Category: Transplants / Organ Donations

The Chinese Medical Association has agreed that organs of prisoners and other individuals in custody must not be used for transplantation, except for members of their immediate family, it was reported at today’s meeting of the World Medical Association annual General Assembly in Copenhagen.

UroToday.com- A study from Spain by Barrero, et al. analyzed the frequency of vesicoureteral reflux and the factors that may attribute to its appearance after kidney transplantation in the pediatric population. This was a retrospective study that examined the prevalence of post-transplant vesicoureteral reflux in a total of 181 kidney transplants performed in children at their center between 1978 and 2004.

Small-for-size syndrome (SFSS) is a dangerous and often fatal condition that commonly occurs in living donor transplant recipients who receive part of a liver, rather than the whole organ. According to a new study in Clinical Transplantation, this syndrome can be prevented with a combination of early detection and a non-surgical procedure called splenic arterial embolization.

The EU-wide availability of the immunosuppressant Advagraf® (tacrolimus, prolonged release) is likely to bring greater convenience to patients who have had an organ transplant, announced Astellas at the 13th Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation in Prague. As the first calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) with a once-daily dosing option, Advagraf® has the potential to help improve clinical outcomes by improving adherence.

Several new studies suggest how transplant surgeons can make more effective use of kidneys from deceased donors — even those that are at the outer limits of acceptance criteria — according to researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.At the 13th Congress of the European Society for Organ Transplantation held in Prague, Czech Republic, Rajinder Singh, M.D.

UCLA Medical Center on Sept. 20 performed its first living donor kidney “swap,” a procedure in which a loved one of a kidney transplant patient who is not compatible as a donor exchanges organs with another incompatible pair under an innovative new paired donation program. UCLA aims to lead the way for other Southern California transplant centers to adopt this life-enhancing procedure.

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers, collaborating with colleagues in Germany, have for the first time identified antibodies associated with transplant rejection of otherwise healthy kidneys. For years, physicians have been perplexed as to why some seemingly well matched kidneys were still rejected. The collaborative effort has turned up a likely culprit antibodies that aren’t targeted by current testing methods.

Students arriving at university for the first time this term are being given the chance to be a superhero and help save a life. UK Transplant’s Superhero roadshow is visiting freshers’ fairs at 14 universities. Students will have the opportunity to show their support for organ donation by heroically signing up to help save a life after their death by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR).

Commenting today on the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson’s, announcement that a government taskforce will investigate the issue of presumed consent for organ donation1, Dr Vivienne Nathanson, Head of BMA Ethics and Science, said:”The BMA has been campaigning for a review of organ donation for many years so today’s announcement is very good news indeed.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson has asked the organ donation taskforce to explore whether all adults should be automatically included on the organ donor register. The proposal, known as presumed consent, would view everybody as a potential donor unless they had registered an objection or ‘opted out’ before death.