MetaFilter posts tagged with transplant

"The FDA recalled more than 60,000 tissue-derived products between 1994 and mid-2007."

zarq — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 07:26:25 -0800

"The business of recycling dead humans into medical implants is a little-known yet lucrative trade. But its practices have roused concerns about how tissues are obtained and how well grieving families and transplant patients are informed about the realities and the risks." After an eight month international investigation, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists has published an extensive four-part exposé into the black market for cadavers and human tissue: Skin and Bone: The Shadowy Trade in Human Body Parts (Via) The ICIJ (Previously on Mefi) was established by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) to serve as its international reporting arm. The CPI is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization. Key Findings: * Consent: There have been repeated allegations in Ukraine that human tissue was removed from the dead without proper consent. Some of that tissue may have reached other countries, via Germany, and may now be implanted in hospital patients. * Safety: Surgeons are not always required to tell patients they are receiving products made of human tissue, making it less likely a patient would associate subsequent infection with that product. * Tracking: The U.S. is the world's biggest trader of products from human tissue, but authorities there don’t seem to know how much tissue is imported, where it comes from, or where it subsequently goes.
Sections: * About this Project * Infographic: How Safe is Human Tissue? * Part 1: Human Corpses are Prize in Global Drive for Profits * Part 2: Body Brokers Leave Trail of Questions, Corruption * Part 3: Traceability Elusive in Global Trade of Human Parts * Part 4: Abusing the 'Gift' of Tissue Donation * Key Questions About Human Tissue * Japan has almost no regulations on human tissue. Includes a link to an Asahi Shimbun investigation with further details. * Video: Skin and Bone * How We Did It: Analyzing the Data behind Skin and Bone The investigation utilized software from Palantir to analyze networks and data on an impressively large scale: "We uploaded more than 1 million companies, individuals and events (such as imports, seizures and recalls) into Palantir to build out a network previously buried in data sets and documents. The result was a rich and dense dataset that made it easy to grab a comprehensive picture of any entity in just a few key strokes. It therefore becomes a powerful reporting tool, rather than merely a way to visualize networks." * Methodology: Behind the Numbers * Video: How ICIJ investigated human tissue trading networks * Multimedia: Products made from human tissue

“This is going to be an historic day in transplant."

obscurator — Tue, 01 May 2012 08:32:38 -0800

“We have attempted to have a sensitive conversation, one that addresses your mortality, at the D.M.V.,” Dr. [Andrew] Cameron said. “Now we move the conversation into your own home or office with 120 of your closest friends on Facebook.” [NYT]

Your patient needs you as much as the new heart.

crunchland — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 16:26:12 -0800

Virtual Heart Transplant Surgery Why?

Coach Walt

zarq — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 11:23:03 -0800

Wake Forest University's slogan for their baseball team in 2011 is 'What are you willing to sacrifice to help make this team better?' "Head coach Tom Walter's intent was to have his players thinking about sacrifice bunts, moving runners over, and giving up personal glory to help the Demon Deacons improve as a team. But what Walter chose to sacrifice is greater than simply hanging in on a curve ball and taking one for the team. Walter gave up a kidney." "The story... is a reminder not only of the depth of some people's generosity but also of the need for more tissue donation to serve African Americans and other under-represented minority groups." Further coverage: USA Today, ABC, ESPN: 1, 2.

Let's Harvest the Organs of Death Row Inmates

Daddy-O — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 10:07:37 -0800

Let's Harvest the Organs of Death Row Inmates For the record, I think capital punishment is wrong and a bad idea.

There's one more thing: you can all have one.

Baldons — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:27:13 -0800

How Steve Jobs Got Sick, Got Better, And Decided To Save Some Lives (previously)

65 RedRoses

stray — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 09:56:19 -0800

65_RedRoses is Eva Markvoort’s online handle—chosen because red is her favourite colour, and because when she was little, 65 Roses was how she said Cystic Fibrosis, the genetic disease she’s battled her whole life. Her wait for a double lung transplant, and her online friendship with two other young women battling CF are documented in the award-winning film 65_RedRoses.

After receiving her lung transplant two years, Eva has since had to battle with chronic rejection. Eva made an video on Feb 11th, announcing that things have taken a turn for the worse. As friends and family wait with her, every extra day becomes a gift and brings new hope.

The Future Gets Closer

StrikeTheViol — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:02:31 -0800

The practical possiblility of augmented reality contact lenses. Contact lenses that reshape the eye. Bone-anchored hearing aids. Voice box transplant plans.

BA holders, rejoice.

greatgefilte — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 19:18:31 -0800

What can you with an anthropology degree? Bust an illegal organ transplant ring, apparently. Meet Nancy Scheper-Hughes, a professor of medical anthropology at Berkeley who helped bust Levy-Izhak Rosenbaum, the kidney broker implicated in the huge New Jersey sting. Listen to an interview with Brian Lehrer.

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

orthogonality — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 01:46:44 -0800

Ex Vivo Lung. Watch it breathing.

Face Off in Cleveland -- and Back on Again

Faze — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:15:00 -0800

Face Off/Face On. Maria Siemionow, MD, PhD, has performed America's first face transplant at Cleveland Clinic. Listen to her describe the operation before it occured. Go to the first link in the post to see an animation of how it was done.

