Transplantation News

While kidney transplant recipients in the United States initially have better outcomes compared to patients in other countries, registry data show that advantage disappears after the first year, according to a study published in the American Journal of Transplantation.

Surgeons at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago completed kidney transplant surgeries in organ-transplant chain from living donors that resulted in healthy kidneys going to six sick people. The six pairs consisted of three sets of friends, an aunt and niece, second cousins and a non-directed donor who started the chain. On February 28, the donors and recipients gathered and met each other for the first time at the hospital.

In November 2017, the University of Alabama at Birmingham kidney transplant team performed its 10,000th kidney transplant.

Teen and young adult kidney transplant recipients who used a digital health, medication management and adherence solution in combination with coaching had 66% higher adherence to anti-rejection medicine, according to findings recently published online in the American Journal of Kidney Disease.

Idaho Governor Clement Leroy “Butch” Otter recently signed landmark legislation that protects living organ donors from potential insurance discrimination.

Two years after the FDA turned down an application for its hyperkalemia drug ZS-9, AstraZeneca announced on March 22 that it has received approval for the drug from the European Commission under its new name, Lokelma. AstraZeneca said in a press release that it hopes to get U.S. approval for the drug later this year.

New methods of uncovering rare and undiagnosed genetic diseases through electronic medical data could help identify and treat causes of illnesses in patients diagnosed with heart failure, stroke, infertility and kidney failure.

Treating recipients of a kidney from a donor with HCV with direct-acting antiviral medications before and after transplantation is safe and prevents chronic HCV infection, according to findings published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

A recently published study that investigated how patients on dialysis are referred for transplant found decision-making by dialysis facility staff — not whether a patient is necessarily a good candidate — has a greater influence on whether the referral takes place.

During 2017, the number of deceased organ donors in the United States topped 10,000 for the first time, according to data from United Network for Organ Sharing. For the year, organs were recovered from 10,281 donors, representing a 3.1% increase compared with rates for 2016 and an increase of 27% since 2007.