Study shows little benefit for early kidney transplant

U.S. researchers have shown that someone with failing kidneys can benefit from a "pre-emptive" kidney transplant -- before they need dialysis -- but a Canadian study suggests that finding may not apply in this country.

Number of dialysis patients over 75 soars, data show

Rev. Victor Munro has been undergoing dialysis treatment at Toronto General Hospital for almost a decade and he has noticed that, like him, a growing number of people with kidney failure are retirees.

Transplant technique a double plus, says doctor

Kidney transplant specialist Dr. Santosh Potdar said a technique he is using during procedures at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center has saved patients $500,000 during the past two years and increased the longevity of transplanted organs.

Live kidney transplants to be discussed at Dublin conference

The issue of living kidney transplants is due to be discussed at an international conference being hosted by the Irish Kidney Association in Dublin this week.

Idea of paying donors for transplants gains momentum

One idea for easing the organ shortage is to pay donors. There is only one country in the world where it's legal now, but the subject comes up at nearly every major transplant conference.

Soliciting organs over the internet

The Harvard Medical School Division of Medical Ethics will host a public forum, titled “Soliciting Organs Over the Internet,” which will bring together an Internet donor matching service MatchingDonors.com and ethicists to discuss the changing landscape of organ donation.

Surgical frontiersman

At 79, Thomas Starzl doesn’t have much left to prove. In July 1967, the surgeon was the first to perform a successful human liver transplantation; since then he has been instrumental in making the liver the United States’ second-most-commonly transplanted organ. “He led the field of transplantation into the modern era,” says J. Richard Thistlethwaite, a transplant surgeon at the University of Chicago.

A Bioartificial Kidney?

Despite advances in dialysis, acute kidney failure while in hospital carries a mortality rate that tops 50 percent. Current therapies filter body waste but fail to compensate for other renal functions, such as immune surveillance and metabolic activity.

Gene implicated in chronic kidney disease

Duke University Medical Center researchers have discovered a gene responsible for one form of chronic kidney disease. The disease, called familial focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), can lead to complete kidney failure and affects 20 percent of patients on dialysis. The finding could lead to more effective treatments, according to the researchers.

Gene yields clues to chronic kidney disease

Researchers say they've identified a gene responsible for a form of chronic kidney disease.