Posted on

Pulmonary hypertension common in kidney transplant recipients

Loading

Patients with pulmonary hypertension who underwent kidney transplantation had similar posttransplant outcomes at 5 years compared with those without pretransplant pulmonary hypertension, researchers reported in Pulmonary Circulation.

“Pulmonary hypertension more than doubles the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular-specific mortality in those on dialysis, and it increases the risk of adverse perioperative outcomes including death in noncardiac surgeries irrespective of kidney function. 
Read the full article in Healio.

Loading
Posted on

Study Supports Expanded Use of HCV-Infected Liver Donation

Loading

– Post-transplant survival similar between recipients with active or prior HCV infection

With the advent of direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the post-liver transplant setting, we are seeing more and more HCV-infected donor livers offered to patients awaiting liver transplant. Post-liver transplant outcomes for patients with HCV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who receive HCV-infected donor livers are not well established.

A recent study, published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, utilized the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) registry to classify patients with HCV-related HCC (with either prior infection or active viremia) who received HCV-infected donor livers. Overall, the post-liver transplant survival outcomes were similar between recipients with active HCV infection and those with prior infection. Clinically, this study supports consideration of expanded use of HCV-infected liver donation to improve access to liver transplantation. Read more on MedPage Today.

Loading
Posted on

How organ donations broke records even during the pandemic

Loading

Last fall, Jeff Hackman’s kidney disease turned serious. He felt tired all the time, got winded easily. Years earlier, his older sister, Dawn Martin of Marietta, made a promise: when the time comes, she would gladly donate one of hers. Within a few months, the siblings, who were a good match, passed a battery of tests, and a surgery date was set for Dec. 8.

But with omicron sweeping through the country at a dizzying pace, the siblings were filled with worry about the timing for this life-saving procedure, concerned the pandemic could delay the surgery or even thwart the procedure indefinitely. Click here to read the story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Loading
Posted on

New study reveals that healthy plant-based diets are associated with a lower risk of developing diabetes

Loading

New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes [EASD]) finds that the consumption of healthy plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee, and legumes, is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) in generally healthy people and support their role in diabetes prevention. Read the study in ScienceDaily here.

Loading
Posted on

Low-Salt Diet Helpful for HF Symptoms, but Not Necessarily for Clinical Events

Loading

— Sodium restriction still holds its ground in SODIUM-HF trial


WASHINGTON — A dietary intervention reduced sodium intake, but did not reduce clinical events, for people with heart failure (HF), according to the SODIUM-HF trial.

Between patients randomized to a low-sodium diet or usual care for 12 months, there was no statistically significant difference in the combined outcome of cardiovascular-related admissions to hospital, cardiovascular-related emergency department visits, and all-cause death in the trial (15% vs 17%, HR 0.89, 95% CI 0.63-1.26), reported Justin Ezekowitz, MBBCh, of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Read more in MedPage Today.

Loading
Posted on

Hepatitis C and Kidney Transplants: Possibilities, Risks, and Outlook

Loading

Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes liver damage. It’s spread through contaminated blood, for example, if you inject drugs with a needle that was used by someone with the virus.

It doesn’t typically cause symptoms right away, so it’s hard to know if you have it. Over time, though, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) can start to affect your liver function, leading to symptoms like fatigue and jaundice. Read the full story in Healthline here.

Loading
Posted on

Stroke While on LVAD No Barrier to Successful Heart Transplant

Loading

— It doesn’t help, for sure, but it doesn’t seem to hurt greatly either

SEATTLE — Perhaps the biggest downside of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) for people with end-stage heart failure is the substantial risk of strokes they bring. But a new study indicates that patients can still proceed to successful heart transplant after an LVAD-related stroke.

Among patients suffering strokes after receiving LVADs as bridge-to-transplant therapy at one major referral center, and then proceeding to transplant, medium- and long-term outcomes were just as good as for stroke-free LVAD recipients, reported Aaron Shoskes, DO, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Read more on MedPage Today.

Loading
Posted on

Post-Transplant Diabetes Risk Informed by Polygenic Risk Profiles in Donors, Recipients

Loading

NEW YORK – Taking organ donor and recipient genetics into consideration — via a polygenic risk score (PRS) — may help identify individuals at risk of developing diabetes after a solid organ transplant.

“Our study demonstrates the importance, and the potential application, of PRS in solid organ transplantation,” co-first and corresponding author Abraham Shaked, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Transplant Institute, and his coauthors wrote in Nature Medicine on Thursday. Read the story in GenomeWeb here.

Loading
Posted on

‘Lungs In A Box’ Procedure Could Drastically Reduce Organ Waitlists: Doctors

Loading

A unique lung transplant procedure has arrived at Northwestern Medicine in downtown Chicago

A unique procedure at Northwestern could cut down long waiting lists for those in need of a lung transplant.

Nicknamed “lungs in a box,” the ex-vivo lung perfusion procedure allows donated lungs to be examined for hours at a time on a machine – after being extracted from the body. The organs are then hooked up to a machine that simulates the breathing of a human body.
Read/watch the full story on NBC 5 Chicago here.

Loading