Monday, November 19, 2007

Transplant Headlines

Selected headlines all dealing with heart transplantation

Papworth heart transplants resume after review
Reuters reports from London that Papworth Hospital can resume heart transplant operations after a review failed to find one single reason for a sharp rise in recent deaths, the health watchdog said on Monday.

Operations were suspended at the Cambridge hospital earlier this month after it discovered seven of the 20 transplant patients had died within 30 days, a rate of 35 percent, between January and September this year.

An eighth died following a transplant in October.

Papworth's average rate is seven percent, with the average across all transplant centres 10 percent. Read the full article.

The family that needs 3 heart transplants
OUR DONOR WAIT AGONY

The Mirror in the United Kingdom posts a compelling story about a mother and her twin daughters all needing heart transplants due to a genetic condition; they were all diagnosed with acute dilated cardiomyopathy. All three are living under a death sentence. Their only hope is a transplant and they face an agonising wait for suitable donor organs. Read the full story.

First heart transplant at IMC
The Deseret Morning News in Utah reports on the first heart transplant to be done at Intermountain Medical Center. Larry Hartwell of Wyoming received a successful heart transplant and is up and walking around with the prospect of "going home" in a couple of days. Read the full story.

New blood test revolutionizes heart transplant technology
ABC News in San Francisco reports that a local company has developed a simple blood test that measures rejection, thus eliminating the need for invasive biopsies. This could change the lives of many heart transplant recipients. Read the full article.

Blood-incompatible baby heart transplant seen safe
Reuters posted this article reporting that babies waiting desperately to receive a heart transplant can receive a heart from a donor even if the blood type is incompatible -- good news for infants who might otherwise die, researchers said on Monday.

Heart transplants not compatible with the recipient's blood type were equally safe as transplants with blood-compatible hearts when given to infants up to age 1, they said. Read the full article.


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