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New matching system enables world’s first four-way liver exchange

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Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLM

In a breakthrough in liver transplantation that may lead to the ability to connect more living donors and patients, a new matching system designed by a team led by Boston College economists enabled the world’s first four-way liver exchange and a cascade of additional matches, researchers reported recently in the American Journal of Transplantation.

The results show that expanding the capacity of the donor-patient matching mechanism beyond the traditional 2-way change – matching two patients with two donors – can increase the number of transplants that can be matched among a larger group of participants, according to the study, co-authored by BC Professors of Economics Tayfun Sonmez and Utku Unver. Read the complete article in News Medical Life Sciences.

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Growth hormone lowers liver fat for adults with obesity, steatotic liver disease

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By Michael Monostra

Adults with overweight or obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease had a more than 5% reduction in liver fat at 6 months with growth hormone therapy, according to findings from a randomized controlled trial.

“Specifically, GH significantly decreased liver fat and alanine aminotransferase as well as visceral adipose tissue and high sensitivity C-reactive protein,” Laura Dichtel, MD, MHS, endocrinologist and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and the director of steatotic liver disease research in the neuroendocrine unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Healio. Read the full story in Healio.

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Survival “Excellent” for Patients With Infection Before Liver Transplant

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“The risk of poor outcomes because of the persistence/recurrence of infections after liver transplant (LT) is a main barrier in the decision to proceed or not to LT in patients with cirrhosis and infections,” Salvatore Piano, MD, PhD, and colleagues wrote. “In fact, infections increase morbidity and mortality in the early post-transplant period, and use of immunosuppression may limit the ability of the host to counteract the pathogens. For these reasons, international guidelines state that active infections should be adequately treated before LT. However, the optimal timing of LT in patients surviving an episode of infection as well as their prioritization on LT waiting list is still to be established.” Read the full article in Physician’s Weekly.

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‘Liver in a box’ helps save more lives, can improve transplant outcomes

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OHSU only Oregon hospital using perfusion machine in liver transplantation

By Franny White

Oregon Health & Science University is the only hospital in Oregon and one of just two Pacific Northwest hospitals that use a new medical device that has been nicknamed a “liver in the box.”

Seven OHSU patients have undergone transplants since April thanks to the device. Read the full story in OHSU News.

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‘Wildest Dreams’: Teen Awaiting Lifesaving Transplant Gifted Taylor Swift Tickets

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By Julienne Jenkins

Nevaeh Quinn of Winnemucca, Nevada, got the thrill of a lifetime when she received the news that a generous, anonymous donor was gifting her tickets to see Taylor Swift at the Eras Tour concert. A social worker at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, Gianna Nasrah, LCSW, wanted to do something special for her.

Nevaeh is an amazing 14-year-old girl that has spent a lot of her life in medical settings,” Nasrah said. “She has recently been in and out of the hospital often, and I think my hope is that this gives her a sense of normalcy and rejuvenates her hope for the future.” Read the full story from Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.

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Conquering New Heights: A Father and Son Celebrate a 20-Year Transplant Anniversary

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When Ethan Glaser needed a liver transplant as a toddler, his father, Chad, stepped up to become his living donor. Twenty years later Ethan is thriving, and they marked the anniversary of the donation with a trip to remember.

By Camille Bautista-Fryer

On a trip in March 2023, Chad and Ethan Glaser soaked in the breathtaking views, marveling at the majestic, snow-capped peaks of the French Alps before gliding side by side down the powdered slopes. As Chad soared down the alpine landscape in Chamonix, France, glancing at his 22-year-old son, Ethan, he felt immense gratitude.

It was exactly this kind of moment that Chad hoped he and Ethan could share when he donated a portion of his liver to Ethan, who at three months old was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a rare liver disease of the bile ducts that affects newborn infants. This trip to Chamonix marked the 20th anniversary of the liver donation. Read the full story in Health Matters.

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Heart, other organs show mitochondrial damage after COVID-19 despite recovery of lungs

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By Scott Buzby

Following SARS-CoV-2 infection, mitochondrial function remained impaired in the heart, liver and kidneys, despite observed recovery in the lungs, according to a human autopsy and animal tissue study.

“Upon SARS-CoV-2 infection of host cells, the viral copy number increases unchecked until the innate immune system is engaged, after which the viral copies progressively decline until the virus is eliminated,” Joseph Guarnieri, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues wrote. Read the full article in Healio.

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First robot-assisted liver transplant in US performed in St. Louis

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By Ashley Vargo

ST. LOUIS — A surgical team from Washington University’s School of Medicine has successfully performed the first robot-assisted whole-liver transplant in the U.S. — and the patient was cleared to get back on the golf course just a month later.

The surgery took place in May at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and the patient — a man in his 60s with liver cancer and cirrhosis due to a hepatitis C infection — has recovered swiftly, according to his doctors.
Read the full story in The Virginian-Pilot.

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