As the longevity of non-renal organ transplants increases, so too does the risk of eventually getting chronic kidney disease. The occurrence of post-transplant CKD is relatively common due to two primary factors: (1) a dependence on calcineurin inhibitors…
As has been extensively detailed over the past week, one of the key guilty parties in the large federal sting operation exposing shockingly Sopranos-type corruption throughout the state of New Jersey was this man: Levy Isaac Rosenbaum, allegedly…
The two calcineurin inhibitors routinely used for kidney transplant immunosuppression are cyclosporine (CSA) and tacrolimus (TAC). Their mechanism of action is somewhat similar (they both inhibit calcineurin, which under normal circumstances induces transcription of IL-2 in lymphocytes) but…
Continuing with the theme of yesterday’s Kidney Transplant post, here are some commonly-used Kidney Transplant Lingo & Acronyms: CRT/DDKT: CRT = cadaveric renal transplant, which is starting to be replaced by DDKT (deceased donor kidney transplant)–I guess some…
Example of a paper whose conclusion is summed up quite nicely in the full title: “Half of Kidney Transplant Candidates Who Are Older than 60 Years Now Placed on the Waiting List Will Die before Receiving a Deceased-Donor…
A recent paper in the most recent issue of JASN by Louvar et al asks the “nature versus nurture” question of deceased donor kidney transplants. Using data from the US Renal Data System (USRDS), the investigators looked at…
Recently two separate groups have reported the successful carrying out of the first-ever human transvaginal nephrectomy–one report coming from the Cleveland Clinic and another from Venezuela. The surgery is being developed as an even less invasive surgical approach…
This is a little old but still funny if you haven’t seen it already. Anonymous Philanthropist Donates 200 Human Kidneys To Hospital
One of the interesting ongoing protocols at the Massachusetts General Hospital Kidney Transplant Program is the combined kidney/bone marrow transplant protocol. The idea here is to transplant both kidney & hematopoeitic stem cells from the same donor, which…
Trick question: where was the 9th Banff Conference on Allograft Pathology in 2007 held? Hint: it wasn’t Banff (the beautiful national park in western Canada). Answer: La Coruna, Spain. At this conference a consensus regarding the histopathologic classification…
