Latest news with #organtransplant
Emirates 24/7
10-07-2025
- Health
- Emirates 24/7
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi performs 1st robotic lung transplant in gulf region
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has made history by performing the Gulf region's first-ever robotic lung transplant, making it one of the five centres in the world to have performed this surgery. With this landmark complex surgery, two patients have now successfully undergone robotic lung transplants, marking a major milestone in the region's advanced surgical and organ transplant capabilities. Both patients had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) as well as secondary pulmonary hypertension, a progressive condition that gradually scars the lungs and makes breathing increasingly difficult. These surgeries were quite complex due to pulmonary hypertension, a condition that puts extra strain on the heart and lungs. To support the patients during the operation, the medical team used Veno-Arterial ECMO, a technique that temporarily takes over the work of the heart and lungs while the damaged lungs are replaced. These life-saving surgeries would not have been possible without the extraordinary generosity of organ donor families, whose selfless gifts make such transplants possible. The hospital also acknowledges the critical role played by healthcare professionals from donor hospitals, the National Programme for Organ Donation and Transplantation – HAYAT, the Department of Health- Abu Dhabi, and the National Centre at the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP). Further solidifying its leadership in regional transplant medicine, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has surpassed a significant milestone this year, completing over 60 lung transplants since the relaunch of the programme in 2022, establishing itself as the most advanced and active centre of its kind in the region. These cases exemplify the programme's potential and underscores Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi's emergence as a global referral hub for patients with end-stage lung disease, including complex conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease as well as Interstitial Lung Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Pulmonary Hypertension, and Bronchiectasis. Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
Zawya
09-07-2025
- Health
- Zawya
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi performs first robotic lung transplant in gulf region
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has made history by performing the Gulf region's first-ever robotic lung transplant, making it one of the five centres in the world to have performed this surgery. With this landmark complex surgery, two patients have now successfully undergone robotic lung transplants, marking a major milestone in the region's advanced surgical and organ transplant capabilities. Both patients had idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) as well as secondary pulmonary hypertension, a progressive condition that gradually scars the lungs and makes breathing increasingly difficult. These surgeries were quite complex due to pulmonary hypertension, a condition that puts extra strain on the heart and lungs. To support the patients during the operation, the medical team used Veno-Arterial ECMO, a technique that temporarily takes over the work of the heart and lungs while the damaged lungs are replaced. These life-saving surgeries would not have been possible without the extraordinary generosity of organ donor families, whose selfless gifts make such transplants possible. The hospital also acknowledges the critical role played by healthcare professionals from donor hospitals, the National Programme for Organ Donation and Transplantation – HAYAT, the Department of Health- Abu Dhabi, and the National Centre at the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP). Further solidifying its leadership in regional transplant medicine, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has surpassed a significant milestone this year, completing over 60 lung transplants since the relaunch of the programme in 2022, establishing itself as the most advanced and active centre of its kind in the region. These cases exemplify the programme's potential and underscores Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi's emergence as a global referral hub for patients with end-stage lung disease, including complex conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease as well as Interstitial Lung Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Pulmonary Hypertension, and Bronchiectasis.
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Number of patients in UK waiting for lifesaving organ transplant at record high
The number of patients waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant in the UK has increased to a record high while there has been a sharp drop in donors, official figures show. More than 8,000 people, including almost 300 children, are on the transplant waiting list, according to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). With nearly another 4,000 in need of an organ but temporarily off the list because they are too sick or unavailable for an operation, it means almost 12,000 people are living in limbo, waiting for the call that can mean the difference between life and death. In the past year, the NHS performed fewer transplants, and fewer people donated organs than the previous year. One senior official at NHSBT said the situation was 'incredibly concerning'. In total, 4,583 patients had a transplant in 2024/25, according to its report, down 2% on 4,651 in 2023/24. The fall in donors was even more dramatic. In total, 1,403 gave organs after dying in 2024/25, down 7% on 1,510 the year before. Anthony Clarkson, NHSBT's director of organ and tissue donation and transplantation, said there was an urgent need for more Britons to save lives by registering their decision on the NHS organ donor register and telling their loved ones about their wishes. 'We are facing an incredibly concerning situation where more people than ever are waiting for transplants, but fewer donations are taking place. Tragically, someone will die today waiting for a transplant – we urgently need more people to register their decision to donate and to have these vital conversations with their families. 'Last year, 60% of people who donated after death were on the NHS organ donor register, which made those conversations with families so much easier. People are far more likely to support donation when they know it's what their relative wanted.' Consent rates from families asked to support donation when their loved one dies remain 'stubbornly low' at 59%, the 181-page NHSBT report said. Last year, 173 families overruled their relative's registered or expressed decision to donate. In a further 520 cases, families did not support donation where the law presumes consent – meaning their loved one had not registered to opt out but also had not expressed any decision. Under the opt-out system, donation can still only go ahead with the family's support, which is why it remains critical for Britons to have a conversation with and leave relatives certain of their wishes, NHSBT said. Fiona Loud, policy director of the charity Kidney Care UK, said too many people were dying needlessly while waiting for a transplant. She urged ministers to launch a national awareness campaign to boost the number of donations. 'Sadly, the transplant waiting list is now the longest it has ever been, and we need to act to ensure the number of people waiting for a transplant is reduced. Action is needed now on promotion and prevention to reduce the waiting list and help save lives in 2025 and in the future.'
