Living Donors, Animal Organs - Topics at Liver Symposium

[Guest guest]

Living Donors, Animal Organs and Transplants for HIV Patients

Among Topics At Two International Liver Transplant Meetings in

Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 23 99 /PRNewswire/

Some of the most compelling and controversial issues facing the

liver transplant community are among the topics to be covered at

two international meetings being held in Pittsburgh Aug. 25-28.

The First International Symposium Dedicated to Expanding the

Donor Pool: Living Donor and Split Liver Transplantation, will

be held Wednesday, Aug. 25, and will be followed by the Fifth

Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society

(ILTS). Both meetings are at the Westin Penn Hotel,

downtown Pittsburgh.

More than 700 surgeons, physicians and researchers, including

the field's most recognized names, will participate over the

four-day course of the meetings. In addition, on Aug. 27, about

100 nurses will attend a parallel meeting sponsored by the

Golden Triangle Chapter of the International Transplant Nurses

Society. A gala dinner will pay tribute to the groundbreaking

accomplishments of liver transplant pioneer E. Starzl,

M.D., Ph.D., director of the University of Pittsburgh's

transplant institute named in his honor.

" These meetings will allow multidisciplinary dialogue on the

most important contemporary medical issues in liver

transplantation, " said J. Fung, M.D., Ph.D., professor of

surgery and chief of transplantation at the University of

Pittsburgh's E. Starzl Transplantation Institute. Dr.

Fung, president of the ILTS, is also course director of the

split liver and living-donor symposium.

Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Fujisawa

Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., the split liver and living-related

liver transplantation meeting will address the following issues:

-- Living-related liver transplantation has been hastened to the

clinical forefront by surgeons grasping for ways to address the

severe shortage of organs. It has been viewed as an option for

young children whose one parent donates a segment of their own

liver to save their child. But in the last year or so there has

been an increasing number of transplants with adults serving as

donors for other adults -- some complete strangers -- subjecting

otherwise healthy people to one of the riskiest operations

performed. Surgeons will review the current experience and

discuss ways to monitor results and reduce the risk of

complications to both donors and recipients on a worldwide

basis.

-- While the use of split livers from cadaveric donors could

eliminate the death rate of children on the U.S. transplant

waiting list, as it has in Europe, and also provides adults an

additional source of organs, the practice has not gained

widespread acceptance in this country. Surgeons will discuss

how best to bring the procedure into the mainstream.

Highlights of the ILTS meeting will include:

-- A symposium looking at the past, present and future of liver

transplantation will feature the perspectives of those surgeons,

who more than 30 years ago, performed the first series of liver

transplants and pioneered a field that has since saved countless

lives.

-- Results of studies that examine the outcomes of liver

transplants using organs from donors infected with hepatitis B

or C will be presented. Such organs have typically not been

considered acceptable, but given the shortage of donors,

surgeons have resorted to their use. Patients most often

considered for such organs are themselves suffering from liver

failure caused by the hepatitis virus. Combined, hepatitis C

and B account for 30 percent of all liver transplants.

-- Animal organs, especially those from pigs, are being explored

as a potential means to support critically ill patients until a

human liver becomes available. In addition, cells from healthy

pig livers may allow a patient's failing liver to recover,

obviating the need for transplantation. Preliminary results of

these experimental approaches in humans will be presented.

-- As new drug therapies are halting the progression of HIV to

AIDS and prolonging the lives of those with HIV, a new problem

arises: Patients with HIV and hepatitis who face certain death

without a liver transplant. Centers that perform transplants in

HIV patients will report their clinical results.

-- Transplants using split livers or living donors will be the

subject of several abstracts and presentations.

NOTE: Selected presenters will be available in the press room

at specific times, noted below. To request an interview with

these presenters or others, please call the press room at

during press room hours: 7 a.m.- 6 p.m.,

Wednesday, Aug. 25; 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 26; 7:30 a.m.-

6 p.m., both Friday, Aug. 27, and Saturday, Aug. 28. The press

room is located in Parlor E, 17th floor. To request an

interview prior to the meeting or to receive a program and

abstracts, please contact the News Bureau for the University of

Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences at .

Following is the schedule of topics and presenters in the press

room for each day. All times are Eastern.

Wednesday, Aug. 25 -- First Symposium Dedicated to Expanding

the Donor Pool: Living Donor and Split Liver Transplantation -

Why proceed with living donor and split liver transplants? Too

few organs.

9:30-10 a.m.

- Busuttil, M.D., Ph.D., University of California Los

Angeles, symposium co-chair. Leads one of the most active liver

transplant programs and as president of the American Society of

Transplant Surgeons, has recently advocated greater use of split

livers.

