Transplant News back issues from Wednesday, November 1:
With 2006 to be most prolific ever in organs donated, transplants performed, collaborative sets new goals.(organ procurement organization)(transplant surgeon/physician participation in collaborative)
Nov 01, 2006; ... "The toughest thing about success is that you've got to keep on being a success." Irving Berlin The juggernaut called the Organ Donation Breakthrough Collaborative rolled into hurricane Katrina-ravaged New Orleans in mid-October and when the last of nearly 500 awards had ...
ISHLT adopts first new heart patient transplant guidelines for cardiologists in 15 years.(International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation)(United Network for Organ Sharing policy for organ allocation)
Nov 01, 2006 ... For the first time in almost 15 years, the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) has published news guidelines for cardiologists to use in the selection and management of candidates for heart transplantation. The newly expanded guidelines, which are ...
Seven funeral directors plead guilty in BTS body parts scandal.(Biomedical Tissue Services Ltd.)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The Biomedical Tissue Services (BTS) body parts selling scandal took an unexpected turn on October 19 when seven funeral directors secretly pleaded guilty to undisclosed charges and agreed to cooperate with investigators, according to Newsday.com Brooklyn District Attorney ...
Transplant patients receiving a heart from HCV-positive donor have lower survival rates than HCV-negative donor.(University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia)(hepatitis C virus)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Heart transplant patients who receive a donor heart from a person with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) have a lower survival rate than patients who receive a heart from an HCV-negative donor, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. ...
NIH releases long range plan to guide research in type 1 diabete; increased islet cell transplants a major goal.
Nov 01, 2006 ... The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has released a long range plan to help guide research in type 1 diabetes, which represents about 5% to 10% of the 21 million Americans who suffer from the disease. Increasing the availability and effectiveness of islet cell transplantation is one of ...
CVD patients should get blood, urine tests to detect presence of CKD - AHA.(American Heart Association Science Advisory)(Cardiovascular disease)(detect chronic kidney disease )
Nov 01, 2006 ... Cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients and those at risk for DVD should consider getting blood and urine tests that can detect chronic kidney disease (CKD), according to a new American Heart Association (AHA) Science Advisory. Up to 11% of adults in the US are estimated to have ...
Hopkins scientists find genetic origins of leading cause of Americans' need for cornea transplant.
Nov 01, 2006 ... Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore report they have discovered the genetic origins of at least one form of the leading cause of Americans need for a corneal transplant -- Fuchs corneal dystrophy (FCD). In one form or another, FCD's trademark deterioration of the ...
Incidence of ESRD in US significantly higher than European countries; higher obesity, diabetes cited.(end stage renal disease)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The incidence of end stage renal disease (ESRD) in the US is significantly higher than European countries and may be due to much higher incidence of obesity and diabetes, according to a new study. However, the higher rate of ESRD compared to European countries such as Norway ...
HRSA awards $5.2 million in grants to 11 entities for programs to increase organ/tissue donation.(Health Resources and Services Administration)(awards went to Purdue University )(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded $5.2 million in grants to 11 different entities for programs designed to encourage and increase organ and tissue donation in the US. The awards were allocated through four separate grant programs. *Three awards ...
Names in the News.(Officials and employees)
Nov 01, 2006 ... *Lester Crawford, DVM, the former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who resigned in September 2005, has pleaded guilty in US District Court to charges of false reporting and conflicts of interest related to ownership of stocks in companies regulated by the agency. ...
UNOS receives $1 million from F.M. Kirby Foundation to expand, restructure Unet.(United Network for Organ Sharing)(donation and transplant data management system)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) has received a $1 million grant from the F.M. Kirby Foundation, Morristown, NJ, to restructure and expand UNet, its donation and transplant data management system. UNet, a highly secure, Internet-based data application, was developed ...
British researchers develop first artificial liver.(artificial liver can be used to repair livers injured by disease)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The world's first artificial liver, the size of a small coin, has been grown from stem cells by scientists in Great Britain, according to Livescience.com. Scientists reported the same technique will be further developed to create a full-size liver. British researchers who ...
Islet Cell Transplantation Fails to Live up to Promise.(transplants of insulin-making cells)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... A new study finds that transplants of insulin-making cells, which reversed severe diabetes in an initial trial, have not lived up to their early promise, a New York Times article reports. The cell transplants did free patients from insulin shots, but only temporarily. Within two ...
New Era for Lung Transplant Patients.(world of lung transplants is saving the lives of people)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... A quiet revolution in the world of lung transplants is saving the lives of people who, just two years ago, would have died on the waiting list, according to a New York Times article. In the past 16 months, waits have shortened, lists have shrunk and the number of lung ...
Scientists Analyze Genetic Variation of Major Histocompatibility Complex.(genetic roots of immune-related diseases)
Nov 01, 2006 ... An international group of researchers last week unveiled a detailed map of human genetic variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), the most important region of the human genome encoding the human response to infection, autoimmune disease and organ transplantation. ...
Korea Has Excess of Donated Corpses.(Korean Organ and Tissue Donor Program)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The Korean Organ and Tissue Donor Program will stop receiving corpses because of an excess of donations, according to a report in The Korea Times newspaper. The organization has so far had 57,712 applications, and 1.8 percent of them (1,067 corpses) have already been sent to ...