The 123 Year Old Eyes

andeles — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:30:35 -0800

Bernt Aune's corneas are 123 years old, which possibly makes them the oldest living human tissue on record. Eduard Zirm performed the first successful corneal transplant was in 1905, and was soon followed by hundreds of successful transplantations. The Eye Bank Association of America was established in 1985, in part to provide regulation of eye banks in the US. Over 100 banks now operate in the country, and over 400 banks exist worldwide. Until recently, most US eye banks only accepted eye tissue from donors aged 65 or less; a new study has shown that corneas from donors aged 66 to 75 can be used just as well. "This could expand the donor pool by 20 to 35 percent." Here is a pamphlet [pdf] on the history of corneal and eye transplants from the EBAA. A personal log of a cornea transplant.

Face transplants possible

NikitaNikita — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:26:30 -0800

Lancet reports say partial face transplants are a reality. Face transplant before and after pictures here.

I am ironman

adamrice — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:56:39 -0800

Implants and transplants can be used to create a particularly exquisite type of horror, being so intimately connected to our own bodies. They can overwhelm us, assimilate us, drive us mad, piss us off, or consume us. The last one is really the money shot. I've got a fair amount of metal in my own body, and watching it just about made me crawl out of my own skin

'One in six billion miracle'

the duck by the oboe — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:57:10 -0800

Demi-Lee Brennan received a liver transplant at the age of nine. Her doctors were rather surprised when her body subsequently took on the immune system of the organ donor and her blood type changed from O-negative to O-positive.

Sick Girl

homunculus — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:05:20 -0800

Trial by Transplant. "Most transplant recipients are grateful beyond measure. Amy Silverstein's view, after nearly two decades with a donated heart, is more conflicted and often bleak. Much of her life, as described in Sick Girl, has revolved around nauseating drugs, ongoing fatigue, painful tests, ER visits and hospitalizations without end—and the constant fear that the next heartbeat could be her last. At low ebb, she has teetered on the edge of giving up."

Cure versus Disease: Which is more repugnant?

CheeseburgerBrown — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:48:05 -0800

Nasty super-bug Clostridium difficile undone by poo transplant! C. difficle, the drug-resistant bum-spelunking organism that's currently the bane of health-care professionals around the world, has been cured. The probiotic treatment, however, has made some medical lab technicians squeamish as it involves liquifying donor faecal matter and then injecting it via enema into the suffering patient. Sure, it lacks the panache of donating a kidney, but think about it: could your poo be repurposed to help others?

Placenta: The Final Frontier

scblackman — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 23:42:54 -0800

Virgin Health Bank : It's not what you think. Richard Branson has started a hybrid (pun intended) umbilical cord blood bank. There has been a fascinating ongoing debate over whether the blood-forming hematopoietic stem cells found in umbilical cords should be banked privately (for individual, autologous use, not accessible to public registries) or publically (for allogeneic use). Branson's alternative requires parents to split their cord blood unit: 80% for the public bank and 20% for their own private banking. The parents pay $3000 or so for their "biological insurance" and if anyone in the world needs the public portion of the cord blood unit, they can have it free-of-charge.

Rx: 2 Tbsp equal parts fecal matter/aq per os

stemlot — Thu, 25 May 2006 11:31:03 -0800

Stool transplants. How is it possible that this disgusting chestnut has not yet been discussed on MeFi?

Face

piskycritter — Mon, 07 Apr 2003 10:02:44 -0800

All your face are belong to us. 16-yr-old Irish girl looks set to receive the world's first face transplant, it has been reported. Right now it's a medical procedure, but do you think we ever see a day where people grow face replacements for cosmetic purposes?

Timing Is Everything

effugas — Thu, 20 Feb 2003 04:56:47 -0800

"In the midst of this conference, Senator Dole called Mack on his cell phone." The Jesica Santillan piece that didn't make CNN. Hehe...I thought that hospital was a bit too eager to accept responsibility for its actions...cheers to Mrs. Dole for stepping in; lets hope Jesica pulls through!

Face transplant surgery

CoolHandPuke — Wed, 27 Nov 2002 07:13:53 -0800

Face transplant surgery appears to be nearing reality. A conference taking place this week will discuss the issue, which is not without controversy. How would you feel about a loved one who had been severely disfigured getting a new and different face? Would you be willing to donate your face after you had died?

Yoni Jesner

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 22 Sep 2002 18:12:16 -0800

Yoni Jesner was a 19-year-old Jewish seminary student from Glasgow, Scotland, studying in Israel. He was fatally wounded in Thursday's bus bombing in Tel Aviv, but his family donated one of his kidneys to save the life of an eight-year-old girl. Her name is Yasmin Abu Ramila, and she is Palestinian.

swell — Wed, 28 Aug 2002 21:23:58 -0800

One of the Marine Corps' greatest living heroes was dying. A donor liver had been found, but he might not live long enough to get it. Who ya gonna call? Semper Fidelis.

Man has replacement hand removed, now wants another one.

meep — Mon, 14 Jan 2002 15:11:58 -0800

Man has replacement hand removed, now wants another one. Of course, he almost definitely will not get it, after annoying his doctors from the first operation. Still, I can't help thinking about a movie in which a man and his hand become "mentally detached".