Transplant – Page 4

July 30, 2021August 16, 2022

Liver Transplants: ‘Collateral Damage’ of Pandemic Drinking

“The number of alcoholic hepatitis patients getting liver transplant more than tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic, a retrospective study found.

A difference-in-difference analysis from June 2020 to February 2021 found that liver transplants for acute alcohol-associated hepatitis more than tripled (268.5% increase) compared with expected trends, while the rate of patients with acute alcohol-associated hepatitis added to the transplant waiting list more than quadrupled (325% increase), reported Therese Bittermann, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues.”

Read full article, here.

July 28, 2021July 28, 2021

Organ Transplant and Skin Cancer Risk

What Patients Need to Know

“Organ transplant patients are at a higher risk — up to a 100-fold higher — for developing skin cancer compared to the general population. Transplant patients tend to develop a skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma and Kaposi sarcoma. Many patients also develop a skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma and melanoma.

This higher risk is caused by immunosuppressive medications, which are essential to transplant patients to prevent graft rejection and optimize graft survival. Because these medications suppress the immune system that fights off infection and prevents the development of cancer, transplant recipients are at elevated risk for infection and certain cancers.”

Learn more information, here.

July 27, 2021August 16, 2022

Minnesota man’s kidney donation to a stranger helped national registry hit a milestone

“A Minnesota man who donated a kidney to save another person’s life also set a record in the process.

Ben Rengstrof is a high school teacher with a mission, which started with a lesson learned after his father received a lung transplant two years ago.

“A kidney donation really isn’t that invasive of a surgery,” said Rengstrof. “And so I decided I had to do it.”

With the kidney donation, Rengstrof became an altruistic donor. He didn’t know the person receiving his kidney. He also didn’t know that he was making history.”

Read full story, here.

July 25, 2021August 16, 2022

New Generation Artificial Heart Implanted in Patient at Duke – First in U.S.

“A surgical team at Duke University Hospital, led by Drs. Jacob Schroder and Carmelo Milano, successfully implanted a new-generation artificial heart in a 39-year-old man with heart failure, becoming the first center in North America to perform the procedure.

The artificial heart was developed by CARMAT and has been studied in Europe, where it is approved for use. Last year, the company received FDA approval to begin studies in the U.S. to potentially enroll 10 patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure. The study will evaluate whether the artificial heart is a viable option as a life-saving step before transplant.”

How organ transplants work

“When a person needs an organ transplant, it is because one of their organs is working very poorly or failing. Undergoing an organ transplant can lengthen a person’s life and allow those with a chronic illness to live a normal lifespan.

Many people need an organ transplant due to a genetic condition such as polycystic kidney disease, cystic fibrosis, or a heart defect.

Infections such as hepatitis, physical injuries to organs, and damage due to chronic conditions such as diabetes may also cause a person to require a transplant.

Surgeons performed more than 36,000 organ transplants in 2018, but many more people need organs. In January 2019, more than 113,000 people in the United States were on organ transplant waiting lists. More than 2,000 children need organs.

The transplant process varies slightly depending on the organ, but the need for a matching donor is a consistent theme.”

Learn more, here.

July 21, 2021August 16, 2022

FDA advisory committee unanimously agrees donor liver portable system is safe, effective

“The FDA’s Gastroenterology and Urology Devices Panel, Medical Devices Advisory Committee voted unanimously that a portable system for near-normothermic continuous perfusion of donor livers with perfusate was safe and effective.

The system will be prepared by hospital pharmacy and include compatible packed red blood cells.

The panel addressed three questions related to the premarket approval of the device Organ Care System Liver System (TransMedics). The entire 14-member panel voted that the device is safe, all voted that the device is effective and voted 12 to 1 with 1 abstaining that the benefits of the OCS Liver System outweigh the risks.”

MAYO CLINIC STUDY EXPANDS CRITERIA TO BE A LIVING KIDNEY DONOR

Mayo Clinic says the pool of people who can be living kidney donors has expanded following the results of a recent study. Doctors say the results can help save more lives.

Previously transplant physicians were concerned about transplanting kidneys from patients with high blood pressure because of the possible long-term health impacts to them while living with just one kidney.

The study from Mayo Clinic included more than 100 patients and was conducted over 20 years. Dr. Mark Stegall, the Professor of Surgery at Mayo Clinic Rochester, says researchers found certain individuals with controlled hypertension can safely donate a kidney.

Should Transplant Recipients Have Pets?

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.”

Up to 63% of transplant recipients experience depression or anxiety during the first several years post-transplant.¹ This makes organ transplant recipients ideal candidates for owning pets that—through companionship—provide emotional support, ease anxiety, depression, and other phobias.

Read the full article, here.

July 14, 2021July 13, 2021

Q&A: Transplant Patient Immune Response to COVID-19 Vaccines

CareDx and the Lung Transplant Foundation hosted the “COVID-19 Vaccines and the Latest Data on Immune Response in Transplant Recipients” webinar on May 12, 2021. More than 1,000 transplant recipients, caregivers, and clinicians tuned in to the live webinar to hear the latest research on the immune response of transplant recipients to the COVID-19 vaccine.

Dorry Segev, MD, PhD, a transplant surgeon from Johns Hopkins Medicine, and one of the authors of a recently published study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that looked at the antibody response in more than 650 transplant patients, presented findings and answered questions.

Below is a summary of some of the questions posed during the session.

Read the full Q&A, here.

July 13, 2021July 13, 2021

Young Race Car Driver Raises Awareness About Life-Saving Transplants

Jeannine Williams saw the writing on the wall. It had been nearly 30 years since a hepatitis infection resulted in the need for a liver transplant at age 22. Decades of taking the immunosuppressive drugs required post-transplant had enabled Jeannine to live a full life, giving birth to two children even though doctors had originally predicted she’d survive just five years.

But those same life-saving drugs had taken a toll. In the years since receiving a new liver, Jeannine, 54, had vanquished breast cancer and multiple skin cancers, brought on because her immune system was suppressed. Then in 2018 came the unwelcome news she’d been expecting: Jeannine, from Oakley, California, needed a kidney transplant.

Read Clayton’s and Jeannine’s full story, here.