News • Bone marrow transplant
The impact of chemotherapy on the brain
Pre-transplant chemotherapy facilitates the replacement of the brain's innate immune cells, by other immune cells derived from the transplanted stem cells.
Transplantations
News • Reducing rejection and waiting times
Transplant organs with universal blood type on the horizon
A new study has proved that it is possible to convert blood type safely in donor organs intended for transplantation. This is an important step towards creating universal type O organs.
News • Xenotransplant
Surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient
US surgeons perform historic first successful transplant of porcine heart into adult auman with end-stage heart disease.
News • Life-saving treatment
First double-lung transplant after Covid-19 performed in Portugal
Doctors in Lisbon report on the case of a 61-year-old man who received a double lung transplant after his lungs were irreparably damaged by Covid-19.
News • Successful investigational procedure
First ever pig-to-human kidney transplantation shows promise for organ replacement
The first investigational transplantation of a genetically engineered, nonhuman kidney to a human body was recently completed at NYU Langone Health—marking a major step forward in potentially utilizing an alternative supply of organs for people facing life-threatening disease.
News • Personalised aftercare
Immunosuppression after transplant: as much as necessary, as little as possible
After a liver transplant, patients have to take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of their lives. These so-called immunosuppressants prevent the organ from being rejected. However, the drugs increase the risk of cancer and serious infections. They can also significantly impair kidney function and even lead to dialysis. In order to be able to give those affected as much immunosuppression as…
News • Promising material
Organ transplantation: polymer coating reduces rejection rate
Researchers have found a way to reduce organ rejection following a transplant by using a special polymer to coat blood vessels on the organ to be transplanted. The polymer, developed by Prof. Dr. Jayachandran Kizhakkedathu and his team at the Centre for Blood Research and Life Sciences Institute at the University of British Columbia, substantially diminished rejection of transplants in mice when…
News • Public knowledge and attitudes
A look at organ donation policies across Europe
A European comparative study has evaluated national organ donation policies in seven countries from an ethical perspective. For the first time, knowledge and attitudes towards organ donation regulations in different European countries were investigated in combination. The study was published in the journal PLOSone.
News • Donor organ analysis
New laser technique could improve liver transplant process
Handheld laser devices that help surgeons quickly spot liver damage could transform transplant procedures, research suggests. The non-invasive technique could provide medical staff with instant data on the health of donor livers and help them to identify which organs are suitable for transplant. If widely adopted, the light-based tool could allow more livers to be transplanted safely and…
News • Outcome prediction
Deep learning to maximize lifespan after liver transplant
Researchers from the Canadian University Healh Network (UHN) have developed and validated a deep learning model to predict a patient's long-term outcome after receiving a liver transplant. First of its kind in the field of Transplantation, this model is the result of a collaboration between the Ajmera Transplant Centre and Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC). The study, published in Lancet Digital…
News • Bioengineering
Producing transplantable livers in the laboratory
Researchers at the Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center (HUG-CELL), hosted by the University of São Paulo’s Institute of Biosciences (IB-USP) in Brazil, have developed a technique to reconstruct and produce livers in the laboratory. The proof-of-concept study was conducted with rat livers. In the next stage of their research, the scientists will adapt the technique for the production of…
News • Human cytomegalovirus in immunocompromised patients
Post-transplant HCMV infection: pre-emptive strike could save many lives
A potential new treatment to protect immunosuppressed patients from human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been discovered by scientists at the University of Cambridge. Their study shows that certain epigenetic inhibitors expose and help to destroy dormant HCMV infections, which often reactivate to cause serious illness and death in these vulnerable groups. Subject to clinical trials, their proposed…
News • Donor organ assessment
New quality feature to predict kidney transplant failure
New research indicates that subtle structural features of donated kidneys from living donors may predict the risk of kidney transplant failure in recipients. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of JASN, may help clinicians as they evaluate the quality of organs at the time of transplantation. The quality of donated kidneys obtained from living donors is often inferred from their age,…
