RightHealth Daily Dose » transplant

Skin Transplant Gives Hope To Vitiligo Patients

Steven — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:47:34 +0000

For the very first time, a surgical technique used to treat vitiligo patients in Europe, Asia and the Middle East has been performed in the US and shown to be effective in treating the skin condition. Called melanocyte-keratinocyte transplantation (MKTP), the surgical technique involves harvesting healthy skin cells from a part of the body unaffected by vitiligo, a disease which causes white patchy skin discoloration. These healthy cells are then applied to an affected area and covered with a specially developed adhesive biologic dressing. Over time, researchers have found that in some patients the affected areas of skin began to regain their ability to produce skin pigment. The study was presented yesterday, March 9, at the 68th annual American Academy of Dermatology meeting in Miami. [via PhysOrg]

Kidney Removed Through Donor’s Vagina

Steven — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:15:38 +0000

Johns Hopkins University transplant surgeons have successfully completed what is believed to be the world’s first kidney transplant involving a kidney that was removed from the donor through her vagina and then transplanted into her niece. Removing the kidney through the vagina avoided the need to make a 5 to 6 inch incision in the donor’s abdomen and, instead, left only three pea-size scars, one of which is hidden in the navel. More about minimally invasive surgery.

World’s First Ovary Transplant Results In Newborn Success

Steven — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:43:47 +0000

A German woman became the mother of a new baby girl last week. What makes this story special is that baby Maja, named after the Roman goddess of fertility, was born as a result of the world’s first successful whole-ovary transplant. Susanne Butscher received her ovary from her sister, making Maja genetically her niece. The transplant procedure required microsurgery to connect the blood vessels to the ovary then positioning the ovary precisely so that eggs released from it could properly travel down the fallopian tube to be fertilized.

Same-sex Heart Transplants Improve Outcome

Steven — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:00:08 +0000

Are men and women truly different at heart? Perhaps, when it comes to heart transplants. A new Johns Hopkins University study finds that cardiac transplant patients have better odds of survival and a lower risk of rejection if they receive organs from donors of the same sex. Doctors think that heart size is an important factor. Men’s hearts are bigger and have more pumping capacity than women’s. Researchers believe that hormonal and immunologic differences between the sexes may also play a role. However, at this time it is not feasible for every person in need of a heart transplant to be paired with a perfect match – approximately 2,700 Americans are waiting for a heart, but only 2,200 heart transplants are performed annually.