http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Organ donation in Ontario is significantly less common at large general hospitals than at hospitals with clinical programs for transplant recipients, which points to missed opportunities to optimize organ donation, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-donation-shortfall-large-hospitals-ontario.html Other Tue, 02 Apr 2013 12:00:06 EST news284114336 Vitamin D deficiency may decrease kidney function in transplant recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The finding suggests that vitamin D supplementation may help improve the health of kidney transplant recipients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-vitamin-d-linked-kidney-function.html Other Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:00:02 EST news283707576 African-Americans and individuals without private health insurance are less likely than others to receive a kidney transplant before requiring dialysis, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). The findings indicate that efforts are needed to ensure the equitable distribution of donor kidneys and the timing of transplantation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-disparities-kidney-transplant.html Other Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:00:05 EST news278869706 A drug that protects the kidneys of patients with chronic kidney disease does not seem to provide the same benefit to kidney transplant recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-drug-kidney-transplant-recipients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:00:03 EST news277046184 Kidney transplant recipients who have even very low levels of preformed antibodies directed against a donated kidney have a significantly increased risk of organ rejection and kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings could help clinicians provide better donor-recipient matches and tailor recipients' immunosuppressive therapy after transplantation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-donor-specific-antibodies-transplant-recipients.html Other Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:00:15 EST news272219385 Three in 10 patients receiving a kidney transplant require readmission to the hospital within 30 days of discharge following surgery, according to a Johns Hopkins analysis of six years of national data. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-one-third-kidney-transplant-patients-readmitted.html Other Tue, 16 Oct 2012 04:13:51 EST news269579617 A single genetic variant in kidney donors' cells may help determine whether their transplanted organs will survive long term, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings provide new information that might be used to improve transplant longevity by revealing that the genetic make-up of kidney transplant donors affects the survival of transplanted organs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-gene-variant-donors-affect-survival.html Other Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:00:01 EST news269192994 Melanoma is on the rise nationally, and transplant recipients and lymphoma patients are far likelier than the average person to get that form of skin cancer and to die from it, a Mayo Clinic review has found. That is because their immune systems tend to be significantly depressed, making early detection of melanoma even more important, says co-author Jerry Brewer, M.D., a Mayo dermatologist. The findings are published in the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-melanoma-likelier-transplant-lymphoma-patients.html Cancer Wed, 03 Oct 2012 13:18:36 EST news268489082 Waiting to treat the commonest viral infections in transplant recipients until they reach a certain threshold is better than prophylactically treating all recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-reveals-optimal-treatment-common-infection.html Other Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:10:01 EST news264953486 (HealthDay) -- For organ transplant recipients, patients factors, including sex and skin type, and receipt of advice from health care providers, are both associated with sun protective behaviors, according to a study published online Aug. 9 in the British Journal of Dermatology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-factors-tied-photoprotection-idd-recipients.html Surgery Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:40:01 EST news264774264 (HealthDay) -- Post-heart transplant survival does not differ significantly between patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) and those with other types of heart disease, according to a study published in the Aug. 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-good-transplant-outcomes-hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy.html Other Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:00:01 EST news264428104 For children receiving kidney transplants, a potentially correctable blood condition present in about one in four recipients is associated with a moderately increased risk of the graft's later failure, suggesting that clinicians should weigh whether transplant is advisable when the condition is present, according to UC Davis research presented today at the 24th International Congress of the Transplantation Society in Berlin. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-blood-condition-highly-graft-failure.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 19 Jul 2012 04:53:18 EST news261892003 Transplant recipients who smoke or have smoked increase their risk of viral hepatitis reinfection following liver transplantation according to new research available in the July issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley on behalf of American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. Findings suggest that tobacco in cigarettes may adversely affect immune system response in patients transplanted for viral hepatitis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-current-smokers-recurrent-hepatitis-post-liver.html Other Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:18:43 EST news261310714 New research confirms that successful pregnancies are common for female liver transplant recipients. The study appearing in the June issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, found miscarriage risk was lower and the live birth rate higher among women following liver transplantation than in the general U.S. population. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-successful-pregnancies-women-liver-transplantation.html Other Thu, 07 Jun 2012 10:59:50 EST news258285583 (HealthDay) -- In stable kidney transplant recipients, kidney function, as determined by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), is independently associated with cardiovascular (CVD) events and death, according to research published online May 17 in the American Journal of Transplantation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-post-transplant-egfr-impacts-cardio-independently.html Cardiology Wed, 30 May 2012 16:30:01 EST news257612037 Statins prevent cancer and reduce death from all causes in heart transplant recipients. The findings were independent of cholesterol levels. