Transplant

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Simply asking patients who are about to receive a bone marrow transplant whether or not they smoke may not prompt them to disclose their tobacco habit or to kick it, and smoking can lead to poorer outcomes after a transplant. Testing patients for traces of a chemical that tobacco leaves behind can identify smokers and open the door for physicians to help them quit, Mayo Clinic researchers say. Their study was presented April 14 at the Society of Behavioral Medicine Conference in New Orleans. Bone marrow transplant patients can face serious consequences from tobacco use after a transplant, such as increased risk of death, complications requiring longer hospitalization and a higher likelihood of developing a secondary medical condition. When asked, some patients say they don't use tobacco, yet tests show they have traces of cotinine in their blood – a metabolite of nicotine and the most commonly employed biochemical marker for tobacco. The researchers estimate that 35 to 44 percent of patients about to have a bone marrow transplant have recently used tobacco. Of those, 14 to 17 percent describe themselves as smokers before and after the transplant. "Reasons for misclassification of smoking status among chronically ill smokers are unclear, but may be impacted by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, use of nicotine replacement, societal pressure to be smoke-free and distress related to smoking status," says lead researcher Shawna Ehlers, Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic psychologist. "But as health care providers, we need to accurately identify every tobacco user, so we can ensure best patient outcomes and help people return home to their loved ones and the life they are fighting so hard to preserve." Accurate identification of smoking or recent smoking behavior among patients before and after transplants provides a unique opportunity to help tobacco users quit and avoid relapses — also logical considering patients may be in the hospital for a long time and have better access to those programs. Dr. Ehlers says physicians need to reassure patients that disclosing tobacco use is in their best interests and will be treated like any other risk factor. "Until we treat all known risk factors, we are not providing best transplant care," she says. Tests for cotinine can detect tobacco exposure over the last three to five days and can be collected from urine, blood or saliva. The accuracy of cotinine measures in identifying smoking behavior has been estimated to be greater than 90 percent.

An extensive investigation into hepatitis C infections in three transplant patients led investigators to uncover the route of transmission. Mayo Clinic shares the lessons learned. Findings ...

Organ transplantation has seen tremendous improvements over the years.  For example, kidney transplants are very successful operations today...but unless a patient gets an organ from an identical ...

PHOENIX — Mayo Clinic in Arizona has completed more than 200 pancreas transplants since the program opened in 2003, performing the highest number of simultaneous kidney and pancreas transplants annually in Arizona. The benefit of pancreas transplantation is normalization of blood sugar levels, thereby eliminating the need for insulin. In some cases, a pancreas transplant can slow the progression of diabetic complications. Mayo Clinic's first pancreas transplant took place on July 17, 2003, and the 200th transplant took place on Nov. 23, 2011. As of Aug. 31, 2011, according to data collected by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), Mayo Clinic in Arizona had performed 152 simultaneous kidney/pancreas transplants and 41 pancreas transplants in the form of pancreas transplant alone, or pancreas-after-kidney transplant. Only two other medical centers in Arizona perform pancreas transplants, with Mayo doing the most simultaneous kidney/pancreas transplants. In 2010, Mayo Clinic in Arizona was the second largest transplant center in the U.S. performing simultaneous kidney/pancreas transplants. Mayo Clinic as a three-site organization (Arizona, Florida and Minnesota) has performed pancreas transplants for more than 20 years for patients having complex diseases such as diabetes. The first pancreas transplant (a simultaneous pancreas/kidney) was performed on Dec. 16, 1987, at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Since then, a total of 403 pancreas transplants have been completed. At Mayo Clinic in Florida, 147 pancreas transplanted have been performed since the program opened in 2000.

Essam and Dalal Obaid Center for Reconstructive Transplant Surgery has been named to honor benefactor’s parents ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic announced today a ...