Kidney Transplant

Kidney transplant rules might be in for a big shake-up. The organization that oversees allocation of transplants has proposed changes that would favor giving the highest quality organs to younger, healthier people.  Right now, people register with the United Network for Organ Sharing to await a kidney from a deceased donor -- and there simply aren't enough organs to go around. "In a perfect scenario, all who need a kidney transplant would receive one without delay," the proposal says.

Since ancient times, surgeons have dreamed of transplanting healthy organs into patients disabled by disease and injury, but the human body's powerful immune system stymied all such attempts, leading many observers to conclude that the procedure was impossible. But on Dec. 23, 1954, Dr. Joseph E. Murray of Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston removed a healthy kidney from 23-year-old Ronald Herrick and implanted it in his identical twin, Richard, who was dying of severe kidney disease.

"#calebskidney is almost ready to arrive in Caleb's surgery room!" So says a Twittercast of a kidney transplant now underway at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Kristofer Karol, public relations coordinator at Indiana University Health, told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday morning that this isn't the first time a hospital has live tweeted a surgery -- laying bare on a social media platform what goes on behind the closed doors of an operating room -- but it's a first for Indiana.

MUSIC A gifted saxophonist who has backed a variety of artists including Gretchen Parlato, Taylor Eigsti and many more, Dayna Stephens finds himself on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. To help offset his impending costs, musicians including Vardan Ovsepian, Hitomi Oba and Stephens himself in a quartet with local pianist Josh Nelson are staging this marathon benefit in Little Tokyo. (Stephens' band also performs Thursday in Toluca Lake at the United Methodist Church on Cahuenga, and proceeds from the show will also go toward his medical bills.)

Former NBA All-Star center Alonzo Mourning underwent kidney transplant surgery Friday and was in good condition. The surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia hospital came less than a month after Mourning retired because of a kidney disease. The kidney donor, a family member, also was in good condition.

David Banning is short a kidney. Yet the 38-year-old Trabuco Canyon carpenter feels good about donating a kidney to his youngest brother, Bill, liberating him from the dialysis machine that has kept him alive since October. Bill Banning, 29, is not in the clear yet. The former Navy petty officer was rushed to UC San Diego Medical Center last weekend with a fever and chills--signs that his body may be rejecting the kidney donated by David in a transplant operation Feb. 11.

Following up on Wednesday's story "Sacrifice for a Friend," the kidney transplant surgery scheduled for that afternoon between Janet Dixon and Dennis Gates was postponed. About an hour before the 1 p.m. surgery, UCLA doctors canceled the operation because Dixon's red blood cell count was too low. The surgery is expected to be rescheduled within the next couple of weeks, according to UCLA officials.

Oklahoma State football Coach Bob Simmons has undergone a kidney transplant with his wife donating the kidney. "The surgery went very smoothly and there have been no complications," Simmons said in a statement released through the school on Monday. Simmons, 49, and his wife, Linda, were released from University Hospital on Saturday. Simmons did not discuss his medical history and the reasons for the transplant. Simmons had not publicly commented on the surgery until Monday.

Doctors successfully removed a kidney from an Orange County woman Wednesday and transplanted it into her husband, a gravely ill diabetic, marking yet another milestone in the lives of a Mission Viejo couple whose story has drawn national attention. With network television cameras taping their every move, doctors operated on Victoria Ingram-Curlee, 45, for two hours, then spent another hour preparing four arteries in her left kidney for insertion into her husband, Randall Curlee, 46. Dr.

Jean Hamburger, 82, who performed France's first successful kidney transplant in 1962. Hamburger published a two-volume work in 1979 that is considered the bible of kidney science in France. Thirty years ago he transplanted the first human kidney between non-twins. It was the first successful organ transplant of any kind in France. He later turned his attention to renal immunology and transplant rejection.

E. Donnall Thomas, a physician who pioneered the use of bone marrow transplants in leukemia patients and won the 1990 Nobel Prize in medicine, died Saturday in Seattle of heart disease. He was 92. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, which Thomas joined in 1974, announced his death. Thomas' work is among the greatest success stories in the treatment of cancer. Bone marrow transplantation and its sister therapy, blood stem cell transplantation, have improved the survival rates for patients with some blood cancers to around 90% from almost zero.

With “30 Rock” winding down its seven-season run in just a few months, Tina Fey has a lot on her mind: namely, what will happen to Tracy Morgan once the show is over. On Wednesday night Fey paid a visit to “Late Night,” where her former “Weekend Update” co-anchor Jimmy Fallon asked about what it's like working now on “30 Rock,” knowing the end is in sight. “I'm sad every day,” she said. “Half the day I'm crying, then I'm like, 'I'm sick of you people!

WASHINGTON -- The House Ethics Committee has launched an investigation to further its inquiry into allegations that Rep. Shelley Berkley, the Nevada Democrat who is running for Senate, intervened to keep open a Las Vegas kidney transplant center in which her husband had a financial interest. The Ethics Committee has been reviewing the complaint filed by the Nevada Republican Party against the congresswoman since February, but voted unanimously to impanel an investigative subcommittee.

"#calebskidney is almost ready to arrive in Caleb's surgery room!" So says a Twittercast of a kidney transplant now underway at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Kristofer Karol, public relations coordinator at Indiana University Health, told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday morning that this isn't the first time a hospital has live tweeted a surgery -- laying bare on a social media platform what goes on behind the closed doors of an operating room -- but it's a first for Indiana.

The House Ethics Committee is conducting a review involving Rep. Shelley Berkley of Nevada, posing a potential challenge for the Las Vegas Democrat whose closely watched bid for the Senate could determine which party controls the chamber. The Ethics Committee acknowledged its work in a brief statement Friday and plans to make its findings public by July 9. The issue was referred to the committee in February by the Office of Congressional Ethics. The committee did not disclose details and said the probe does not indicate that an ethics violation has occurred.

Smiling, giggling, laughing — watching Chad Eaton play baseball, you'd never know that his senior season is about to end only three weeks after it began. "What I admire about him is being brave, strong and mentally tough, being able to wake up and find a sanctuary on the baseball field and giving 100%," North Hollywood Campbell Hall Coach Juan Velazquez said. "It puts a smile on my face every day. " On Saturday, Eaton will take the mound as the starting pitcher for Campbell Hall in a 1:30 p.m. home game against Glendale Hoover.

Kidney transplant patients at St. Vincent Medical Center have died at a higher-than-expected rate over the last several years, raising questions about the quality of care at one of the nation's oldest and busiest transplant programs. Thirty-six people who received transplants from January 2002 to June 2004 died within a year of surgery.

One Marine's tragedy became another's lifeline this month as medical staff on opposite sides of the country worked quickly on an out-of-the-ordinary kidney donation. The fast-paced transplant underscores the deep bond among service members and their families, according to friends and relatives. As Sgt. Jacob Chadwick prepared to leave the hospital Aug. 11, hundreds of police cars and motorcycles escorted 2nd Lt. Patrick Wayland's casket through his hometown of Midland, Texas, where thousands lined the streets waving American flags.

More than 20,000 of the roughly 82,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant in the United States have the odds stacked against them because they are what doctors call “HLA sensitized.” That means that a previous transplant, blood transfusion or pregnancy has primed their immune systems to reject a donor organ that isn't a perfect match. But a work-around developed at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore could improve the fortunes of these patients. Researchers there have figured out a way to erase their bodies' memory of being HLA sensitized, in most cases clearing the way for a successful transplant from a donor who isn't a perfect match.