Article – Page 139

June 12, 2021August 16, 2022

DaVita and the NKF Join Forces to Improve Health Equity in Kidney Transplantation

ilot program to provide education and support for kidney patients seeking living donors

DaVita Kidney Care and the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) today announced their collaboration in launching an innovative, yearlong pilot aimed at improving health equity in kidney transplantation with a newly-developed program within NKF’s THE BIG ASK: THE BIG GIVE platform.

“Many people never find a living donor simply because they are afraid to ask,” said Kevin Longino, CEO, National Kidney Foundation and a kidney transplant patient. “NKF’s THE BIG ASK: THE BIG GIVE platform helps patients and families learn how to find a living donor and we are grateful to DaVita for their support in helping to reach patients in underserved areas.”

The pilot will take place in Colorado, New York, Minnesota and New Mexico. DaVita and NKF carefully selected these states because each has a unique opportunity to improve health equity in kidney transplantation. In addition, both organizations have a strong, on-the-ground presence in these states, with operational teams that are well connected to the transplant and health care ecosystem.

Huntington Beach Man Receives First Minimally Invasive Double-Lung Transplant In US

Huntington Beach man has had a second chance at life after he received the nation’s first ever minimally invasive double-lung transplant. 57-year-old Frank Coburn was beginning his second chapter, enjoying life with his loving bride of more than 30 years, and the success of his two adult daughters, when the avid biker started experiencing shortness of breath.

“I would always cough on an intake, and I’d have to kind of belly breathe,” Coburn told CBS2 News This Morning’s DeMarco Morgan.

In March of 2020, he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.

Read the full story, here.

June 5, 2021August 16, 2022

Representative Brian Sims Donated a Kidney to Gay Neighbor

Pennsylvania State Representative Brian Sims is a lifesaver. When he learned he was a perfect donor match for a gay man was dying of renal failure last year, he agreed to donate one of his kidneys. This week, over a year later, Sims tweeted he ran into the now-healthy recipient and his husband while the two men were having lunch. He also revealed that when his parents came to town, the group all shared a meal together.

“My recipient Alan and his husband John were sitting having lunch,” Sims tweeted of the chance encounter that occurred while he was walking to his office last month. “A perfectly normal, healthy, happy couple sitting in the sun enjoying each other’s company. It was perfection!”

Read full story, here.

June 4, 2021August 16, 2022

Former Panther Greg Olsen says donor match found for son to receive heart transplant: ‘A huge step’

The 8-year-old son of former Carolina Panther Greg Olsen, who was born with a congenital heart defect, is set to receive a heart transplant.

Olsen tweeted Friday that there was a donor match for his son TJ.

“Day 8- Today is a day of mixed emotions. A day we have prayed for has arrived,” Olsen tweeted. “Walking our little boy, with tears of hope and fear in our eyes, was one of the toughest moments of our lives.”

“We ask for everyone’s prayers for TJ and his amazing team of doctors and nurses.” Olsen tweeted that TJ has a long road ahead of him but “this is a huge step forward.”

Olsen, the former Pro Bowl tight end for the Carolina Panthers, said TJ has had three open-heart surgeries and lived with a modified heart for eight years.

Read the full story, here.

June 2, 2021August 16, 2022

Cleveland Clinic’s Weston Hospital Performs First Living Donor Liver Transplant

“Cleveland Clinic’s Weston Hospital has performed its first living donor liver transplant, in which a daughter donated a portion of her liver to her mother who had been battling complicated liver disease for several years.

The donor and recipient surgeries were performed in Weston by a team of surgeons from Cleveland Clinic Weston and Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, which has one of the nation’s largest living donor liver transplant programs.

On May 10, 2021, Cristiano Quintini, M.D., director of Liver Transplantation at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and Weston Hospital transplant surgeons Samer Ebaid, M.D., Ph.D., and Phoenix Vuong, M.D., removed 60 percent of the right lobe of 38 year-old Heidy Lima’s liver through an abdominal incision.”

Read more, here.

June 2, 2021August 16, 2022

Simple medical device improves care after kidney transplantation

“A team from Lawson Health Research Institute (LHSC), in Ontario Canada, has found that a simple medical device can reduce swelling after kidney transplantation. The wearable geko™ device, manufactured by UK-based, Sky Medical Technology Ltd and distributed in Canada by Trudell Healthcare Solution Inc., is a small muscle pump activator that significantly increases blood flow via painless electrical pulses. Patients using the device following kidney transplantation experienced shorter hospital stays and reduced surgical site infections by nearly 60 per cent.”

Read more, here.

May 25, 2021August 16, 2022

Graft, patient survival improves in HIV, HCC liver transplant recipients

“Outcomes have improved significantly among HIV/Hepatitis C virus-coinfected liver transplant recipients in the direct-acting antiviral era, according to data presented at the Digestive Disease Week.

“The practice of liver transplant for HIV-positive patients has been increasing since 2013 when the HOPE Act was passed; however, the number is still low, less than 1% of total liver transplants,” Jennifer Wang, from the University of Chicago, said during her presentation. “There is a significant geographic variation of HIV/HCV coinfected liver transplant practice with limited number of participating centers. Liver transplant outcomes for coinfected patients have improved significantly in the [direct-acting antiviral (DAA)] era and are comparable to patients without either infection.”

Wang and colleagues analyzed data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) on adult patients in the United States who underwent liver transplantation between 2008 and 2019. They identified 70,125 liver transplant patients, 416 of whom were HIV-infected.”

Learn more, here.

May 25, 2021August 16, 2022

From avoidance to experiment: How the COVID-19 pandemic impacted organ donation, transplant surgery

“Organ donation and transplantation surgery came to a screeching halt in March 2020 when doctors feared bringing severely-ill immunocompromised patients into a hospital that was packed over capacity with a highly transmissible airborne infectious disease.

If a patient wasn’t in an intensive care unit (ICU) bed at the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, they likely were not receiving a transplant at that time.”

Why eGFR-reporting change helps tackle kidney disease inequities

“Structural racism in health care is real, and three ways its manifestation can be seen and measured are in the treatment and health outcomes for patients with kidney disease and, ultimately, the likelihood that they will receive a lifesaving transplant.

“Unfortunately, the facts are incontrovertible,” said Paul Palevsky, MD, president of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). “People who identify as Black, Hispanic, Native American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander are more likely to develop kidney disease, disproportionately progress to kidney failure, are less likely to be treated with home dialysis, and are much less likely to be referred, listed and receive a kidney transplant.”

Dr. Palevsky made his remarks while delivering his presidential address at the NKF’s 2021 Spring Clinical Meetings, held virtually this year due to the pandemic. His talk was followed by a keynote presentation from AMA Chief Health Equity Officer Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH.”

Read full article, here.

May 19, 2021August 16, 2022

High Pain Burden Found in CKD, Dialysis, and Transplant Patients

“Pain is common among patients with stage 3 or higher chronic kidney disease (CKD), those receiving dialysis, and kidney transplant recipients, a new study finds.

In a systematic review and meta-analysis involving 116 studies and 40,678 individuals, 60% had pain, 48% had chronic pain lasting more than 3 months, and 10% had neuropathic pain, Samira Bell, MB ChB, of the University of Dundee in Scotland and colleagues reported in Kidney International.

Overall pain prevalence was lower among kidney transplant recipients (46%) compared with patients undergoing dialysis (63%) and patients with nondialysis CKD (63%). Individuals on hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis had similar pain prevalence. Among patients with nondialysis CKD, those with stage 3 or 4 disease reported pain as often as those with stage 5 disease, probably because these patients received palliative care, according to the investigators.”

Read the full article, here.