-Koichi Tanaka, M.D. , Kyoto University, Japan, symposium

co-chair. Has performed the most adult-to-child living-related

transplants in the world. Until this year, Japan has relied

exclusively on living donors. Split livers save two lives, but

are living donor transplants risking one life for another?

12:15-12:45 p.m.

Christoph Broelsch, M.D., University of Essen, Germany. While

at the University of Chicago in 1989, performed the first

adult-to-child living-related transplant in the United States.

Performed first series of split liver transplants.

-Sheung-Tat Fan, M.D., University of Hong Kong Medical Center.

In 1996, was first to perform adult-to-adult living-donor

transplants using the larger, right lobe. (The first transplants

with adult donors were performed in 1994 in Japan. These

involved the left lobe.)

The thorny issues: ethics, public policy and allocation

1-1:30 p.m. Mark Siegler, M.D., University of Chicago Hospitals.

Has studied extensively the ethical issues surrounding

living-related and unrelated liver donors.

- Reyes, M.D., University of Pittsburgh and Children's

Hospital of Pittsburgh. Has strongly advocated allocation

policies that involve sharing of split livers across regional

boundaries.

The adult donor: spouse, parent, grown child, sibling -- and

stranger?

3:30-4 p.m.

Amadeo Marcos, M.D., Medical College of Virginia. Has performed

the most adult-to-adult living-related transplants in the United

States, including the world's first between two complete

strangers.

Thursday, Aug. 26 -- International Liver Transplantation

Society Transplantation's Pioneers and History Makers

12-1 p.m.

-Sir Roy Calne, emeritus professor of surgery, Cambridge

University, England. In 1965, started kidney transplantation

program and in May, 1967, began transplanting livers, only the

second program to do so. In 1968, reported the first successful

adult liver transplant. First to use cyclosporine in 1978 and

first to report results with rapamycin in 1989.

- , M.D., professor and director, Institute of

Hepatology, University College London, England. As director of

the liver unit, worked side by side with Roy Calne as the first

European series of liver transplants were performed in 1967. A

renowned liver specialist, has established the standards for all

hepatologists.

- E. Starzl, M.D., Ph.D., professor of surgery, University

of Pittsburgh. Performed first liver transplant at University

of Colorado in 1963 and first successful liver transplant in

1967. Was among first to perform cadaveric kidney transplants.

Developed for clinical use the three drug cocktail with

cyclosporine in 1980 and in 1989, tacrolimus. Has in recent

years identified the mechanism for organ acceptance.

-Carl G. Groth, M.D., Ph.D., professor of transplantation

surgery, Karolinska Institute, Sweden. As a fellow working with

Dr. Starzl, resolved issues related to bleeding and clotting

that had caused death in the early patients. Participated in

the first successful liver transplant in 1967. Recently chaired

a panel that defined the most significant historical landmarks

in transplantation.

Friday, Aug. 27- ILTS A complicated issue: Liver transplantation

in patients with HIV

9:30-10 a.m.

J. Fung, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh. Leads one

of the few centers willing to transplant these patients. Giving

plenary lecture on topic

Saturday, Aug. 28 - Nigel D. Heaton, M.D., King's College

Hospital, England. Will present results of clinical experience.

Desperate times, desperate measures: Transplants using hepatitis

B and C positive livers

12-12:30 p.m.

Sukru Emre, M.D., Mount Sinai-New York University Medical

Center. Will present results using both hepatitis B and

hepatitis C-positive livers in patients with or without the

viruses.

Pig livers offer potential means of support to critically ill

patients

3-3:30 p.m.

-Marlon Levy, M.D., Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas.

Will report preliminary results with two patients who were

supported until a human organ was available by a transgenic pig

liver connected to the patient's circulatory system outside the

body.

- Kramer, M.D., University of Pittsburgh. Will report

results of four patients who were treated with a bioartificial

liver assist system that uses healthy pig liver cells as a means

to improve liver function.

CONTACT: Rossi or Maureen McGaffin of UPMC, ,

or Fax, , or E-Mail, RossiL@... or

Mcgaffinme@...

SOURCE University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Wow!

Wouldn't it be great to attend. Since we live in So. Calif that would be

impossible but would like to hear from anyone attending. Can PSC patients

attend or is it just for doctors. It's good to know that these things are

being actively addressed.

Peg

Romlein wrote:

> Living Donors, Animal Organs and Transplants for HIV Patients

> Among Topics At Two International Liver Transplant Meetings in

> Pittsburgh

>

> PITTSBURGH, Aug. 23 99 /PRNewswire/

>

> Some of the most compelling and controversial issues facing the

> liver transplant community are among the topics to be covered at

> two international meetings being held in Pittsburgh Aug. 25-28.

