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UCSF marks a milestone with 500th transplant in heart and lung program
April 25, 2008UCSF marked a milestone this week with the 500th procedure in its Thoracic Transplant Program, which specializes in transplantation of the heart and lung.
"We're glad to reach this significant point in our program because it means that a great number of patients are receiving improvements to their health that could not otherwise be achieved without an organ transplant," said Charles Hoopes, MD, director of Cardiopulmonary Transplantation at UCSF since 2002. "UCSF has a highly experienced transplant support team and is dedicated to research focused on continued improvement in patient survival and outcomes for transplanted organs."
Patients in the program have undergone either a heart or lung transplant or both.
According to UCSF clinical specialists, transplant is the best treatment for patients with severe, end-stage disease where no effective medical or nontransplant surgical treatments are available.
Conditions that damage the heart to the point where a transplant is the best chance for improved health include congenital heart disease, coronary artery disease, heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and valvular heart disease. Severe diseases of the lung that can lead to transplant include emphysema, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, and sarcoidosis, an inflammation that produces tiny lumps in the lungs.
In January, new data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients showed that UCSF exceeded national averages for expected survival rates of both heart and lung transplant patients. Known for tackling complex transplant surgeries, UCSF was the only hospital among the U.S. News & World Report top 18 hospitals that exceeded the national averages in both heart and lung transplant programs (http://www.ustransplant.org/).
Research is making it possible for more patients with uncommon disease types to receive transplants.
"Part of the benefit of being at UCSF is to work on the cutting edge of research, to never be satisfied with the status quo and to identify new recipient populations, new science, and new ways of improving care," said Jeffrey Golden, MD, medical director of the UCSF Lung Transplant Program. "Our transplant population includes patients with unique rheumatological disorders and those with end stage lung disease secondary to congenital heart disease--patients with diseases that are just now being considered viable for transplantation."
Research in transplant medicine has been a focus of the UCSF transplant program since it began. UCSF researchers are presently investigating a blood test instead of a biopsy to identify patients who might reject their donor organ and the future possibility of using inhaled immunosuppressants to stop transplant rejection. The Thoracic Transplant Program is also looking into diseases like scleroderma, a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body attacks itself to create both end stage heart and lung disease.
The Heart Transplant Program at UCSF is researching the genomics of heart failure and donor organ rejection. The program began in 1989 and focuses on pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular failure, combined heart-kidney transplant, transplant for Chagas disease, transplant for congenital heart disease, and transplant for patients with heart failure and HIV.
The UCSF Lung Transplant Program began in 1991 and is a specialized center of excellence for treating cystic fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension. The program also focuses on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) as a bridge to transplant for acute respiratory failure, the role of transplant in malignancy (bronchoalveolar carcinoma), and transplant for HIV patients. Current research includes the genomics of transplant rejection, acute lung injury and fungal infections.
Information about all UCSF transplant programs can be found at: http://www.ucsfhealth.org/adult/medical_services/organ_transplants.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.
The University of California, San Francisco
According to UCSF clinical specialists, transplant is the best treatment for patients with severe, end-stage disease where no effective medical or nontransplant surgical treatments are available.
Conditions that damage the heart to the point where a transplant is the best chance for improved health include congenital heart disease, coronary artery disease, heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and valvular heart disease. Severe diseases of the lung that can lead to transplant include emphysema, cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, and sarcoidosis, an inflammation that produces tiny lumps in the lungs.
In January, new data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients showed that UCSF exceeded national averages for expected survival rates of both heart and lung transplant patients. Known for tackling complex transplant surgeries, UCSF was the only hospital among the U.S. News & World Report top 18 hospitals that exceeded the national averages in both heart and lung transplant programs (http://www.ustransplant.org/).
Research is making it possible for more patients with uncommon disease types to receive transplants.
"Part of the benefit of being at UCSF is to work on the cutting edge of research, to never be satisfied with the status quo and to identify new recipient populations, new science, and new ways of improving care," said Jeffrey Golden, MD, medical director of the UCSF Lung Transplant Program. "Our transplant population includes patients with unique rheumatological disorders and those with end stage lung disease secondary to congenital heart disease--patients with diseases that are just now being considered viable for transplantation."
Research in transplant medicine has been a focus of the UCSF transplant program since it began. UCSF researchers are presently investigating a blood test instead of a biopsy to identify patients who might reject their donor organ and the future possibility of using inhaled immunosuppressants to stop transplant rejection. The Thoracic Transplant Program is also looking into diseases like scleroderma, a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body attacks itself to create both end stage heart and lung disease.
The Heart Transplant Program at UCSF is researching the genomics of heart failure and donor organ rejection. The program began in 1989 and focuses on pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular failure, combined heart-kidney transplant, transplant for Chagas disease, transplant for congenital heart disease, and transplant for patients with heart failure and HIV.
The UCSF Lung Transplant Program began in 1991 and is a specialized center of excellence for treating cystic fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension. The program also focuses on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) as a bridge to transplant for acute respiratory failure, the role of transplant in malignancy (bronchoalveolar carcinoma), and transplant for HIV patients. Current research includes the genomics of transplant rejection, acute lung injury and fungal infections.
Information about all UCSF transplant programs can be found at: http://www.ucsfhealth.org/adult/medical_services/organ_transplants.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.
The University of California, San Francisco
Lung Transplant Current Events and Lung Transplant News RSSTest helps in fight against lung infections and for treating other life-threatening infections
A new test developed by Edmonton-based Innovotech™ Inc. will now allow doctors to more accurately identify the right antibiotics required to treat serious, chronic infections that are biofilm based.
Pitt team first to profile genes in acutely ill idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients
The first findings from a one-of-a-kind, patient-driven effort to provide lung tissue for research might help doctors predict when patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are becoming dangerously ill and also could point the way to interventions that could sustain them until life-saving transplants can be performed.
Women with cystic fibrosis can have safe and successful fertility treatment
Women with cystic fibrosis can have fertility treatment to help them have babies without any long-term adverse effects on either themselves or their children.
Gene therapy technique thwarts cancer by cutting off tumor blood supply
University of Florida researchers have come up with a new gene therapy method to disrupt cancer growth by using a synthetic protein to induce blood clotting that cuts off a tumor's blood and nutrient supply.
Protein may be strongest indicator of rare lung disease, study shows
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have discovered a protein in the lungs that can help in determining progression of the rare lung disease Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).
Breathing life into injured lungs: World-first technique will expand lung donor organ pool
For the first time in the world, transplant surgeons at Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network used a new technique to repair an injured donor lung that was unsuitable for transplant, and then successfully transplanted it into a patient.
New clinical trial for patients with asbestos-associated lung cancer
The Mesothelioma Center within the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center is now recruiting patients for a clinical research study of a new targeted radiation and chemotherapy protocol for pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung's lining that is almost always caused by previous exposure to asbestos.
Depression and PTSD symptoms in caregivers of lung transplant patients
Symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among caregivers of deceased lung transplant patients are four-to-five times more prevalent than in the average population, according to researchers who analyzed the stress levels of caregivers, as well as their perceptions of the transplant recipients' quality of dying and death.
Lung transplants in cystic fibrosis patients with life-threatening bacteria sparks debate at ISHLT
During Wednesday's Satellite Symposium 3: The Challenges of Lung Transplantation in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) at the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions, clinicians and researchers discussed some of the unique challenges in achieving excellent lung transplant outcomes in patients with CF.
Biomarkers may reduce need for biopsies
Data presented at this week's 28th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) suggest the potential of a significant impact of using biomarkers to reduce the need for biopsies and personalize transplant patient care.
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