Organ donation after cardiac deathAugust 15, 2008Penn bioethicist tackles changing boundaries of organ donor guidelines (PHILADELPHIA) - The babies were dying - without life support, they might live just another few minutes. Their families had said goodbye, and wanted their newborns to become organ donors, in hopes of saving another tiny life. But the babies' conditions couldn't meet the normal standards for organ donor eligibility. What to do? The August 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine explores the issue of organ donation after cardiac death through the lens of emotionally charged cases like these, which occurred at the Denver Children's Hospital. In the journal's Perspective Roundtable, Arthur Caplan, PhD, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, weighs in on the ethical considerations of the changing assumptions about when death occurs, the importance of respecting "the dead donor rule" and how to decide which patients are suitable organ donors.
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Related Organ Donor Current Events and Organ Donor News Articles New technique improves outcome for living donor liver transplants The University of Alberta Hospital (UAH) is one of only a few centers in Canada that perform living donor liver transplantation, a surgical procedure developed in the late 1980s that expands the organ donor pool. About 80 liver transplants are done a year in Alberta, 10 of those being living-donor. Scientists confirm new virus responsible for deaths of transplant recipients in Australia In the first application of high throughput DNA sequencing technology to investigate an infectious disease outbreak, scientists from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIRDL) in Melbourne, Australia, the Centers for Disease Control and 454 Life Sciences link the discovery of a new arenavirus to the deaths of three transplant recipients who received organs from a single donor in Victoria, Australia in April 2007. Scientists confirm new virus responsible for deaths of transplant recipients in Australia In the first application of high throughput DNA sequencing technology to investigate an infectious disease outbreak, scientists from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIRDL) in Melbourne, Australia, the Centers for Disease Control and 454 Life Sciences link the discovery of a new arenavirus to the deaths of three transplant recipients who received organs from a single donor in Victoria, Australia in April 2007. Increasing survival of organ transplant patients by reducing time interval for transported organs Preservation of an organ intended for transplant during transport from donor to recipient is of primary concern in ensuring a successful transplant. Liver regeneration may be simpler than previously thought The way the liver renews itself may be simpler than what scientists had been assuming. A new study, appearing in the April 13 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry, provides new information on the inner workings of cells from regenerating livers that could significantly affect the way physicians make livers regrow in patients with liver diseases such as cirrhosis, hepatitis, or cancer. Emory algorithm improves kidney transplant chances for sensitized patients Approximately one-third of the patients on the national waiting list for kidney transplants have only a small chance of receiving a new organ, no matter how long they are on the list. Due to prior transplants, pregnancies or blood transfusions, these patients have developed antibodies that make it very difficult to match them with donor organs. 'Domino' transplant program makes best use of altruistic donated kidneys A team of Johns Hopkins researchers reporting their early experiences with "domino" kidney donation suggest that wider use of this strategy could effectively double the benefit of the organs from these non-directed, altruistic living donors. Deaths from rodent virus raise need for tracking system After the deaths of seven people from a virus transmitted through organ donation in the past two years, authorities are recommending that a tracking system be put in place to monitor patients following transplantation, and until then, physicians should be more vigilant in looking for signs of infection transmitted through transplantation. Survey finds family conversation key to organ donation With the black community facing an ever-growing need for organ donation, the findings of a national survey released today show that a family discussion about organ donation. Press background - International Congress of the Transplantation Society August 25-30 a Forum for Cutting-Edge Research Findings New findings in clinical and basic science transplantation research will be presented for the first time at the XIX International Congress of The Transplantation Society August 25 - 30, among them results of a study that treated diabetic children with a combination of cells from a pig's pancreas and testes, and findings from three separate studies with a common goal in mind: to wean organ transplant patients off all anti-rejection drugs less than one year after transplantation, defying the tenet that such drugs are required for life. The congress will take place at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood, Fla., located on the coast between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. A staffed press ro More Organ Donor Current Events and Organ Donor News Articles |
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