Transplantation News

Calling himself the “pandemic president,” the 47th president of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons recognized the transplant community for its work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Excess mortality rates rose between February and August 2020 for the end-stage renal disease population, with patients on dialysis having two to three times higher total excess deaths compared with transplant recipients.

Patients who received dialysis treatments at for-profit facilities were 16% less likely to be referred for transplantation during a 4-year period than those who had treatments at nonprofit facilities, research showed.

After a second dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, solid organ transplant recipients failed to achieve an antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 comparable to the general population.

After a second dose of either the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, solid organ transplant recipients failed to achieve an antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 comparable to the general population.

A study by Schold and colleagues in the Journal the American Society of Nephrology demonstrated no significant improvement in rates of waitlisting or access to transplantation for vulnerable populations for 2 decades.

A conservative weight loss program was effective for a “small proportion” of kidney transplant candidates with obesity, namely those who had a lower BMI at baseline.

Six transplant donor groups broke away from their national trade association at the start of a U.S. House-led hearing earlier this month on whether the association was lobbying against new donor performance requirements.

Kidney transplant recipients utilizing a smartphone app that provided pharmacist-led medication management, including telehealth visits, experienced reduced medication errors and were less likely to be hospitalized than controls.

A study of COVID-19 vaccine responses among kidney transplant recipients in Israel suggested that they may remain at high risk for COVID-19 even after vaccination, according to results published in The American Journal of Transplantation.