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Black Children Less Likely to Get Kidney Transplant Before Dialysis
Posted 10 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Nov. 10 – Minority children are less likely than white children to get a kidney transplant before their kidney disease gets so bad they need dialysis, U.S. researchers find. They also found that black children with kidney failure and no health insurance are more likely than whites to die while waiting for a kidney transplant. The Emory University researchers analyzed 2000-08 data from the U.S. Renal Data System, and found that white children had a 56 percent higher average annual rate of preemptive transplants than blacks and a 50 percent higher rate than Hispanics. A preemptive transplant is one performed before a patient begins dialysis. White children were also more likely to have a living donor. Nearly 79 percent of whites had living donor, compared to 57 percent of Hispanic children and 49 percent of black children. The reasons for these racial disparities aren't clear, ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant
Kidney Donation Doesn't Put Older Adults at Risk
Posted 3 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Nov. 3 – People older than 70 can donate a kidney without risking their lives but their donated kidneys don't last as long as those from younger living donors, a new study shows. However, kidneys from living elderly donors last just as long as kidneys from deceased donors, the researchers said. The findings are important in light of the serious shortage of donor kidneys in the United States. Nearly 90,000 people are waiting for a kidney transplant and many of them will die before a suitable kidney becomes available, according to background information in a journal news release. In this study, researchers compared 219 healthy adults older than 70 who donated a kidney with healthy adults in the same age group who did not donate an organ. Those who donated a kidney were no more likely than non-donors to die within one, five or 10 years. Instead, organ donors had a lower death ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant
Densensitization Procedure Helps Hard-to-Match Kidney Recipients
Posted 27 Jul 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, July 27 – A combination therapy that "desensitizes" kidney transplant recipients could help hard-to-match patients find a needed kidney faster. The desensitization procedure combines the use of plasmapheresis – a machine that filters the blood plasma to remove antibodies – and low-doses of a medication called intravenous immune globulin (IVIG). The combination of these therapies improves survival rates dramatically. Eight years after receiving a transplant, survival rates were 81 percent for those who received the treatment compared to just 31 percent for people who had to stay on dialysis, new research found. "This is a huge unmet problem. There are probably as many as 30,000 people who have been exposed to foreign tissue waiting for a kidney. They're really hard to match," explained study author Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of the comprehensive transplant program at ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant, Sandoglobulin, Gamunex, Gammagard, Flebogamma, Polygam S/D, Carimune, Octagam, Panglobulin NF, Gamimune N 10%, Privigen, Venoglobulin-S 10%, Gammar-P IV, Iveegam En, Gammaplex
Flu Vaccine Appears Safe After Kidney Transplant
Posted 1 May 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, April 28 – Flu vaccination is safe for kidney transplant patients and lowers their risk of organ loss and death, a new study says. Kidney transplant patients face a high risk of death if they get infected with flu, but some previous studies have suggested that flu vaccines could trigger an immune response that might lead to rejection of the new organ, the study authors noted. In addition, some research has suggested that immune system-suppressing drugs that transplant patients must take may reduce the effectiveness of flu vaccines. In this new study, researchers analyzed Medicare data about flu vaccination and flu cases in 51,730 adults who received a kidney transplant between January 2000 and July 2006 and were followed until October 2006. Of those patients, 9,678 – or 18.7 percent – received a flu vaccination in the first year after their transplant. These patients were ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant, Influenza Prophylaxis
Girls Less Likely Than Boys to Be on Kidney Transplant List
Posted 27 Apr 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, April 26 – Girls are much less likely than boys to be placed on a kidney transplant waiting list, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed data from almost 4,500 dialysis patients younger than 21 years of age at 150 kidney treatment centers in Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States. The results showed that girls were 22 percent less likely than boys to be placed on a waiting list for a new kidney. There were no obvious reasons, such as medical factors or family preference, to account for this gender difference, said the researchers at the University of California Davis School of Medicine. They also found that girls were less likely to have pre-emptive kidney transplants and less likely to have a living-related donor. The study was published online April 20 in the journal Pediatric Transplantation. The sooner a young person with advanced chronic kidney disease receives ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant
