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Higher SARS-CoV-2 Positivity Found Among Kidney Transplant Waitlist Candidates

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Kidney transplant (KT) waitlist candidates may have a higher rate of SARS-CoV-2 positivity than official government data indicate, according to investigators presenting at the virtual American Transplant Congress 2021.

Of 400 waitlist candidates who resided in Georgia counties with an above-average COVID-19 case rate in August 2020, 28 candidates tested positive for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, yielding a 7% positivity rate. (Use of hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis was comparable between KT candidates who tested positive and negative.)

Read full article, here.

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Woman donates kidney to hubby’s ex-wife days after wedding

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Ten years after their first date, Debby Neal-Strickland put on a cream-colored lace gown and married her longtime sweetheart at their Florida church. Two days later, she put on a hospital gown and donated a kidney to Mylaen Merthe — her new husband’s ex-wife.

An unusual story? Yes. But the tale of Jim Merthe and his two wives is a testament to how love and compassion can triumph over division.

Mylaen, 59, had long struggled with kidney disease. By last year, she was ghostly pale with dark circles under her eyes, dragging herself through the workday with no energy. By the time she was admitted to the hospital in November, her kidneys were only functioning at 8%.

Her brother offered to donate a kidney, but wasn’t a match so Debby volunteered.

Read full story, here.

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Kidney Transplant Rates Recovering After Plummeting Early in the Pandemic

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During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in March-April 2020, kidney waitlist registrations and kidney transplantations plummeted in the United States, followed by encouraging recovery, investigators reported at the virtual American Transplant Congress 2021.

Allan B. Massie, PhD, and collaborators from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, compared expected with actual rates of transplant services from March to October 2020 using data from The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. Kidney waitlisting dropped from 19% below normal in March to 45% below normal in May, then showed steady recovery through October, when new listings were only 6% below normal, the investigators reported. Waitlist deaths peaked at 72% above expected in March-April, declined to 7% above expected in June, then climbed again to 16% above expected in August, during a second wave of COVID-19 infection.

Read full article, here.

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

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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. 

Read more here.

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Representative Brian Sims Donated a Kidney to Gay Neighbor

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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.

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Understanding Your Lab Values

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People who develop chronic kidney disease may have some or all of the following tests and measurements. If you have kidney disease ask your doctor which tests you will have and how often they will be done. Speak to your doctor about your results. If your numbers are not in the normal range, ask how to improve them.

Learn more, here.

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Simple medical device improves care after kidney transplantation

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“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.

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Montrose man’s kidney is nearly 101 years old

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“Nearly every morning, Daniel Lane can be found drinking coffee at the Montrose Travel Center north of town.

“We go down there and talk about everybody,” said the 74-year-old Montrose resident. They cover politics, current events and the weather. Like him, the dozen or so guys he meets all have ranching and agricultural backgrounds.

On Thursdays, Lane goes to the Delta Sales Yard for the livestock sales and to visit with all the old cowboys. “It’s kind of in my blood,” the bachelor said.”

Read the full story, here.

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

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“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.

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NKF Health Policy Director Becomes Living Donor During Donate Life Month

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While COVID-19 continues to dominant the United States healthcare system, nearly 100,000 Americans are still on a waitlist for a kidney transplant and each day 12 patients die waiting for a kidney. National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Health Policy Director Miriam Godwin knows these statistics all too well and made the altruistic decision to take action and help others by becoming a living donor during National Donate Life Month in April. Like all incredibly selfless living donors, Godwin made a conscious choice to help others, but please don’t call her a hero.

“It’s difficult to live with the knowledge that some of the most vulnerable people in our society such as the elderly, communities of color, and those with limited financial means are waiting for kidney transplants, especially when kidney patients have been at such exceptionally high risk from COVID-19,” said Miriam Godwin, NKF Health Policy Director and a kidney transplant living donor. “It’s my job to make kidney transplants more accessible, but the tools to create system-level change are limited and take time. No one should be denied the opportunity for kidney health because of the circumstances of their birth. I became a living donor because I knew I could help one person right now, so I did. It was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made.”

Read the full story, here.

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