Sept. 12, 2022 — Kim Uccellini was only 9 when she had the surgery, but the details remain vivid even 33 years later. When her surgeon made rounds, he brought her a teddy bear. But that wasn’t the best part.
“I remember waking up and feeling more alive than I ever had,” Uccellini says. “I wasn’t feeling tired anymore.” Read more from WebMD.
Complications of posttransplant diabetes mellitus can develop quickly, but appropriate management may prevent them.
People with end-stage kidney disease achieve better quality of life and survival rates with a kidney transplant than with dialysis, but if they develop posttransplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM), they are at high risk for rapidly developing cardiovascular disease or other complications. Maria Paula Martinez-Cantarin, MD, a nephrologist and researcher at Thomas Jefferson University, describes how physicians can manage PTDM and prevent complications. Read the full article from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
The first successful transplant was performed in 1954 in Boston.
The United States recorded its one millionth organ transplant Friday afternoon, a historic milestone for the medical procedure that has saved thousands of lives.
The record achievement was confirmed at 12:50 p.m. ET by the United Network for Organ Sharing, a nonprofit that runs the only organ procurement and transplantation network in the country. Check out the full story from ABC News here.
Having an organ transplant can feel like a new lease on life!
You find that you can suddenly do more of the things that you enjoy. However, new recipients are sometimes overwhelmed with all the requirements of post-transplant living. Read the full story on CareDx.com.
During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, organ transplants plummeted by half. Though there was an increase in deceased donors in 2020 from the year before, there were fewer living donors, possibly explained by the postponement of elective surgeries.
In 2021, however, the rate recovered and the U.S. reached a record number of transplants, at more than 41,300, though a significant waitlist for organs remains and may grow; experts expect there may grow a significant demand for kidney transplants in the years to come due to COVID. Read the full story in Fierce Healthcare.
Despite increased perioperative risks in older patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis, orthotropic liver transplantation provides greater survival benefit compared with ablative therapies, according to new research.
“Because waitlist demand for [orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT)] continues to increase at a rate that far exceeds the increase in solid-organ donation, it becomes imperative to determine the optimal groups of patients that would benefit from OLT,” Malay B. Shah, MD, FACS, surgical director of the liver transplant program at UK HealthCare at the University of Kentucky, and colleagues wrote in Journal of the American College of Surgeons. “It is well known that elderly patients undergoing elective or emergent surgery have poorer outcomes compared to their younger counterparts.” Read the full story in Healio.
As a transplant recipient, you seek to protect your health in many ways, including taking immunosuppressant medications. By preventing your immune system from rejecting your new organ, these therapies play a critical role in your care. But they also come with side effects, including an increased risk for skin cancer.
Fortunately, you can work with your doctors to prevent skin cancer or detect it early, when it’s most treatable. Read the full story on CareDx.com.
Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a potential therapeutic target in the donor lung that can prevent primary graft dysfunction (PGD) in lung transplant recipients, according to findings published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI).
GR Scott Budinger, MD, chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care in the Department of Medicine and the Ernest S. Bazley Professor of Airway Diseases, was senior author of the study.
Read more in Medical Xpress.
Alex Harrison-Flaxman is a kidney transplant recipient who understands the rollercoaster of emotions that patients face after transplant.
“Being a transplant recipient is an absolute blessing, but it doesn’t come without its challenges,” says Harrison-Flaxman. “It’s a constant battle to stay vigilant and be on top of your care. But having my dog Bendel makes it a little more bearable when my anxiety is high, and the road ahead seems impossible.” Read more on CareDx.com.
MONDAY, Aug. 22, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a decrease in transplantation in 2020, according to a study published in the July 1 issue of the American Journal of Surgery.
Alejandro Suarez-Pierre, M.D., from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, and colleagues examined adult transplantation data as time series data in a population-based cohort study. Read more in Physician’s Weekly.