Washington Transplant Programs Under Scrutiny.(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Several long-established heart transplant centers serving the Washington, D.C., region are under scrutiny by federal officials because they have done too few operations in recent years, repeatedly performing less than half of the minimum considered necessary to maintain surgical skills and ...
Hawaii Recovers Its First Set of Donor Lungs.(national data bank)(California Transplant Donor Network)
Nov 01, 2006 ... For the first time in the state of Hawaii, an organ donor's lungs were recovered locally and transplanted in a patient in California. It was an historic event in the state's organ donation program, Darryl Ing, Organ Donor Center of Hawaii executive director, said in an ...
Transplanting Thymus Tissue May Save Babies Born Without Immune Systems.(Duke University Medical Center )(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Using an experimental transplantation procedure, doctors at Duke University Medical Center have successfully treated seven of 12 children born without a thymus, the organ that generates immune cells. Their ...
Artificial Cornea in Sight.(source of tissue for corneal transplants is cadavers)(white blood cells that fight infection)
Nov 01, 2006 ... A Stanford University chemical engineer has helped create a novel biomaterial that's finding its way into artificial corneas. It's a hydrogel -- a polymer that can hold a lot of water. The material may promise a new view for at least 10 million people worldwide who are blind due to damaged ...
Kaiser Left Dead Patients' Names on Kidney Transplant List.
Nov 01, 2006 ... Kaiser Permanente's San Francisco kidney transplant program failed to remove the names of 90 dead patients from the national waiting list for organs, California officials discovered after the program shut down amid scandal in May. Kaiser acknowledged last week that it knew its ...
Stem Cell Transplant Program Sued.
Nov 01, 2006 ... A lawsuit against a Kansas City stem cell transplant program alleges that it failed to ensure its stem cells were in good condition and concealed problems from patients, according to an Associated Press report. The program treated 40 adult patients in 1998 and 1999 whose stem ...
Britain's National Health Service May Not Meet Transplant Target.(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Britain's National Health Service cannot cope with the huge increase in the number of organ transplants for which the Government has legislated, say kidney lobbyists in England. The National Kidney Federation and the All Party Parliamentary Kidney Group called earlier this week ...
Human Stem Cells Delay Start of ALS in Rats.(amyotrophic lateral sclerosis )
Nov 01, 2006 ... Researchers at Johns Hopkins have shown that transplanting human stem cells into spinal cords of rats bred to duplicate Lou Gehrig's disease delays the start of nerve cell damage typical of the disease and slightly prolongs life. The grafted stem cells develop into nerve cells ...
University of Pittsburgh's Artificial Heart Program celebrates 20th Anniversary.(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Three years ago, after his heart stopped beating and he collapsed at a Wal-Mart store in Butler, Pa., schoolteacher and basketball coach Tim Kaczmarek was kept alive by an implanted heart pump. Doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center thought that Kaczmarek might ...
LA Times Report Says UNOS is Lax in Oversight.(United Network for Organ Sharing)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... A Los Angeles Times investigation published October 22nd charged that the United Network for Organ Sharing often fails to detect or decisively fix problems at derelict hospitals -- even when patients are dying at excessive rates. When the agency does act, the article claims, it routinely ...
Government Promotes Donation of Umbilical Cord Blood.(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The federal government is moving aggressively to create the first national banking system for umbilical cord blood, which contains the same potentially lifesaving stem cells as bone marrow but with a distinct advantage: The donor and recipient do not have to share the same group of genes ...
Organ Recipient Sails Around the World.(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... When 71-year-old Ardell Lien of Caledonia, Minn., sailed into San Diego last week, he entered history as the first heart and kidney transplant recipient to have sailed solo around the world, completing a 17 1/2-month voyage that covered 31,310 nautical miles. Lien had suffered ...
Study Sheds Light on Immune System.(University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... A finding by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researchers about how immune cells "decide" to become active or inactive may have applications in fighting cancerous tumors, autoimmune diseases, and organ transplant rejection. Gary A. Koretzky, MD, PhD, professor of ...
Pig-to-Human Transplants on the Horizon.(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Surgery professor David Sachs, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, has been trying to figure out how to successfully put a pig organ into a primate. He thinks he has almost found the right protocol: a combination of organs from miniaturized, genetically engineered pigs and pig immune ...
Genzyme acquires AnorMED after bidding war with Millennium; offer deadline extended to Nov. 6.
Nov 01, 2006 ... Genzyme Corporation, Cambridge, MA, and AnorMED, Inc., Vancouver , British Columbia announced on Oct. 17 they had executed a mutually beneficial support agreement under which Genzyme will acquire AnorMED in an all cash transaction valued at $13.50 per outstanding share, or approximately ...
Osiris Therapeutics reports positive trial results using Prochymal in treatment-resistant Chrohn's Disease.(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Osiris Therapeutics, Baltimore, MD, announced positive results from a pilot phase II study using Prochymal for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe Chrohn's disease who had failed to respond to standard treatments such as steroids and invliximab.The company says in the ...
Stelic Institute announces it has discovered a new treatment method for acute liver failure.(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The Stelic Institute & Co, Tokyo, Japan, announced it has developed a new treatment method for acute liver failure. The company, which specializes in regenerative medicine, says its research team has shown that a protein called chemokine1 CXCL102 directly affects hepatic cells, regulating ...