Robert Selby, a legally blind 54-year-old man from Hazelwood, Missouri, has retinitis pigmentosa, a rare, inherited condition that progressively robs sight. But with the help of an artificial retina he hopes to be able to get around more independently and safely.
The prospect of creating artery “banks” available for cardiovascular surgery, bypassing the need to harvest vessels from the patient, could transform treatment of many common heart and vascular ailments. But it’s a big leap from concept to reality.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who also have lung involvement often have increased mortality, but first-line therapy with rituximab may help them live longer, according to new research findings presented this week at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in Washington.
Two Rutgers graduate school alumni will be forever connected. A living donor transplant kept one man alive and left another glad he was able to help his friend and save his life by donating part of his liver.
How should plastic surgeons choose the best implant type and size for women undergoing breast augmentation surgery? Implant size selection systems based on breast tissue measurements may provide better outcomes, suggests a research review in the November issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
A new method to determine how effectively immune cells kill their targets could help personalize immune therapies.
Most white-hat hackers believe hackers will exploit cyber vulnerabilities to remotely access connected vehicles. A DHS S&T's CSD objective is to identify key vehicle cybersecurity challenges and find solutions that will reduce the risk of cyber-attacks.
It’s been long thought that when blood transfusions are needed, it may be best to use the freshest blood, but McMaster University researchers have led a large international study proving that it is not so.
Shortly after Olivia Alva was born, doctors diagnosed her with biliary atresia, a rare disease of the liver that occurs in about 1 in every 15,000 babies. Olivia's mother, Patricia, became a living donor for her daughter by getting a portion of her liver removed to replace Olivia's diseased liver.
Cedars-Sinai regenerative medicine investigators have received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test a combination stem cell-gene therapy they developed to stall the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The approval allows 18 ALS patients to receive a new investigational drug in a few months when the study begins.
A novel invention by Kansas State University researchers may benefit biomedical professionals and the patients they serve during electrode and organ transplant procedures.
An innovative procedure may improve outcomes in people with a degenerative eye disease, suggest five-year results from a study presented at AAO 2016, the 120th annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Transplantation of one layer of the cornea may help people with keratoconus avoid or delay full corneal transplantation and other potentially risky procedures, according to the researchers. They say the technique may enable those with advanced keratoconus to tolerate extended contact lenses wear, which is traditionally a challenge for people with the condition.
• An educational and outreach program targeted to dialysis facilities increased rates of referral for transplantation, especially for African American patients.
For most stable hospitalized patients, transfusions of red blood cells stored for any time point within their licensed dating period — so-called standard issue — are as safe as transfusions with blood stored 10 days or less, or “fresh,” according to updated clinical guidelines issued by an expert panel convened by a national organization that has long set standards for blood banking and transfusion practices.
A drug commonly used for the prevention of allergies and asthma someday could find new use in preventing liver disease and reducing the need for transplants, according to new research published in the October 2016 edition of the scientific journal Hepatology.
Wyss Institute materials scientists have bioprinted a tubular 3-D renal architecture that recapitulates functions of the kidney.
Patients who have received a solid organ transplant require lifelong immunosuppressive therapy. The threat of transplant rejection due to insufficient drug therapy must be balanced against increased risks of infections and cancer from excessive immunosuppression. A significant unmet need exists for non-invasive diagnostic tools to monitor transplant recipients, especially for early detection of active injury and rejection. A report in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics describes a new non-invasive test that measures donor-derived cell-free DNA (dd-cfDNA) in plasma that has the potential to reduce complications and rejection, improving outcomes in transplant recipients.
As the result of a collaborative effort between Penn Medicine, Paris Descartes University, and Gift of Life Donor Program, Laura is the first international patient to receive a double hand transplant in the United States, and is only the second adult to be transplanted at Penn Medicine.
The UCLA Lung Transplant program performed its 1,000th transplant surgery in mid-September, becoming the first program on the West Coast, and one of only seven centers nationwide, to achieve this milestone.
An article in AACN Advanced Critical Care reviews the epidemiology of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection, clinical presentation of infection, diagnosis and various therapies including fecal microbiota transplant
Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Ashish Shah, M.D., used a computerized algorithm to highlight the value of high-volume transplant centers with corresponding improved outcomes. The study, published in The American Journal of Transplantation, is the first to look at the positive relationship between high operative volume and improved patient outcomes.
For patients whose hearing is considered “too good” for traditional cochlear implants, but whose hearing loss is too advanced to benefit from hearing aids, there hasn’t been a device to meet their needs.
The PediFETCh study will help determine - for the first time - whether fecal transplants can be a viable treatment for children who cannot control their disease with their current medications, or who want to avoid moving onto higher doses, different medications, or surgery.
Larry Jacob got the call every parent fears. His daughter was sick, away at college and needed help. Mr. Jacob left his home in the Chicago suburbs and was driving to Western Illinois University when he suddenly doubled over in pain. "I pulled on to the shoulder of the road, buckled over and began throwing up," the 51 year-old remembers. "Ironically, I was going to care for my daughter and now I was the one getting ill. I felt like an 800 pound elephant was sitting on my stomach."
