German physicians reported in mid-December that an unusual blood stem cell transplant appeared to cure Timothy Ray Brown, an American man living in Berlin infected with the AIDS virus.  Brown, who is in his 40s, had the transplant in 2007 to treat acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).  His donor was not only a good match, but [Sign in to read the full article...]

Making families wait for a second exam to confirm a brain death diagnosis is not only unnecessary but may make it less likely that the family will agree to donate their loved one’s organs.  Researchers reviewed records from the New York Organ Donor Network database of 1,229 and 82 children who had been declared brain [Sign in to read the full article...]

Kidney transplants using organs from live donors work just as well if the kidneys are shipped—be it across town or across the country—as when the donors and recipients are operated at the same hospital, according to a new study conducted by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “We have found that shipping live donor kidneys [Sign in to read the full article...]

A Tempe Arizona company says it will soon begin offering “transplant tours” to Mexico for uninsured patients in need of a lifesaving kidney transplant. “If there are people who need a kidney transplant and they don’t want to die and they don’t have the means, I bet they’ll find their way to us,” said Dr. [Sign in to read the full article...]

Patients returning to dialysis after kidney transplant failure face unique challenges compared with other dialysis patients; they have been exposed to powerful immunosuppressive medications and have been on dialysis for a longer period of time than other dialysis patients.  However, a new study appearing in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, found [Sign in to read the full article...]