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.
Transplantations
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.
News • Transplantation
Discarded kindeys could save thousands of lives
The results of a new study suggest that high discard rates among donated kidneys could be avoided in the future. Researchers say that even kidneys with poor biopsy results may be more efficient in prolonging patients' lifespans than other treatments.
News • Laparoscopic surgery
New pancreatic transplant surgery approach successful
Surgeons at Johns Hopkins Medicine report that their first series of a minimally invasive procedure to treat chronic pancreas disease, known as severe pancreatitis, resulted in shorter hospital stays, less need for opioids and fewer complications, compared with standard surgical approaches.
News • Kidney Transplants
White Blood Cells Control Virus Replication
Certain white blood cells play an important role in bringing a harmful virus under control after kidney transplantations. The results of a research group at the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel could contribute to improving control of immunosuppression, avoiding transplant rejection and developing relevant vaccines.
News • Transplant Rejection
Blood-based “transplant exosome” strategy may be useful for all types of transplant
Approximately 30,000 organ transplants occur in the United States each year. However, between 20 and 50 percent—depending on the organ type—of the transplanted organs fail within five years, most often because the recipient’s immune system attacks, or “rejects,” the donated organ.
News • Transplantation
Preserving donor lungs longer makes transplant more elective
A new method which doubles the usual time donor lungs can remain outside the body can benefit patients, staff and allow retrieval of donor lungs across greater geographical areas, says a study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
Article • Mechanical ventilation
Top anaesthesiologist stresses automation limits
Mechanical ventilation and subspecialisation are key aspects of modern anaesthesia and critical care practice according to Dr Javier Garcia Fernandez, Head of Critical Care and Anaesthesiology at University Hospital Puerta de Hierro in Madrid.
News • Transplant Patients
Algorithm illuminates need of high-volume hospitals
Using the results from a computerized mathematical model, Johns Hopkins researchers investigated whether they could improve heart and lung transplantation procedures by transferring patients from low-volume to high-volume transplant centers.
Article • Surgery
Transplants – a much neglected topic
A small report in the press prompted examination of a much neglected topic. The report read ‘Heart Centre at University Hospital no longer carries out transplants’, and referred to the University Hospital Frankfurt, one of the 22 Heart Centres that perform these transplantations.
News • Anti-fungal
A new way to protect against lethal fungal infections
Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) and the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL) in Vienna have discovered a new way to turn the immune system’s weapons against fungal invaders. This knowledge could lead to the development of new and improved anti-fungal treatments.
Interview • Organ donations
Spain: 24 years on top of the world
With 4,360 transplant operations from 1,682 donations in 2014, Spain broke the country’s own record and confirmed its place as the world leader in organ donations, a position it has held for the past 24 years.
News • Cell therapy
Using skin to save the heart
Following a heart attack or other heart trauma, the heart is unable to replace its dead cells. Patients are often left with little option other than heart transplants, which are rarely available, or more recently cell therapies that transplant heart cells into the patient's heart.
When rejection comes from within
A new cellular structure responsible for previously unexplained rejection of organ transplants has been identified by researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM.)
News • Transplantation
They reconstructed his face without leaving a scar
Scar-free facial reconstruction is now a reality. A team led by Daniel Borsuk, a doctor at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont and a professor at the University of Montreal, recently conducted the very first such procedure in the history of plastic surgery in Canada.
News • Child heart transplants
3D image may provide better size match
A new 3D computer modeling system may significantly improve a surgeon's ability to select the best sized donor heart for children receiving heart transplants, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2015.
Article • Surgery
World’s first bilateral hand transplant on a child performed
Surgeons at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) joined with colleagues from Penn Medicine recently to complete the world’s first bilateral hand transplant on a child. Earlier this month, the surgical team successfully transplanted donor hands and forearms onto eight-year-old Zion Harvey who, several years earlier, had undergone amputation of his hands and feet and a kidney…
Article • Prosthesis
Just like a healthy foot
‘It’s like a new lease on life,’ says Wolfgang R, ‘I can feel the difference between grass and concrete again.’ Eight years ago the Austrian teacher‘s lower leg had to be amputated following thrombosis. Today, he is the first leg amputee, worldwide, to sport a sensory-enhanced prosthesis. ‘For the wearer the prosthesis is not a numb object, but a part of the body,’ says Dr Hubert…
Scientist designs bio-inspired robotic finger
Most robotic parts used today are rigid, have a limited range of motion and don’t really look lifelike. Inspired by both nature and biology, a scientist from Florida Atlantic University has designed a novel robotic finger that looks and feels like the real thing. In an article recently published in the journal Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, Erik Engeberg, Ph.D., assistant professor in the…
Article • Research
A recipe for long-lasting livers
People waiting for organ transplants may soon have higher hopes of getting the help that they need in time. Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology have developed a new technique that extends the time that donor organs last and can also resuscitate organs obtained after cardiac arrest.
Researchers grow cardiac tissue on “spider silk” substrate
Genetically engineered fibers of the protein spidroin, which is the construction material for spider webs, has proven to be a perfect substrate for cultivating heart tissue cells, MIPT researchers found. They discuss their findings in an article that has recently come out in the journal PLOS ONE.
News • Clostridium difficile
Evidence supports success of fecal transplants in treatment
Research published in the open access journal Microbiome offers new evidence for the success of fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) in treating severe Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), a growing problem worldwide that leads to thousands of fatalities every year.
News • Implants
Getting the perfect fit for artificial hips
When a patient receives a new hip, it is usually adjusted only approximately to leg length. Greater accuracy requires a more precise measuring process as well as adjustable implants. Now, a new type of measurement method coupled with a modular implant should allow orthopedic surgeons to precisely calibrate leg length after the operation so it matches its original length.
News • Organ Transplantation
Innovative technique for liver transplants
Surgeons at the University Hospitals Leuven have used a new technique for two recent liver transplants: in both cases the organ was preserved prior transplantation in a device that mimics the environment of that in the human body, making sure the liver stays ‘healthier’. The device can even assess and improve the quality of the liver.
News • Study
British lung transplant patients fare better than Americans
Publicly insured Americans who undergo lung transplantation for cystic fibrosis fare markedly worse in the long run than both publicly insured patients in the United Kingdom and privately insured Americans, according to the results of a study conducted by researchers from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and U.K. colleagues working in that nation’s government-funded National Health Service.