> The First International Symposium Dedicated to Expanding the

> Donor Pool: Living Donor and Split Liver Transplantation, will

> be held Wednesday, Aug. 25, and will be followed by the Fifth

> Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society

> (ILTS). Both meetings are at the Westin Penn Hotel,

> downtown Pittsburgh.

>

> More than 700 surgeons, physicians and researchers, including

> the field's most recognized names, will participate over the

> four-day course of the meetings. In addition, on Aug. 27, about

> 100 nurses will attend a parallel meeting sponsored by the

> Golden Triangle Chapter of the International Transplant Nurses

> Society. A gala dinner will pay tribute to the groundbreaking

> accomplishments of liver transplant pioneer E. Starzl,

> M.D., Ph.D., director of the University of Pittsburgh's

> transplant institute named in his honor.

>

> " These meetings will allow multidisciplinary dialogue on the

> most important contemporary medical issues in liver

> transplantation, " said J. Fung, M.D., Ph.D., professor of

> surgery and chief of transplantation at the University of

> Pittsburgh's E. Starzl Transplantation Institute. Dr.

> Fung, president of the ILTS, is also course director of the

> split liver and living-donor symposium.

>

> Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Fujisawa

> Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., the split liver and living-related

> liver transplantation meeting will address the following issues:

>

> -- Living-related liver transplantation has been hastened to the

> clinical forefront by surgeons grasping for ways to address the

> severe shortage of organs. It has been viewed as an option for

> young children whose one parent donates a segment of their own

> liver to save their child. But in the last year or so there has

> been an increasing number of transplants with adults serving as

> donors for other adults -- some complete strangers -- subjecting

> otherwise healthy people to one of the riskiest operations

> performed. Surgeons will review the current experience and

> discuss ways to monitor results and reduce the risk of

> complications to both donors and recipients on a worldwide

> basis.

>

> -- While the use of split livers from cadaveric donors could

> eliminate the death rate of children on the U.S. transplant

> waiting list, as it has in Europe, and also provides adults an

> additional source of organs, the practice has not gained

> widespread acceptance in this country. Surgeons will discuss

> how best to bring the procedure into the mainstream.

>

> Highlights of the ILTS meeting will include:

> -- A symposium looking at the past, present and future of liver

> transplantation will feature the perspectives of those surgeons,

> who more than 30 years ago, performed the first series of liver

> transplants and pioneered a field that has since saved countless

> lives.

> -- Results of studies that examine the outcomes of liver

> transplants using organs from donors infected with hepatitis B

> or C will be presented. Such organs have typically not been

> considered acceptable, but given the shortage of donors,

> surgeons have resorted to their use. Patients most often

> considered for such organs are themselves suffering from liver

> failure caused by the hepatitis virus. Combined, hepatitis C

> and B account for 30 percent of all liver transplants.

> -- Animal organs, especially those from pigs, are being explored

> as a potential means to support critically ill patients until a

> human liver becomes available. In addition, cells from healthy

> pig livers may allow a patient's failing liver to recover,

> obviating the need for transplantation. Preliminary results of

> these experimental approaches in humans will be presented.

> -- As new drug therapies are halting the progression of HIV to

> AIDS and prolonging the lives of those with HIV, a new problem

> arises: Patients with HIV and hepatitis who face certain death

> without a liver transplant. Centers that perform transplants in

> HIV patients will report their clinical results.

> -- Transplants using split livers or living donors will be the

> subject of several abstracts and presentations.

>

> NOTE: Selected presenters will be available in the press room

> at specific times, noted below. To request an interview with

> these presenters or others, please call the press room at

> during press room hours: 7 a.m.- 6 p.m.,

> Wednesday, Aug. 25; 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 26; 7:30 a.m.-

> 6 p.m., both Friday, Aug. 27, and Saturday, Aug. 28. The press

> room is located in Parlor E, 17th floor. To request an

> interview prior to the meeting or to receive a program and

> abstracts, please contact the News Bureau for the University of

> Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences at .

>

> Following is the schedule of topics and presenters in the press

> room for each day. All times are Eastern.

>

> Wednesday, Aug. 25 -- First Symposium Dedicated to Expanding

> the Donor Pool: Living Donor and Split Liver Transplantation -

> Why proceed with living donor and split liver transplants? Too

> few organs.

> 9:30-10 a.m.