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-statins-cancer-heart-transplant-recipients.html Cardiology Sun, 20 May 2012 04:50:29 EST news256708198 (AP) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney had a heart transplant Saturday, after five heart attacks over the past 25 years and countless medical procedures to keep him going. Cheney, 71, waited nearly two years for his new heart, the gift of an unknown donor. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-aide-cheney-heart-transplant.html Cardiology Sun, 25 Mar 2012 08:10:43 EST news251881833 (AP) -- Lindsay Porter's kidneys were failing rapidly when a friend offered to donate one of his. Then she made an unusual request: Would he donate part of his immune system, too? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-kidney-transplant-patients-life-drugs.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:14:36 EST news251396069 (HealthDay) -- A novel approach using a bioengineered mobilized cellular product enriched with hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and tolerogenic graft facilitating cells (FCs) in combination with nonmyeloablative conditioning is safe and practical for inducing immune tolerance after transplantation, according to a study published in the March 7 issue of Science Translational Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-stem-cells-conditioning-immune-tolerance.html Immunology Thu, 08 Mar 2012 16:20:01 EST news250442462 With a novel approach that creates a more-accepting immune system, Stanford School of Medicine physicians have pioneered a technique that frees kidney-transplant recipients from a life on anti-rejection drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-irradiation-stem-cells-treatment-enable.html Immunology Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:41:08 EST news250407650 New ongoing research published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine suggests organ transplant recipients may not require anti-rejection medication in the future thanks to the power of stem cells, which may prove to be able to be manipulated in mismatched kidney donor and recipient pairs to allow for successful transplantation without immunosuppressive drugs. Northwestern Medicine® and University of Louisville researchers are partnering on a clinical trial to study the use of donor stem cell infusions that have been specially engineered to "trick" the recipients' immune system into thinking the donated organ is part of the patient's natural self, thus gradually eliminating or reducing the need for anti-rejection medication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-transplant-method-kidney-recipients-life.html Medical research Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:00:02 EST news250347854 Heart transplant patients who receive new organs before the age of 55 and get them at hospitals that perform at least nine heart transplants a year are significantly more likely than other people to survive at least 10 years after their operations, new Johns Hopkins research suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-younger-patients-decade-longer-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 27 Feb 2012 14:50:54 EST news249576648 (HealthDay) -- In the community setting, health indicators are significantly associated with post-kidney-transplant mortality, according to a study published online Feb 20 in the Archives of Surgery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-health-indicators-tied-transplant-outcomes.html Surgery Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:20:02 EST news249195568 People who have received a donor organ need lifelong immunosuppressant drugs to keep their immune system from attacking the foreign tissue. However, with a suppressed immune system, many infectious agents turn into a threat. Infections such as with human cytomegalovirus and a certain type of human polyomavirus frequently cause complications in transplant recipients. For these patients it would therefore be particularly beneficial to have substances that suppress the immune system and exert an antiviral activity at the same time – thus killing two birds with one stone. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-stress-cells-hepatitis-viruses.html Medical research Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:14:05 EST news248361238 Transplant patients who develop head and neck cancer are more likely to be non-smokers and non-drinkers, and less likely than their non-transplant counterparts to survive past one year of diagnosis, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-neck-cancer-transplant-patients-worse.html Cancer Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:25:22 EST news246954302 Rapid discontinuation of the immunosuppressive steroid prednisone after a kidney transplant can help prevent serious side effects, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). Also, doing so does not appear to jeopardize the long-term survival of transplant patients and their new organs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-steroids-kidney-transplant-recipients-long-term.html Other Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:00:05 EST news246806737 (AP) -- Greek disability groups expressed anger Monday at a government decision to expand a list of state-recognized disability categories to include pedophiles, exhibitionists and kleptomaniacs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-furor-greece-pedophilia-disability.html Health Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:35:31 EST news245349319 Correcting anemia, a red blood cell deficiency, can preserve kidney function in many kidney transplant recipients, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The results indicate that aggressively treating anemia may help save the kidneys—and possibly the lives—of many transplant recipients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-common-blood-disorder-kidney-transplants.html Other Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:21:31 EST news243800434 Transplant surgeons live in the hope that one day they will be able to wean at least some of their patients off the immunosuppressive drugs that must be taken to prevent rejection of a transplanted organ. A team of researchers led by Alberto Sánchez-Fueyo, at the University of Barcelona, Spain, has now identified markers that might make this possible for liver transplant recipients. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-weaning-transplant-recipients-immunosuppressive-drugs.html Other Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:02 EST news242905934 Mayo Clinic in Florida is now offering kidney and pancreas transplants to HIV positive patients with advanced kidney disease and diabetes. Evidence is now solid that HIV-positive patients have the same favorable outcome in terms of patient and allograft survival as non-HIV positive organ transplant recipients, says Mary Prendergast, M.D., a kidney specialist whose focus is the care of patients who receive kidney and pancreas transplants. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-mayo-clinic-kidney-pancreas-transplant.html Other Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:02:52 EST news242398957