July 18, 2002 - Here are summaries, from Doctor's Guide, on papers presented at the XXXIX Congress of the European Renal Association/European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA/EDTA), held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 14-17th.

Hepatitis C Has Negative Effect on Long-Term Outcome in Renal Allograft Recipients.

Influence of Atherosclerosis in Recipient Family History on Renal Allograft Outcome.

Lamivudine Therapy Effective for Hepatitis B Viral Infection in Renal Transplant Patients.

Left Ventricular Hypertrophy After Renal Transplantation Linked to Poor Outcome.

Obesity Treatment Helps Reduce Atherosclerosis Risk After Renal Transplant.

July 17, 2002 - Here are 3 summaries from papers presented at the XXXIX Congress of the European Renal Association/European Dialysis and Transplant Association (ERA/EDTA), held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 14-17th.

Eurotransplant Senior Program Helps Reduce Waiting Time for Elderly Patients.

Atherosclerosis in Iliac Artery Predicts Outcome of Renal Transplantation.

Aggressive Obesity Treatment Improves Outcomes in Renal Transplant Recipients.

January 23, 2002 - After waiting almost seven years for a successful kidney transplant, a Rochester, New York man advertised for help in his hometown newspaper. An anonymous donor, one of his high school classmates, came forward and donated a kidney. Story from the Albany Times Union.

It is illegal in the United States to pay for a kidney donation.

RenalWEB has a Transplant Topic Page that provides information on live-donor and non-directed kidney donations.

November 11, 2001 - The New York Times has an article this weekend about the growing number of Americans traveling to China to receive organ transplants that are harvested from executed prisoners. (link is no longer available) An excerpt:

"The transplants in China, which doctors in both countries say are increasing, has presented the American medical establishment with an ethical quandary: Should American doctors treat patients who have received organs from executed prisoners and, if so, would they be tacitly condoning the practice and encouraging more such transplants."

October 25, 2001 - This week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has a study that shows a 17 percent higher failure risk in the first year for the kidneys that were shipped long distances for transplantation. Here is a layman's summary from HealthScoutNews/Yahoo. (link is no longer available)

Here is the abstract of "A Comparison of the Survival of Shipped and Locally Transplanted Cadaveric Renal Allografts" from the NEJM.

The New York Times has recently published two excellent articles on transplant-related issues. In order to view these articles, you must register (it is free).

"On Death Row, China's Source of Transplants" - article from Oct. 18
(link is no longer available)

"Transplants From Pigs to People" - article from Oct. 2 (link is no longer available)

[This message has been edited by Gary Peterson (edited 09-23-2002).]