> - Busuttil, M.D., Ph.D., University of California Los

> Angeles, symposium co-chair. Leads one of the most active liver

> transplant programs and as president of the American Society of

> Transplant Surgeons, has recently advocated greater use of split

> livers.

> -Koichi Tanaka, M.D. , Kyoto University, Japan, symposium

> co-chair. Has performed the most adult-to-child living-related

> transplants in the world. Until this year, Japan has relied

> exclusively on living donors. Split livers save two lives, but

> are living donor transplants risking one life for another?

>

> 12:15-12:45 p.m.

> Christoph Broelsch, M.D., University of Essen, Germany. While

> at the University of Chicago in 1989, performed the first

> adult-to-child living-related transplant in the United States.

> Performed first series of split liver transplants.

> -Sheung-Tat Fan, M.D., University of Hong Kong Medical Center.

> In 1996, was first to perform adult-to-adult living-donor

> transplants using the larger, right lobe. (The first transplants

> with adult donors were performed in 1994 in Japan. These

> involved the left lobe.)

>

> The thorny issues: ethics, public policy and allocation

> 1-1:30 p.m. Mark Siegler, M.D., University of Chicago Hospitals.

> Has studied extensively the ethical issues surrounding

> living-related and unrelated liver donors.

> - Reyes, M.D., University of Pittsburgh and Children's

> Hospital of Pittsburgh. Has strongly advocated allocation

> policies that involve sharing of split livers across regional

> boundaries.

>

> The adult donor: spouse, parent, grown child, sibling -- and

> stranger?

> 3:30-4 p.m.

> Amadeo Marcos, M.D., Medical College of Virginia. Has performed

> the most adult-to-adult living-related transplants in the United

> States, including the world's first between two complete

> strangers.

>

> Thursday, Aug. 26 -- International Liver Transplantation

> Society Transplantation's Pioneers and History Makers

>

> 12-1 p.m.

> -Sir Roy Calne, emeritus professor of surgery, Cambridge

> University, England. In 1965, started kidney transplantation

> program and in May, 1967, began transplanting livers, only the

> second program to do so. In 1968, reported the first successful

> adult liver transplant. First to use cyclosporine in 1978 and

> first to report results with rapamycin in 1989.

> - , M.D., professor and director, Institute of

> Hepatology, University College London, England. As director of

> the liver unit, worked side by side with Roy Calne as the first

> European series of liver transplants were performed in 1967. A

> renowned liver specialist, has established the standards for all

> hepatologists.

> - E. Starzl, M.D., Ph.D., professor of surgery, University

> of Pittsburgh. Performed first liver transplant at University

> of Colorado in 1963 and first successful liver transplant in

> 1967. Was among first to perform cadaveric kidney transplants.

> Developed for clinical use the three drug cocktail with

> cyclosporine in 1980 and in 1989, tacrolimus. Has in recent

> years identified the mechanism for organ acceptance.

> -Carl G. Groth, M.D., Ph.D., professor of transplantation

> surgery, Karolinska Institute, Sweden. As a fellow working with

> Dr. Starzl, resolved issues related to bleeding and clotting

> that had caused death in the early patients. Participated in

> the first successful liver transplant in 1967. Recently chaired

> a panel that defined the most significant historical landmarks

> in transplantation.

>

> Friday, Aug. 27- ILTS A complicated issue: Liver transplantation

> in patients with HIV

> 9:30-10 a.m.

> J. Fung, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh. Leads one

> of the few centers willing to transplant these patients. Giving

> plenary lecture on topic

>

> Saturday, Aug. 28 - Nigel D. Heaton, M.D., King's College

> Hospital, England. Will present results of clinical experience.

> Desperate times, desperate measures: Transplants using hepatitis

> B and C positive livers

>

> 12-12:30 p.m.

> Sukru Emre, M.D., Mount Sinai-New York University Medical

> Center. Will present results using both hepatitis B and

> hepatitis C-positive livers in patients with or without the

> viruses.

>

> Pig livers offer potential means of support to critically ill

> patients

> 3-3:30 p.m.

> -Marlon Levy, M.D., Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas.

> Will report preliminary results with two patients who were

> supported until a human organ was available by a transgenic pig

> liver connected to the patient's circulatory system outside the

> body.

> - Kramer, M.D., University of Pittsburgh. Will report

> results of four patients who were treated with a bioartificial

> liver assist system that uses healthy pig liver cells as a means

> to improve liver function.

>

> CONTACT: Rossi or Maureen McGaffin of UPMC, ,

> or Fax, , or E-Mail, RossiL@... or

> Mcgaffinme@...

> SOURCE University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

>

> __________________________________________________

>