Kidney Transplant Patients at Risk of Narrowed Arteries
Posted 14 Apr 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, April 14 – Kidney transplant patients whose immune systems produce antibodies that target the new organ can develop accelerated narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the kidney, which may lead to organ rejection. That's the finding of a study by researchers in France who examined kidney biopsies from 99 kidney transplant patients – 40 with antibodies targeting their new kidney and 59 without the antibodies. Significant progression of arteriosclerosis in kidney arteries during the three to 12 months after transplant occurred in the antibody-positive patients, but not in the antibody-negative patients. The rate of artery narrowing, or arteriosclerosis, in the antibody-negative patients was about one-third that seen in the antibody-positive patients. The rate of arteriosclerosis in the antibody-positive patients was much worse than expected and translated into about 28 ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant
Scarring of Transplanted Kidneys Less of a Problem Today
Posted 12 Apr 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, April 12 – Progressive scar damage to transplanted kidneys may be less common and less severe than reported in previous research, says a new study. The research included 797 patients who received new kidneys between 1998 and 2004 and were followed for at least five years. One year after transplant, 87 percent of the patients had mild or no signs of progressive scar damage on their new kidney. After five years, that decreased slightly to 83 percent, said the Mayo Clinic researchers. The investigators noted that their findings contrast with studies of patients who received kidney transplants in the early 1990s. Those earlier reports found most transplanted kidneys were affected by progressive scarring that eventually resulted in transplant failure. "These results are significant and encouraging for everyone who is concerned about long-term survival for kidney transplant ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant
Kidney Transplant Patients Urged to Keep Fit to Survive
Posted 7 Mar 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, March 3 – Exercise may help kidney transplant patients live longer, according to a new study. Dutch researchers assessed the health of 540 kidney transplant recipients between 2001 and 2003 and monitored their physical activity levels until 2007. The investigators found that 260 (48 percent) of the patients did not meet guidelines for minimum requirements of physical activity and 79 (14.6 percent) were completely inactive. During the study period, there were 81 deaths among the patients, including 37 heart-related deaths. The death rate was higher among those who participated in lower levels of physical activity, the study authors found. According to the report, released online March 3 in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, cardiovascular deaths occurred in 11.7 percent of inactive patients, 7.2 ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant
Education Might Help Kidney Recipients Spot Skin Cancer
Posted 21 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Feb. 21 – Educating kidney transplant patients about their risk for skin cancer helps increase rates of skin self-examination and follow-up with a dermatologist, researchers have found. "In the United States, an estimated 100,000 living kidney transplant recipients are at risk to develop cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma [malignant tumors occurring in the skin that can spread to other organs]," wrote Dr. June K. Robinson, of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, and colleagues. "Most kidney transplant recipients with a first squamous cell carcinoma develop multiple skin cancers within five years, and some develop more than 100 skin cancers within a year," they noted. The new study included 75 kidney transplant recipients returning for routine care with their kidney specialist between one and seven years after they had their transplant. The ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant
Donor Kidneys Travel Safely, Study Finds
Posted 18 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Jan. 18 – Kidneys from live donors that are transported across town or across the country are as safe to use in transplants as a kidney from a donor in the same hospital as the recipient, says a new study. Researchers followed up on 56 kidneys from live donors that were exchanged among 30 transplant centers in the United States and Canada. All of the transplanted organs survived and quickly began making urine and clearing creatinine out of the recipients' bodies. The kidneys in the study were kept on ice and traveled an average distance of 792 miles, with a range of less than one mile to 2,570 miles. On average, the organs spent 7.6 hours outside the body, with a range of 2.5 to 14.5 hours. About 87 percent of the kidneys were transported by air and 13 percent by motor vehicle. "There was no difference in how well the kidneys functioned compared to those transplanted ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant
Dialysis Options Remain After Kidney Transplant Failure
Posted 13 Jan 2011 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Jan. 13 – Home-based dialysis is an option for patients who've suffered a kidney transplant failure, researchers say. In a new study, researchers evaluated the impact that dialysis – both clinic-based and home-based – had on the survival of 2,110 adult Canadian patients who had to return to dialysis after kidney transplant failure. Death rates were similar for both groups of patients during the initial two-year period, during the period after the first two years, and overall, the investigators found. The study findings are scheduled for publication in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. The researchers pointed out that although there are many advantages to home-based dialysis – including avoiding hospital visits several times a week – very few patients in the United States and Canada returning to dialysis after transplant ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant
Marital Status May Affect Kidney Transplant Decision
Posted 8 Dec 2010 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 8 – Kidney failure patients who are married are more likely to receive a new kidney than those who are widows or widowers or have never married, finds a new study. Kidney transplant is the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage kidney failure. Previous research has shown that males, whites and those with higher incomes and better education are more likely than others to receive kidney transplants in the United States. In this new study, researchers analyzed 3,650 patient records in the United States Renal Data System and found that those who were currently married or separated/divorced were more likely to be placed on a kidney transplant waiting list than widows and widowers and those who were never married. Once on the transplant list, married patients were more likely to receive a new kidney. The study was recently published in the American Journal of ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Failure, Renal Transplant
Moderate Drinking Could Lower Death Risk for Kidney Transplant Patients
Posted 19 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Nov. 19 – Kidney disease patients, once cautioned against alcohol use, can relax and have a drink a two, but they also need to be mindful of their weight, two new Dutch studies show. The researchers found that fears about moderate drinking by kidney disease patients may be unfounded, while concerns about weight are not. Both studies, conducted by different researchers, were presented Thursday at the American Society of Nephrology's annual meeting in Denver. One study focused on the effects of alcohol use among kidney transplant patients, who traditionally have been warned against drinking because it might interfere with medications that prevent the body from rejecting a new kidney. It found, instead, that a few drinks might actually help. "Quality of life and long-term outcome after transplantation may benefit from advising moderate intake of alcohol," said study author Dorien ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant, Chronic Kidney Disease
Kidney Transplants for Elderly Double Over Decade
Posted 29 Oct 2010 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Oct. 28 – Elderly kidney failure patients in the United States are twice as likely to get a kidney transplant as they were in the mid-1990s, although the likelihood is still low, a new studyfinds. About half a million people in the United States have kidney failure, and 48 percent of them are 60 or older. The study, published in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, included kidney failure patients, aged 60 to 75, listed in the national Renal Data System between 1995 and 2006. In 2006, these elderly patients had a 7.3 percent chance of getting a kidney transplant within three years of their first treatment for kidney failure. That rate was two times higher than in 1995. The researchers noted that elderly kidney failure patients now have greater access to kidneys from living donors and older deceased donors, and are less likely to die ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant
Gene May Boost Risk of Kidney Transplant Failure
Posted 6 Apr 2010 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, April 6 – Researchers have identified a gene variant in kidney donors that's associated with increased risk that the organ will stop working (graft failure) after it's transplanted into a recipient. The variation occurs in the CAV1 gene, which normally inhibits the development of fibrous connective tissue that can interfere with a transplant. In this study, British researchers analyzed DNA from hundreds of kidney donors and their recipients in England and Ireland. They found that rates of graft failure ranged anywhere from about 39 percent to 67 percent for donor genotype AA, from around 22 percent to 42 percent for donor genotype CC, and from about 22 percent to 44 percent for donor genotype AC. "Although a minority of donors displayed the AA genotype (approximately 10 percent), this gene variant nevertheless shows potential in identifying a subpopulation at higher risk of ... Read more
Related support groups: Renal Transplant, Organ Transplant -- Rejection Prophylaxis, Rejection Prophylaxis
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