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Transplant society president calls for more collaborative efforts to increase organ supply

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The transplant community, HHS and procurement organizations need to work collaboratively to increase the organ supply for transplantation in the United States, according to remarks made at the American Transplant Congress.

“We need more than symbolic gestures from our elected officials if we are going to meet the crisis of end-stage organ failure that kills patients at a rate of 17 per day [on the waitlist] in the U.S.,” John Gill, MD, outgoing president of the American Society of Transplantation (AST), said during his address. Read more in Healio here.

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HBCU Medical Schools to Tackle Organ Transplant Disparities

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A coalition including the four medical schools at the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities has announced a new initiative aimed at increasing the number of Black Americans registered as organ donors and combating disparities among transplant recipients.

A new initiative aimed at increasing the number of Black Americans registered as organ donors and combating disparities among transplant recipients was announced Thursday by a coalition that includes the four medical schools at the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities. Read more in U.S. News & World Report.

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Kidney Transplantation From COVID-19 Positive Donors Is Safe

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Transplanting kidneys from COVID-19-positive deceased donors appears safe, according to early results from a case series presented at AUA 2022.

At an AUA press conference, Alvin Wee, MD, MBA, program director for kidney transplantation at Glickman Urologic and Kidney Institute at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, reported results from 55 patients (36 men and 19 women) who received kidneys from 34 COVID-19-positive deceased donors from February to October 2021. Of the 34 donors, 13 (38.2%) had died from COVID-19-related causes and 6 (17.6%) had received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. Donor selection criteria evolved to the point that only COVID-19-positive donors without significant primary or secondary kidney injury were selected. The average Kidney Donor Profile Index was 36.9. Read more in Renal & Urology News.

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Turning Tragedy into Connection, a Donor Family Bonds with a Transplant Recipient

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When Sara Miller was 12, her sister, Laura, was diagnosed with brain cancer and died within days at a hospital in Milwaukee. Shocked and reeling, Sara’s family was asked by the hospital’s organ procurement coordinator if they wanted to donate Laura’s organs.

The Miller family had never discussed organ donation before, but Sara felt certain that Laura, a high school freshman, would have wanted to help save a life. “I grasped onto the idea that she could potentially make a difference,” says Sara, who encouraged her parents to say yes, which they did. “It was a tiny glimmer of hope amid a terrible day.”
Read the full story on CareDx.com here.

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Incompatible Blood Types and Paired Exchange Programs

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What blood types “match”?

Blood typing is the first blood test that will determine if your blood is compatible with the potential donor’s blood. If the donor’s blood type works with your blood type, the donor will take the next blood test (tissue typing).

Kidney donors must have a compatible blood type with the recipient. The Rh factor (+ or -) of blood does not matter in a transplant. Read more from the National Kidney Foundation.

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COVID in the Donor Organ: What’s the Risk?

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— In small sample, donors gave infection to lung recipients, yet not to other organ recipients

Three U.S. lung transplant recipients contracted COVID-19 from their new organs, including one patient who died and two patients who transmitted the virus to others, researchers found.

From March 2020 to March 2021, nine SARS-CoV-2 infected donors donated organs to 19 recipients. Three individuals who received bilateral lungs acquired infections from the donors but the remaining 16 recipients of extra-pulmonary organs did not, reported Rebecca Free, MD, MPH, of the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues.
Read more in MedPage Today.

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Study confirms living kidney donor surgery is low risk for most patients

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The risk of major complications for people who donate a kidney via laparoscopic surgery is minimal. That is the conclusion of a 20-year Mayo Clinic study of more than 3,000 living kidney donors. Only 2.5% of patients in the study experienced major complications, and all recovered completely.

“The results of this study are extremely reassuring for individuals who are considering being living kidney donors. We found that this lifesaving surgery, when performed at experienced transplant centers, is extremely safe,” says Timucin Taner, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Division of Transplant Surgery at Mayo Clinic’s William J. von Liebig Center for Transplantation and Clinical Regeneration in Minnesota. Dr. Taner is a co-author of the study. Read more in Medical Xpress.

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Access to kidney transplantation is improving for everyone, but more work remains to be done

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Organ donation and transplantation are saving more lives in the United States than ever before, thanks to concerted work by stakeholders from across the country: donor families, organ procurement organizations, transplant centers, the Organ Procurement Transplant Network (OPTN), the hundreds of volunteers who serve on OPTN committees, and others.

I have witnessed this remarkable achievement firsthand as a transplant physician caring for people with kidney disease. I also witness the plight of people with end-stage kidney disease who languish on transplant wait lists, a situation that is compounded by the kinds of disparities seen in other aspects of health care. Read more in STAT News.

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5 Tips To Find A Living Kidney Or Liver Donor

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It can be hard to ask for help, even in times of great need. We worry about being rejected, relinquishing control, or showing vulnerability. It’s just human nature.

So, imagine asking someone to donate a piece of themselves, literally, to help you. It takes a special kind of courage for patients in need of a transplant to ask friends, family, or the universe at large to donate a kidney or part of their liver to save their life.
Read more in Texas Metro News.

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