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National Kidney Foundation Recognizes National Mental Health Awareness Month

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“May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) recognizes this important month by calling attention to NKF Peers, a free mentoring program that matches people in late stage kidney disease, those on dialysis or living with a transplant, as well as living donors with mentors who provide one-on-one support to guide them through their kidney health journey.  As COVID-19 cases in the U.S. continue to rise, NKF Peers is more important than ever because people with kidney disease and transplant recipients face a heightened risk for developing serious complications from COVID-19. In addition, people hospitalized with COVID-19 are developing kidney failure and becoming kidney patients. In these incredibly stressful times, the NKF Peers program is available to kidney patients seeking support, information, and understanding from someone who has been in a similar situation.”

Learn more about the NKF Peers program, here.

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How a wearable helps improve care after a kidney transplant

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“The wearable geko device, manufactured by UK-based Sky Medical Technology and distributed in Canada by Trudell Healthcare Solutions, 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%. 

Kidney and simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantations can significantly reduce mortality and improve the quality of life for patients with end stage renal disease.”

Read more, here.

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Improving Lung Capacity Pre- and Post-COVID-19

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“For many patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, surviving the virus is only half of the battle. Once deemed virus-free and ready to be sent home, the often-long road to recovery – including rebuilding lung capacity and overall respiratory health – begins.

Two Cedars-Sinai respiratory therapists explain what roadblocks these hospital-admitted patients face when it comes to lung health and offer tips for non-patients looking to improve their overall respiratory health.

“Patients with COVID-19 tend to be sicker for much longer than other patients with respiratory-related illnesses and, on average, stay on a ventilator for a longer duration,” said Dagoberto Naranjo, RRT, a respiratory therapist in the Department of Respiratory Therapy at Cedars-Sinai.

These ventilated patients also take longer to react, or benefit from, oxygenation efforts, according to Naranjo.”

Read full article, here.

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Despite COVID Vaccinations, Caution Still Crucial for Transplant Recipients

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“Long before COVID-19 changed the world, organ transplant recipients were wearing masks to shield themselves from airborne threats.

Immunosuppressive medicines, which often are a lifelong requirement after a transplant, add an extra layer of protection against viruses as common as a cold or as dangerous as COVID. Transplant patients are told to use masks for any group gatherings or airplane flights, and hand sanitizing is a must. 

While COVID has brought a heightened awareness of these patients’ health risks and fragility, a recent study by Johns Hopkins University researchers in Baltimore, Maryland, and a report from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, may raise their sense of unease even further.”

Read the full article, here.

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Antibody Response to 2-Dose SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine Series in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients

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“Transplant recipients without prior polymerase chain reaction–confirmed COVID-19 were recruited from across the US to participate in this prospective cohort through a digital campaign. Those who completed the 2-dose SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine series between December 16, 2020, and March 13, 2021, were included and followed up through April 13, 2021. As described previously,3 semiquantitative antispike serologic testing was undertaken with the Roche Elecsys anti–SARS-CoV-2 S enzyme immunoassay, positive cutoff of at least 0.8 U/mL, which tests for the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, or the EUROIMMUN enzyme immunoassay, positive cutoff of at least 1.1 arbitrary units, which tests for the S1 domain of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, both key measures of humoral immune response.4,5 This study was approved by the Johns Hopkins institutional review board; participants provided informed consent electronically.

The proportion of patients who developed a positive antibody response was assessed with an exact binomial confidence interval. The Fisher exact test was used to compare categorical variables, such as antimetabolite immunosuppression, and the Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables. All tests were 2-sided with α = .05. Analyses were performed using Stata 16.1/Windows.”

See the full study results, here.

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The Living Donor Protection Act: What You Need to Know

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“More than ever, living donors are coming forward and generously volunteering to give the gift of life to hundreds of PKD patients across America. These living donors make up a vital portion of the kidney transplants performed in the U.S. each year. About one-third of the kidney transplants in 2020 were living donations.

Right now, there’s no federal legislation protecting living organ donors from losing their jobs just for taking recovery leave for transplant surgery. Living donors also experience higher premiums and even denial of coverage for most forms of insurance. In fact, 25% of living donors are denied or charged more for life insurance.”

Learn more, here.

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They Survived COVID. Now They Need New Lungs.

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“BOSTON — He survived Covid-19, but his lungs were ravaged. After months of deep sedation, he is delirious, his muscles atrophied. And this 61-year-old still cannot breathe on his own.

He was first intubated just after the winter holidays. Now, when he fully wakes, he will see that he is still attached to the ventilator by a tracheostomy tube in his neck. Slowly, he will come to learn that catheters the size of garden hoses are connecting his body to another device, a large extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine that has taken over the work of his failed lungs.

Gently, his doctors and family will tell him that his lungs are never going to recover, and that this machine is a bridge that will help keep him alive until he can receive a transplant. If it turns out that he is not a transplant candidate — if he cannot build up enough strength, or if he develops a catastrophic new infection or organ failure — the machine will eventually be turned off. And he will die.

He is not alone. Here in my hospital, we are caring for a new population of patients who have cleared the virus but are left with severe lung disease, trapped on ventilators and lung bypass machines.”

Read the full piece, here.

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Potassium and Your CKD Diet

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Today is NATIONAL HIGH POTASSIUM AWARENESS DAY!

“What is potassium and why is it important to you?

Potassium is a mineral found in many of the foods you eat. It plays a role in keeping your heartbeat regular and your muscles working right. It is the job of healthy kidneys to keep the right amount of potassium in your body. However, when your kidneys are not healthy, you often need to limit certain foods that can increase the potassium in your blood to a dangerous level. You may feel some weakness, numbness and tingling if your potassium is at a high level. If your potassium becomes too high, it can cause an irregular heartbeat or a heart attack.”

Read more, here.

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Test to Predict Kidney Transplant Rejection Works for Children

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Cedars-Sinai Patient Pioneers Successful Pediatric Use of Test Developed for Adults

“In many ways 19-year-old, Brenna Kahlen is a typical teenager. She is living at home in Newport Beach, working and going to college. But unlike most of her peers, Brenna is a now a medical first.

Brenna was born with a disease known as tuberous sclerosis, which affected her kidneys. At age 11, she had both kidneys surgically removed and was placed on dialysis until she could receive a donated kidney.

The transplant happened in 2013 and Brenna “has done extremely well,” said Dechu Puliyanda, MD  Cedars-Sinai’s director of Pediatric Nephrology and Transplant Immunology, who oversees Brenna’s care”

Read the full story, here.

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A Patient Pioneer: Minimally Invasive Lung Transplantation

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Frank Coburn Is the First Patient in Southern California—and Possibly First in the U.S.—to Undergo the Lifesaving Surgery

“To anyone else, it’s just a walk around the block. But for Frank Coburn, 57, and his wife, it’s a miracle.

A miracle that resulted from Coburn becoming the first Southern Californian—and possibly first in the U.S.—to receive a minimally invasive double lung transplant. The procedure was performed at the Smidt Heart Institute.

“After getting the call that a pair of lungs became available and I needed to be at the hospital immediately, I remember being wheeled into the operating room, finally feeling calm and ready to trust the process,” recalled Coburn, a Huntington Beach resident and longtime boat mechanic. “Once I woke up, my care team shared I had undergone a minimally invasive procedure instead of the traditional, more invasive approach. I was so fortunate and felt so proud to be the first. Truly lucky.”

During a routine lung transplant, surgeons usually create a “clamshell” or sternotomy incision, which involves breaking the breastbone in two pieces and requires many patients to rely on a heart-lung machine.”

Read the full story, here.

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