationship between demographic, psychological, and clinical characteristics and mortality or loss to follow-up in pediatric liver transplant recipients. It was the goal to learn more about the causes of the health gaps that are already known to exist in transplant outcomes, and to locate any risk factors that might be altered before the operation. From 2000 to 2015, the lives of children who received liver transplants at a major tertiary transplant facility were studied in a retrospective cohort study and then transitioned to adult treatment. Read more in Physician’s Weekly.

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Stanford Medicine student devises liver exchange, easing shortage of organs

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A rare three-way exchange of liver transplants in Pakistan was made possible with a new algorithm developed by a Stanford Medicine student.

December 7, 2022 – By Nina Bai

In some countries, cultural norms limit the availability of organs from deceased donors. An algorithm devised by Stanford Medicine’s Alex Chan can increase the number of transplants through a liver exchange.
Marko Aliaksandr/Shutterstock.com

On March 17 of this year, six operating rooms at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute were prepped for six simultaneous surgeries. On three operating tables were patients with end-stage liver disease. On the other three were their relatives — a daughter, a son and a wife — who had agreed to donate a portion of their livers. Read more from Stanford Medicine News Center.

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BP Control Beneficial for Liver Transplant Recipients

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— Patients who kept their blood pressure under 140/90 mm Hg had better kidney function at 1 year

WASHINGTON — Controlling blood pressure (BP) in liver transplant recipients led to better renal function at 1 year, post hoc data from a randomized trial suggested.

Recipients taking medication to control their BP had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) that was 12.2 mL/min higher at 1 year when they were able to keep their BP below 140/90 mm Hg after liver transplant, reported Elizabeth Cabrera, MD, of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Read more in MedPage Today.

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The transplant patient who got two second chances

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George Surratt felt like the luckiest man in the world when he got a liver transplant. The wait list for an organ is so long that some patients run out of time.
 
And, so, nine years later, when the Maplewood, MN, engineer turned again to University of Minnesota doctors, this time for a kidney transplant, he was worried.
 
Could lightning strike twice and allow him to join his wife in watching their two kids grow into careers and maybe even families? Read the full story from University of Minnesota News.

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MODEL score predicts 1-year mortality after liver transplantation in patients with ACLF

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WASHINGTON — The Multi-Organ Dysfunction and Evaluation for Liver transplantation, or MODEL, score predicted high probability of mortality in transplant patients with severe acute-on-chronic liver failure, according to research.

“Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is common and associated with high short-term mortality,” Ruben Hernaez, MD, MPH, PhD, associate professor of gastroenterology and hepatology at Baylor College of Medicine, said at The Liver Meeting.  Read more in Healio.

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You Need an Organ Transplant: 10 Pieces of Advice from Those Who Have Gone Through It

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You just found out you need an organ transplant. Whether it’s a heart, kidney, liver or lung, there are some key fundamentals to keep in mind as you navigate your transplant journey. Who better to share advice than those who have been through it?

Below are words of advice transplant recipients shared on Facebook and Instagram from their experiences during their transplant journeys. Read more on CareDx.com.

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MELD 3.0 bests MELD-Na in predicting liver transplant waitlist mortality for adolescents

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WASHINGTON — MELD 3.0 more accurately predicted the risk for 90-day waitlist mortality compared with MELD-Na among adolescent patients on a liver transplant waitlist, according to research presented at The Liver Meeting.

“Adolescents, which we have defined here as children or teenagers aged 12 to 17, constitute a unique and often overlooked waitlist cohort that is distinct from younger children and adults,” Allison J. Kwong, MD, a transplant hepatologist specializing in chronic liver disease at Stanford University, said. Read more in Healio.

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