Transplant

Media Expert Alert: Altruistic Kidney Donor and Mayo Clinic Expert Available for Interviews Patients waiting for a lifesaving transplant rely heavily on the public to make the choice to become organ donors. The shortage of deceased donor organs has reached a crisis, with almost 120,000 people in need of a lifesaving organ nationwide. Over 3,000 of those are Mayo Clinic patients. However, living donors can help shorten the wait time for many patients waiting for kidney, liver and/or bone marrow transplants. Mayo Clinic pediatrician Phil Fischer, M.D., decided to become a living donor and give a kidney anonymously. To hear Dr. Fisher explain how a patient in need of a kidney transplant touched his heart and inspired him to explore altruistic organ donation, play the video below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNJz-T5R9FA Dr. Fischer is available to talk to the media about his personal experience. Surgeon Mikel Prieto, M.D.,with the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center, is also available to discuss living-donor kidney donation and transplantation. Click here for news release.  Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Prieto are available in the downloads.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Patients waiting for a lifesaving transplant rely heavily on the public to make the choice to be organ donors. The shortage of deceased donor organs has reached a crisis, with almost 120,000 people in need of a lifesaving organ nationwide. Over 3,000 of those are Mayo Clinic patients. For kidney, liver and bone marrow transplant, living donors can help shorten the wait time for many patients. MULTIMEDIA ALERT: Videos of Dr. Phil Fischer, recent kidney donor; and Dr. Mikel Prieto, kidney transplant surgeon, are available for download on the Mayo Clinic News Network. According to data from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), in the United States in 2012, there were 5,617 kidney transplants from living donors; 161 of those were from anonymous donors. In 1992, there were 2,534 kidney transplants from living donors; and none of those were from anonymous donors. Despite the increase in living donor transplants, however, there are now twice as many people being added to the waiting list each year, compared to the waiting list 20 years ago.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program of Mayo Clinic, Nemours Children's Clinic, Jacksonville, and Wolfson Children's Hospital has been awarded a three-year accreditation renewal by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). The foundation awarded the accreditation renewal after thorough site visits at all collection, transplantation and laboratory facilities at the three locations. "We are pleased that Mayo Clinic, Nemours Children's Clinic and Wolfson Children's Hospital have met the requirements of the Foundation and have been granted accreditation for their joint Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program," said Phyllis Warkentin, M.D., FACT medical director. "The teamwork and cooperation between all three organizations in the program has never been better," said Blood and Marrow Transplant Program Director Michael Joyce, M.D., Ph.D., a pediatric hematologist/oncologist at Nemours Children's Clinic, Jacksonville. "FACT accreditation is a promise to our patients that we are adhering to and meeting the highest standards in the field. The hematology/oncology physicians, nurses, laboratory and support staff of Nemours, Wolfson Children's and Mayo Clinic work very hard to achieve maintain these standards." The joint program was created in 2001 to allow for greater collaboration in physician and staff expertise, research and clinical protocols. Wolfson Children's Hospital and Nemours Children's Clinic, Jacksonville, will celebrate their Blood and Marrow Transplant Program's 20th anniversary next year. Many patient referrals to the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program come from physicians in Jacksonville, across Florida and south Georgia, across the United States and internationally. Since it was established, the combined program has transplanted patients with a variety of illnesses including leukemia, neuroblastoma, sickle cell disease, bone marrow disorders, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, brain tumors, Ewing's sarcoma, and amyloidosis. Stem cell sources include the patient, immediate family members, volunteer unrelated adult marrow donors or donated umbilical cord blood donor units. More than 970 transplants have been completed during this time. The program shares a single cryopreservation laboratory (where hematopoietic stem cells are frozen and processed) at Mayo Clinic. Mayo maintains the program's adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit, and Wolfson Children's Hospital maintains Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant beds on the Hematology/Oncology Unit in the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Tower. The joint program shares information systems, quality and other clinical and administrative staff. "We are excited to receive this accreditation. It is a welcome recognition and 'badge of honor' for our program. It also informs and assures our patients, referring physicians and insurance companies of the highest standards of patient care and laboratory practices in our program," said Vivek Roy, M.D., hematologist/oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida and medical director of the adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Program.

The Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program of Mayo Clinic; Nemours Children’s Clinic, Jacksonville; and Wolfson Children’s Hospital has been awarded a three-year accreditation renewal by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT). The foundation awarded the accreditation renewal after thorough site visits at all collection, transplantation and laboratory facilities at the three locations. The joint program was created in 2001 to allow for greater collaboration in physician and staff expertise, research and clinical protocols.  Since it was established, the combined program has transplanted patients with a variety of illnesses including leukemia, neuroblastoma, sickle cell disease, bone marrow disorders, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, brain tumors, Ewing’s sarcoma and amyloidosis. “We are excited to receive this accreditation. It is a welcome recognition and ‘badge of honor’ for our program. It also informs and assures our patients, referring physicians and insurance companies of the highest standards of patient care and laboratory practices in our program,” said Vivek Roy, M.D., hematologist/oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida and medical director of the adult Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. Click here to read the entire news release. To hear more from Dr. Roy, click on the video below.  Journalists, this video is also available in the downloads below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHrBkkdDEdw

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) has reached an epidemic state and is the most common infectious cause of diarrhea in hospitals. Health care providers are seeing increased severity and recurrence rates of the infection. As a result, new treatments are being tested. Mayo Clinic experts are at the forefront of these tests. In June, Mayo Clinic opened a C. Difficile Clinic to provide these treatments to patients. "New treatment options are now available and we believe that a clinic dedicated to C. difficile will help improve patient care and outcomes," says Sahil Khanna, M.B.B.S., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. One new treatment available is fecal transplant. Also known as stool transplant, the procedure restores healthy intestinal bacteria by placing donor stool in the colon. Additionally, there is ongoing research on

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A simple treatment that involves transplanting healthy feces into a patient suffering from a debilitating and sometimes deadly infection of the colon called Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, is continuing to show significant promise. Called a fecal transplant, the stool of a healthy patient is directly transplanted into the colon of a C. diff patient to replenish the normal bacteria in the colon. Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Arizona reported their findings in the August 2013 edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Read news release. Journalists: Sound bites with gastroenterologist John DiBaise, M.D., and patient Diane Seegers are available in the downloads.  http://youtu.be/ub0zFn-iVBU

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – A simple treatment that involves transplanting healthy feces into a patient suffering from a debilitating and sometimes deadly infection of the colon ...

Mayo Clinic in Arizona has completed its 2,000th kidney transplant since the program opened in 1999 – a milestone that places the program among the 10 largest kidney transplant programs in the Uunited States. The 2,000th patient, a 24-year-old man from Arizona, received a kidney from a deceased donor and is recuperating well at Mayo Clinic Hospital, following the two-hour surgery. Raymond Heilman, M.D., chair of Nephrology at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, says, "Our work with Donor Network of Arizona is critical to the success of the program.  It is their dedication and educational programs about the importance of organ donation that keeps the message in the mainstream. More and more people are saying 'yes' to the generous and important gift of life." Click here for news release Journalists: B-roll of the Arizona campus is available in the downloads

PHOENIX — Mayo Clinic in Arizona has completed its 2,000th kidney transplant since the program opened in 1999 – a milestone that places the program ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xedc5Be-ZnI   After surviving two separate lung transplant procedures in 2005 and 2008, musician Larry Rawdon is sharing new ways of healing through music with other patients at Mayo Clinic in Florida. It was, after all, music that led him to Mayo Clinic and aided in his recovery after he was diagnosed in 2002 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.  Read more in Sharing Mayo Clinic. Journalists: B-roll and sound bites with Larry Rawdon are available in the downloads. High resolution photos are available by clicking on its thumbnail below.

Update from heart transplant recipient Alyssa Sandeen’s family: Alyssa Sandeen, 23, of Mankato, Minn., who received her second heart transplant on Thursday, June 27, is doing well, according to her father, Chris, and her surgeon, Richard Daly, M.D.  Alyssa remains in the intensive care unit at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., which Dr. Daly says is to be expected at this point in her recovery. This is Alyssa’s second heart transplant. She received her first heart transplant when she was 8 years old, and at age 19 she received a kidney from her mother, Lisa. Dr. Daly and Alyssa’s parents continue to express gratitude to the family of Alyssa’s donor. Chris Sandeen says, “Without organ donors Alyssa wouldn't be here. We are so grateful.” People across the world have been following Alyssa’s story on her Facebook page, Alyssa Sandeen Is A Blessing. Her family will update followers on the page, as well as Alyssa’s CaringBridge page. Journalist Note: The Sandeen family is working with Mayo Clinic to release periodic updates. Sound bites with Chris Sandeen and Dr. Daly are available in the downloads.   http://youtu.be/ZraOsOLLjic