By Veronica Giarla
Reagan, 18, is gearing up for her freshman year of college this fall, and she has a solid idea about her future career. “I hope to become a transplant nurse or a child life specialist,” she shares with a smile. Her inspiration to enter this field of medicine comes from her experiences with the care team that she and her family met while at Boston Children’s Hospital when she was only an infant. Read more from Boston Children’s Hospital.
Transplanting liver tissue from a healthy living person to a patient in serious need is safe, increases the donor pool, and saves lives, Thomas G. Cotter, MD, MSCP, and colleagues report in Liver Transplantation.
“Living-donor liver transplantation among patients with MELD scores of 25 or above can be done safely,” Dr. Cotter notes. Read more in Physician’s Weekly.
Transplant centers are reporting a rise in patients in need of new livers.
By Mary Kekatos
Excessive drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to skyrocketing rates of alcohol-associated liver disease to the point of needing transplants, according to doctors.
Transplant centers across the United States are reporting more patients in need of a new liver than ever before, sometimes seeing double the number of patients needing transplants compared to pre-pandemic levels. Read the full story in ABC News.
By Tahleel Mohieldin
MILWAUKEE – Before the hugs and congratulations at the finish line, John Allision had a clear mission at the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon Sunday.
Allison’s goal was to help raise awareness for veteran suicide and after finding an outlet for his own mental health struggles he wanted to encourage others to not give up. Check out the full story in WTMJ-4 Milwaukee News.
By Chad Van Alstin
Surgeons may have to start worrying about machines taking their jobs. A research hospital in Saudi Arabia has just achieved the world’s first fully robotic liver transplant—and the patient survived and is doing fine.
The recipient of this pioneering procedure was a 66-year-old Saudi male who has since recovered and been discharged, according to a statement from the hospital. The transplant was conducted by the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSH&RC), which is becoming world famous for its robotic surgeons, who just last year successfully performed delicate brain surgery, albeit with the support of humans.
Read more in HealthExec.
By Liam Connolly
New program is only liver transplant program available in California north of San Francisco
(SACRAMENTO) UC Davis Health has launched a new adult liver transplant program. The move expands the existing services of the UC Davis Transplant Center and provides comprehensive care to patients with liver disease.
The liver transplant program is the third solid organ transplant program to launch at UC Davis Health, joining adult and pediatric kidney transplants. It is the only liver transplant program available in California north of San Francisco. Read more in UCDavis Health News.
Yale researchers have identified a protein that drives symptoms of severe liver disease and may be a target for treatment in the future.
By Mallory Locklear
A severe form of fatty liver disease called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is the leading cause of liver transplantation, but there are few treatment options and currently no medications. In a new study, Yale researchers have identified a driver of liver damage that occurs in NASH and which may open new treatment options in the future.
The study was published Sept. 27 in Science Translational Medicine. Read more in YaleNews.
Logan was diagnosed with a rare genetic mutation that causes bile to build up in the liver. Logan’s parents didn’t want to wait any longer in Florida for a transplant. So they checked out a pediatric liver transplant program in Pittsburgh at UPMC Children’s Hospital. Watch this story on WTAE-TV Pittsburgh.
By Elise Takahama
It had been less than two weeks since giving birth when a coronary artery in Adriana Rodriguez’s heart burst.
The sudden tear interrupted an early December breakfast with her mother in Bellingham, and within minutes her chest started tightening. A wave of nausea weakened her body. She wanted to curl up into a ball.
Read the full story in The Seattle Times.
Robotic liver transplants, perfected in the Middle East, and now done in Colorado, promise fewer complications, faster recovery.
By Todd Neff, for CU Health
For Colorado and neighboring states, it was a first.
Never before in the region had a liver-transplant donor surgery been performed by a surgical robot. Given the robotic procedure’s proven advantages in shorter recovery time and fewer complications, the timing couldn’t have been better.
The robotic part was new for Danel Kuhlmann also. But she had donated an organ before. Read more from CU Health.