by Preeti Chhabra  and Kenneth L. Brayman

Received: 02 April 2018;  Published: 05 June 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1802010

Pancreas or islet transplantation is the only reliable cure for Type 1 Diabetes. However, shortage of donor tissue supply, longitudinal graft attrition due to innate and adaptive immunity and the recurrence of autoimmunity, as well as the harmful side-effects of chronic immunosuppressive therapy limit the wide-spread acceptance of islet transplantation as a mainstream cure for autoimmune diabetes. Herein, preclinical and clinical stem-cells based research approaches aimed at obtaining large quantities of islets for [...]

by Anita Verma  , Katharina Sophia Weigel  , Sim You Kuan Dexter  and Anil Dhawan

Received: 26 March 2018;  Published: 29 May 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1802009

Invasive fungal infections (IFI) remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in hospitalized and immunocompromised or critically ill patients. The incidence of IFIs has been declining in liver transplant recipients (LTR). This is likely due to the evolving immunosuppressive drug regimens, improved surgical techniques and targeted antifungal prophylaxis. However, IFI still contribute to high mortality and are associated with high economic burden due to consumption of costly newer antifungal agen [...]

by Masayuki Shimoda  and Shinichi Matsumoto

Received: 25 February 2018;  Published: 25 April 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1802008

More than 10 million people worldwide suffer from type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Allogeneic islet transplantation has been established to prevent severe hypoglycemia in unstable T1DM patients although there is a serious shortage of donors. Islet xenotransplantation using porcine islets is a promising solution to this issue. Porcine islets offer several advantages over human islets, including unlimited and on-demand supplies, a higher quality of islets from healthy donors, greater safety with designated pathogen-f [...]

by Mrudula Munagala  and Anita Phancao

Received: 31 August 2017;  Published: 11 January 2018;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1801007

Heart transplant remains the gold standard therapy for patients with end stage heart disease and offers improved survival and quality of life. Significant progress has been achieved in improving one-year mortality after heart transplantation. Nonetheless, long-term graft survival has not changed significantly over the past few decades. Long term survival of heart transplant recipients is limited by chronic rejection, cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), and malignancy. CAV is a major contributor for graft failure [...]

by Pål-Dag Line

Received: 20 December 2017;  Published: 24 December 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1704006

by Rama Bindu Manchikalapudi

Received: 31 May 2017;  Published: 28 September 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1703005

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy is one of the leading causes of death following the first 5 years after orthotopic heart transplantation along with late graft failure, likely secondary to undiagnosed CAV. Currently there is no single medical treatment available for this condition except modification of risk factors and immunosuppression. Retrasplantation remains the hope for this entity with some limitations.

by Sheri Tran  and Mark M Fuster

Received: 16 July 2017;  Published: 12 September 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1703004

The risk for developing a variety of malignancies is significantly elevated in the setting of lung transplantation. Malignancy remains among the three major causes of death in post-transplant recipients, and the relatively high risk of cancer development as well as metastatic aggression pose special threats to this population due to the need for continued immunosuppression. A variety of risks such as tobacco use and inflammatory lung diseases that led to the lung pathology prompting lung transplantation, in additio [...]

by In Lam  , Irina Gutman  , Ashley Feist  and Mark Mariski

Received: 10 March 2017;  Published: 22 June 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1701003

After lung transplant, infection is a leading contributor to morbidity and mortality, and hypogammaglobulinemia (HGG) may be an important risk factor for many of these infections. Some reports suggest that HGG not only increases the risk of various infections, but also worsens survival. The incidence of HGG has been shown to increase after lung transplant, and may be as high as 70%. In order to mitigate this risk, intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIG) replacement for the treatment of HGG has been utilized. However, t [...]

by Gerald P. Morris

Received: 22 February 2019;  Published: 11 April 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1701002

(1) Background: Lung transplantation is an increasingly utilized treatment for end-stage lung disease. Scarcity of organ donors limiting transplantation underscores the importance of optimal histocompatibility testing approaches to facilitate organ allocation and avoid immunologic rejection. Significant data has emerged over the past decade to define the role of alloantibodies against HLA in the pathogenesis of post-lung transplant complications. (2) Methods: Medical literature from 1996–2016 related to search term [...]

by Pål Dag Line

Received: 07 April 2017;  Published: 11 April 2017;  doi: 10.21926/obm.transplant.1701001