News • Transplant breakthrough
Machine keeps liver alive for one week outside of the body
Researchers from the University Hospital Zurich, ETH Zurich, Wyss Zurich and the University of Zurich have developed a machine that repairs injured human livers and keeps them alive outside the body for one week. This breakthrough may increase the number of available organs for transplantation, saving many lives of patients with severe liver diseases or cancer. Until now, livers could be stored…
News • "Umbrella" trial
Urine test detects acute kidney transplant rejection
Early non-invasive detection of kidney rejection after transplantation was the central aim of a collaboration between Prof. Dr. Bernhard Banas, Chairman of Nephrology at the University Hospital Regensburg (UKR) and the medical diagnostics company, numares. The results of their joint clinical trial “UMBRELLA” were just published in EBioMedicine and presented at the American Society of…
News • Biomedical engineering
Cornea restoration: Scientists develop physical biomarker
Our eyes – considered by many to be the windows to the soul – need constant care, and as we age, they sometimes also need significant repair. The panes of these windows – the corneas – are transparent tissues that have been the focus of some of the oldest and most common transplantation surgeries. Now thanks to researchers in Kyoto, some such transplants may become even safer. The team,…
News • Obesity and Type 1 diabetes
Robotic pancreas transplant offers hope
For patients with Type 1 diabetes who don’t respond well to insulin or have other serious medical complications caused by their disease, pancreas transplantation offers hope for a cure. But obese candidates who need a pancreas transplant often are denied the procedure because of poor outcomes, including high rates of incision infections, which are linked to an increased risk for failure and…
News • Organ transplantation
New insights into rejection of transplanted organs
The consequences of organ rejection in transplant patients can be devastating. Professor A. Vathsala, co-director of the National University Centre for Organ Transplantation at the National University Hospital (NUH) and professor of medicine, says that between 30 percent to 40 percent of kidney transplants are lost over time to rejection. She and Associate Professor Paul MacAry of the Department…
Article • Organs and qualified surgeons drop
Will transplant medicine have a future in Germany?
‘Do we want transplant medicine? And if yes, what are we prepared to change in public policy, society and medicine?’ This question characterises the current situation within this medical discipline. Since the 2011 transplant scandal, there has been a steady decline in organ donations according to the German Foundation for Organ Donation (DSO). Although there were some 1,200 transplant donors…
News • Organ donation
Suitable transplant kidneys may be lost due to flawed testing
New research indicates that many kidneys obtained for transplantation from deceased donors are not being used because of biopsy findings despite their unreliability and reproducibility. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN) and will be published at ASN Kidney Week 2018, may suggest an urgent need to re-examine the…
News • Myelodysplastic syndrome
Genetic testing helps predict disease recurrence
A DNA-based analysis of blood cells soon after a stem cell transplant can predict likelihood of disease recurrence in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a group of cancerous disorders characterized by dysfunctional blood cells. Such a practice could help doctors identify patients at high risk of disease recurrence early after a transplant and help guide treatment decisions.
News • Split transplantation
One Liver. Two Saved Lives
A new study found that increased utilization of split liver transplantation could decrease the number of children who die awaiting liver transplantation without decreasing liver transplantation access for adult patients. “Among children listed for liver transplant in the United States, more than one in 10 infants and one in 20 older children die while waiting for a liver,” says Emily Perito,…
News • Study
How to decrease the discard rate of donated organs
A new study indicates that many donated organs that are discarded might be suitable for transplantation if certain steps are taken to limit damage following donation. The findings appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). In most cases in the United States, transplant organs come from donors following brain death, in which all the functions of the…
News • Cell biology
Improved stem cell transplantation may be on the horizon
Researchers in Germany have demonstrated that hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplants can be improved by treatments that temporarily prevent the stem cells from dying.
Article • Transplantation
Organ donation in Germany - the gruelling fight for trust
Whilst Spain has announced a new record for organ donations the number in Germany is stabilising at a ‘low level’. The good news? The number did not fall any further following scandals surrounding the manipulation in the allocation of donor organs.