Transplantation News

A new study has confirmed that the liver is the primary source of apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1), which can contribute to the development of various forms of kidney disease. The findings appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

The waiting lists of the most active kidney transplant centers can vary considerably 

A new program developed at Johns Hopkins University is helping overcome common barriers to finding living kidney donors. In the Live Donor Champion program, each wait-listed patient identifies a person to be their Live Donor Champion—a friend, family member, or community member willing to advocate for the patient. Clinicians provide the patient and the Live Donor Champion with educational materials, business cards, and other resources.  The National Kidney Foundation is working with Johns Hopkins and Novartis to nationally launch the program.

An educational and outreach initiative boosted kidney transplant referrals and reduced racial disparities in such referrals in Georgia, the state with the lowest kidney transplantation rate and the highest proportion of African Americans with kidney failure, according to study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University analyzed data from thousands of transplants and developed a scoring system for donor kidneys that they hope might expand the pool of available organs. They published their findings in the Annals of Transplantation.

The first patient to receive a kidney transplant as part of a trial that matches kidneys from donors who had the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) with recipients without the virus has no evidence of HCV in her blood. Irma Hendricks of East Stroudsburg, PA received a kidney transplant in July 2016, and was treated with a full regimen of Zepatier—a recently-approved oral medication prescribed to eradicate HCV.

A new study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology finds some shortcomings by the transplant community in providing prompt access to transplantation for living kidney donors who later develop kidney disease and need a transplant. The authors of the study, entitled “Delays in Prior Living Kidney Donors Receiving Priority on the Transplant Waiting List Donors,” noted that living kidney donors are told that they will have priority for transplantation if they ever need a kidney, so any delays in providing this access must be addressed.

New research suggests that medical staff can help kidney transplant recipients feel more at ease when they leave the hospital, and that could decrease the chances they'll be readmitted.

The National Kidney Foundation’s Transplant Task Force has convened a steering group of experts and stakeholders to identify practical solutions to reduce the number of kidneys that are discarded in the U.S. each year. Led by Dr. Matthew Cooper from Medstar Georgetown Transplant Institute and Dr. Stephen Pastan from Emory Transplant Center, the group includes transplant surgeons, nephrologists, organ procurement organization leadership, the federal government, payers, and kidney patients who are currently analyzing the issue and potential solutions.