January 4 - Recent Transplant News
Friday, January 4, 2013
The association of center performance evaluations and kidney transplant volume in the US
Source: American Journal of Transplantation (subscription required)
Report cards evaluating transplant center performance have received significant attention in recent years corresponding with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issue of the 2007 Conditions of Participation. The primary aim was to evaluate the association of report card evaluations with transplant center volume. Researchers utilized data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) along with six consecutive program-specific reports from January 2007 to July 2009 for adult kidney transplant centers. Among 203 centers, 46 (23 percent) were low performing with statistically significantly lower than expected 1-year graft or patient survival at least once during the study period. Read more.
Study: Most living donors would do it again
Source: Renal & Urology News
A German study found that living kidney donation is safe and most donors report that they would donate again. Still, a small percentage of living kidney donors may experience physical or mental discomforts following donation. Researchers studied 128 living kidney donors and found that less than 10 percent of them reported impaired quality of life directly related to kidney donation. Read more.
The relationship of socio-demographic factors and satisfaction with social support at 5, 10 years after heart transplantation
Source: American Journal of Transplantation (subscription required)
Despite the fact that social support has been found to be important to cardiovascular health, there is a paucity of information regarding the relationship between social support and outcomes long term after heart transplantation (HT). The purposes of a recent study were to examine demographic and psychosocial characteristics and their relationship to social support after HT and to identify whether socio-demographic variables are predictors of satisfaction with social support post-HT. Read more.
Transplanted genetically-modified adipose cells offer potential therapy for liver diseases
Source: Medpage Today
Using mesenchymal stromal cells derived from adipose (fat) tissues, genetically modified to express a bioluminescent marker, researchers in Italy have tracked cells after transplantation. The cells were followed from their injection into the spleen of mice modeling liver disease, to their characterization as "hepatic precursors," and to their subsequent migration through the spleen before engrafting at regenerating sites in the liver by bioluminescent imaging. Read more.
Declining liver utilization for transplantation in the United States and the impact of donation after cardiac death
Source: Liver Transplantation (subscription required)
Worsening donor liver quality resulting in decreased organ utilization may be contributing to the recent decline in liver transplants nationally. Researchers conducted a study to examine trends in donor liver utilization and the relationship between donor characteristics and nonuse. The United Network for Organ Sharing database was used to to review all deceased adult organ donors in the United States from whom at least one solid organ was transplanted into a recipient. Read more.
Study: Iron oxide nanoparticles effective for labeling human endothelial cells
Source: Medical News Today
A team of researchers from three medical institutions in Guangzhou, China, have found that iron oxide nanoparticles (INOPS) are a useful contrast agent for in vivo magnetic resonance tracking of transplanted human endothelial cells. However, the impact of INOPS on the cells varies with a number of factors including the INOPS load. They found that the percentage of iron-labeled cells was significantly lower after 48 hours post-transplantation than at 24 hours post-transplantation. They also found that high INOPS concentration can affect cell activity. High INOPS concentration can induce cell death (apoptosis). Read more.
Low-dose valacyclovir effective for cytomegalovirus prophylaxis
Source: Renal & Urology News
Low-dose valacyclovir prophylaxis reduces the incidence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease in CMV-negative renal transplant recipients who receive a renal allograft from a CMV-infected donor, new findings suggest. It also results in high patient and graft survival rates. Read more.
Simulation of changes in myocardial tissue properties during left ventricular assistance with a rotary blood pump
Source: Artificial Organs
Researchers considered a mathematical model to investigate changes in geometric and hemodynamic indices of left ventricular function in response to changes in myofiber contractility and myocardial tissue stiffness during rotary blood pump support. The simulations showed that indices of ventricular geometry, left ventricular shortening fraction, and ejection fraction had the same response to variations in myofiber contractility and myocardial tissue stiffness. Hemodynamic measures showed an inverse relation compared with geometric measures. Read more.
Efficacy of the retreatment of hepatitis C virus infections after liver transplantation: Role of an aggressive approach
Source: Liver Transplantation (subscription required)
A sustained virological response (SVR) is achieved by 30 percent of naive liver transplantation (LT) recipients treated with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV). Almost no data are available about retreatment. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy, tolerability and SVR predictors of retreatment. Read more.
Rhinovirus and other respiratory viruses exert different effects on lung allograft function that are not mediated through acute rejection
Source: Clinical Transplantation
Community acquired respiratory virus (CARV) infections in lung transplant recipients (LTR) have been associated with adverse outcomes, including acute rejection (AR) and decline in allograft function, in some but not in all studies. In a recent study, Spirometry and transbronchial biopsy results of LTR diagnosed with CARV infection over a two-year period were extracted from clinical records. Read more.