kidney transplants

NJ parents: Disabled girl was denied transplant Associated Press

Mary Wu received two kidney transplants thanks to the kindness of strangers - and she wants New Yorkers to know she's proof organ donations make a difference.

(American Society of Nephrology) Patients treated with tacrolimus (TAC) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) had lower rejection rates and better kidney function.

Multi-year study compared three commonly used immunosuppresive regimens. More than 16,000 US patients receive kidney transplants each year; preventing rejection requires a life-long delicate balance of medication

(MedPage Today) -- Antigen incompatibility hurts pediatric kidney transplant outcomes, but may often be unavoidable unless changes are made to the organ allocation system, researchers suggested.

BALTIMORE (MedPage Today) -- A panel of Medicare advisers has voted that there isn't enough evidence to make any scientific decision on whether the use of erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs) makes kidney transplant patients less likely to reject the organ.

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- Reacting to concerns about overdose risk, the FDA is issuing new dose recommendations for valganciclovir hydrochloride (Valcyte), which is used in pediatric patients undergoing heart or kidney transplants.

(MedPage Today) -- Scarring and mild inflammation of kidney transplants that develop in the first year predict eventual graft failure, researchers found.

Matching up the weight of donors and recipients boosts success in kidney transplants, suggests French research.

(Wiley-Blackwell) Surgeons have developed a controversial technique that could offer a vital lifeline to patients with end-stage renal disease, as well as increasing the supply of viable organs.

They have successfully performed kidney transplants after removing small cancerous and benign masses from the donated organs.

Patient follow-ups are very promising, say the US team.

Pregnancy does not appear to have an adverse effect on renal function or survival among women with functioning kidney transplants, researchers found.