Reuters
09-07-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Transplant tech keeping organs alive for longer wins 'engineering Oscar'
The University of Oxford's spin-off OrganOx has won the MacRobert Award - the so-called 'engineering Oscar' - for its device that can keep human organs alive outside the body for twice as long as putting them on ice, dramatically increasing the number available for transplant. Constantin Coussios, co-founder and CTO of OrganOx says the tech "fools organs into thinking they are still inside the body."
Times
08-07-2025
- Health
- Times
‘Engineering magic' preserves organs for longer by mimicking body
It was the bile that convinced him. Professor Constantin Coussios still remembers standing with a liver and watching as the blood he had given it went in and bile came out. He said: 'It was incredible. It was disconnected from the brain, the nervous system, the vascular system. It just knew what to do.' That was when he realised that his idea, that there was a better way of preserving organs for transplant, could really work. Professor Constantin Coussios, the inventor of the device The conventional way to keep an organ fresh outside the body is to keep it cold. Then, like food in a refrigerator, there is a ticking clock until it goes off. However, there is an odd contradiction there. Inside you, organs stay alive extremely well at 37C. What if, instead of chilling them we kept them warm — and convinced them they had never left the body? On Tuesday night, the device he co-invented, which has since been used in 6,000 liver transplants in 12 countries, won the Royal Academy of Engineering's MacRobert Award, which is given for engineering that benefits society and has proven commercial success. Coussios, the director of the Oxford Institute of Biomedical Engineering, is far from the first to have recognised that mimicking the conditions in the body could be a way to keep organs alive. 'It is a pretty obvious idea: rather than taking an organ and storing it on ice, fool it into thinking it is still in the human body' But making the idea work — getting the blood flow and conditions right — has been extremely challenging. Their device works by creating an environment 'as close to engineeringly possible' to the human body. Coussios said: 'It is placed in a cradle that is designed to mimic the method in which it rests in the abdomen …We then have a pump that replaces or mimics the function of the heart. We have an oxygenator that mimics the function of the lungs. We have a reservoir that mimics the capacitance of blood.' They have now also branched out into kidneys, which are more complicated in part because you have to keep enough flow through them to compensate for the urine production. It has resulted in many more organs being used as the device can better test their viability The medical advantage is not only longer preservation times for organs. It is also that you can get an understanding of how good the organ actually is. With a conventional transplant, organs are often rejected because, for instance, they are from someone too old. 'People will typically not want to transplant an organ that's come out of an 86-year-old,' said Coussios. Inevitably, this means throwing away viable organs. 'There are 86 year olds who actually have the livers of 20 year olds. And we just don't know because we don't have a way of making that assessment.' • Meet the people changing the world of organ transplants If that liver is making bile in front of you though? 'We were able to demonstrate that 70 per cent of livers that are presently discarded by every UK liver transplant center can be safely transplanted.' Loubna Bouarfa, one of the judges, called the technology 'truly incredible'. She added: 'What's blown me away is how elegantly engineered the solution is. Fully portable, fully automated. Behind that simplicity is some serious science. Artificial intelligence, fluid dynamics and gas analysis, all designed to keep the organ healthy for longer. It's medical brilliance powered by engineering magic.'