In a World View opinion column published in Nature, a Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher calls for animal-human embryo research to proceed – but only with strong animal protections in place.
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.
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 in two ways. They published their findings in the Annals of Transplantation.
Patients who need a kidney transplant may have new hope, through an innovative Penn Medicine clinical trial using kidneys from deceased donors who had the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). The first study participant received a kidney transplant in July 2016, and after being treated with a full regimen of Zepatier – a recently-approved oral medication prescribed to eradicate HCV – her doctors announced today that there is no evidence of the virus in her blood.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a three-year, $992,000 grant to UC Santa Cruz to fund an innovative research project to help passengers with special needs use public transit safely and confidently.
Leukemia survivor Michael Beltrame, a 42-year-old father of three, owes his life to a complete stranger who altruistically donated bone marrow cells for Mr. Beltrame’s successful bone marrow transplant. Mr. Beltrame met his donor for the first time during Loyola Medicine’s annual Bone Marrow Transplant Celebration.
After a national search, transplant surgeon, researcher and educator John Fung, MD, PhD, FACS, has been selected as chief of the Section of Transplantation Surgery and director of the new University of Chicago Medicine Transplantation Institute.
A new proposal under consideration by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) that would change the way donated livers are distributed would negatively impact patients listed for liver transplantation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and across the Southeast, according to Seth Karp, M.D., H. William Scott Jr. Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery.
• Most prior living kidney donors in the United States who later need a transplant receive one quickly, but some are not readily given the priority they were promised when they donated.
Insoo Hyun has proposed a framework for addressing ethical questions surrounding potentially revolutionary research on part-human, part-animal embryos, which can be produced when human stem cells are transplanted into animal embryos.
New research has shown how a cell surface molecule, Lymphotoxin β receptor, controls entry of T-cells into the thymus; and as such presents an opportunity to understanding why cancer patients who undergo bone-marrow transplant are slow to recover their immune system.
Scott & White Memorial Hospital – Temple broke ground on an innovative surgical sciences facility that will bring new, advanced procedures to patients in Central Texas. The new facility, slated for opening summer 2018, will be adjacent to the hospital and will increase the hospital’s number of operating room suites from 26 to 32. Existing operating rooms within the hospital will be expanded and refreshed.
Some anxiety is perfectly normal for kidney transplant patients, but new research suggests that medical staff can help patients feel more at ease when they leave the hospital and that could decrease the chances they’ll be readmitted.
Large, nationwide study finds better psychological well-being, fewer graft vs. host disease symptoms and greater likelihood of returning to work among bone marrow transplant recipients
Scientists in Germany have developed a new approach that may prevent leukemia and lymphoma patients from developing graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) after therapeutic bone marrow transplants. The researchers describe the successful application of their strategy in mice in “Exogenous TNFR2 activation protects from acute GvHD via host T reg cell expansion,” which will be published online August 15 ahead of issue in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals achieve national ranking for organ donor efforts.
A new drug therapy for peripheral T-cell lymphoma has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA and the University of Louisville will be the site of first-in-human study
A stranger started a chain of events that led to six people receiving new kidneys at one institution.
Should children be considered for facial transplantation? While there are some special ethical and psychological concerns, these shouldn't rule out the possibility of performing face transplant in carefully selected children, according to an expert review in the August issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
Today, researchers presented findings at the 68th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting that DNA found circulating in the bloodstream—known as cell-free DNA—can be used to identify liver transplant patients with acute rejection with greater accuracy than conventional liver function tests. This cell-free DNA test could help liver transplant patients receive crucial treatment for rejection faster, and has the potential to improve the prognosis of kidney and heart transplant patients as well.
With a shortage of donor organs, Mayo Clinic is exploring therapeutic strategies for patients with debilitating liver diseases. Researchers are testing a new approach to correct metabolic disorders without a whole organ transplant. Their findings appear in Science Translational Medicine.
An infusion of stem cells could help restore proper drainage for fluid-clogged eyes at risk for glaucoma. That's the upshot of a study led by a Veterans Affairs and University of Iowa team.
A multicenter team of researchers led by Barbara Murphy, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has identified a panel of genes which can help predict whether a transplanted kidney will later develop fibrosis, an injury which can cause the organ to fail.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that using repeated doses of an immunotherapy drug can restore a complete remission for some relapsed stem cell transplant recipients.
A new, minimally invasive procedure appears to be effective for many patients with the common eye disease Fuchs endothelial dystrophy (FED), without the potential side effects and cost of the current standard of care, a cornea transplant.
For athletes and highly active patients who sustain cartilage injuries to their knee, an osteochondral allograft transplantation can be a successful treatment option, according to research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine’s (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, CO. The study showed these patients were consistently able to return to sport or recreational activities after the surgery, though frequently at a lower activity level.
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