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LIVE DONOR TRANSPLANT
 July 2007,

The first adult NHS patient to receive a liver transplant from a living donor is due to leave hospital in a few days.

The procedure was done during an eight-hour operation at St James's Hospital in Leeds.

Two pairs of surgeons worked simultaneously in separate theatres during the operation.

It is hoped the technique which benefited the patient , can help cut transplant lists.

The patient has made "excellent progress" since receiving the donation from his son, who has already been discharged from hospital following the operation.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said the operation was the first of its kind from adult to adult in the NHS and could "hold the key" to saving hundreds of lives a year.

NHS liver transplants usually rely on organs becoming available after a donor has died.

Consultant hepatologist  said one-in-five liver transplant patients currently died while on the waiting list.

 The liver has two important features that make living-related donation possible - it is much larger than we need and it can regenerate within weeks if part of it is removed," said Dr Milson.

"In this procedure we remove part of the liver of a healthy donor and transplant it into a patient with liver failure.

"The remaining liver in the donor will re-grow within weeks to almost its normal size.

"This development means many... lives will be saved. It really is a massive leap forward."

Live donor liver transplantation has been carried out in other countries for more than 15 years.

 

Starchy diet 'may damage liver'   21-9-2007

A diet rich in potatoes, white bread and white rice may be contributing to a "silent epidemic" of a dangerous liver condition. Fatty liver can be a sign of serious problems to come "High-glycaemic" foods - rapidly digested by the body - could be causing "fatty liver", increasing the risk of serious illness. Boston-based researchers,  found mice fed starchy foods developed the disease. Those fed a similar quantity of other foods did not. One obesity expert said fatty liver in today's children was "a tragedy of the future". GLYCAEMIC INDEX High GI foods: Mashed potato White bread Chips Some breakfast cereals (eg Cornflakes, Rice Krispies, Coco Pops) Steamed white rice Moderate GI foods: Muesli (non-toasted) Boiled potatoes Pitta bread Basmati rice Honey Wholemeal bread Low GI foods: Roasted salted peanuts Rye and granary bread Whole and skimmed milk Spaghetti Boiled carrots Baked beans Fatty liver is exactly as it sounds - a build-up over time of fat deposits around the organ. At the time, no ill-effects are felt, but it has been linked with a higher risk of potentially fatal liver failure later in life. The study, carried out at Boston Children's Hospital, looked at the effect of diets with precisely the same calorific content, but very different ingredients when measured using the glycaemic index (GI). This is a measure of how quickly the energy in the food is absorbed by the body, producing a rise in blood sugar levels - high GI foods lead to sharper rises in blood sugar, and similar rises in insulin levels, as the body releases the chemical in response. High GI foods include many breakfast cereals and processed foods such as white bread and white rice. Low GI foods include unprocessed fruit, nuts, pulses and grains, including rye or granary bread, spaghetti, apples and oranges. Silent and deadly After six months on the diet, the mice weighed the same, but those on the high GI diet had twice the normal amount of fat in their bodies, blood and livers. The researchers say that because the processed carbohydrates are absorbed so quickly, they trigger the release of more of the chemical insulin, which tells the body to lay down more fat. Between a quarter and half of all overweight American children are thought to have the condition, This is a silent but dangerous epidemic. "Just as type 2 diabetes exploded into our consciousness in the 1990s, so we think fatty liver will in the coming decade." Insulin resistance National Obesity Forum board member and chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, said it was clear that eating a diet rich in high-glycaemic food led to increased fat. Fatty liver is going to be one of the tragedies of the future unless we do something about it.

 Stem Cell Therapy could replace Liver Transplants

Scientists have discovered a new way of treating liver failure, that could save the lives of thousands of patients on transplant waiting lists. The technique involves inserting stem cells into the damaged organ so that is encouraged to repair itself and create new tissue

According to researchers, the treatment will allow patients to live long enough for a nrw organ to be found and could even enable the liver to completely heal so a transplant is no longer needed. The demand for new organs is currently so high that many patients die on the waiting list or are taken off because their condition deteriorates so they would not survive the operation. Having more people sign up on the donor register would save even more lives.

More than 600 liver transplants are carried out each year, the pionering research carried out at the Massachusetts general hospital could eliminate the need for such an operation the liver is known to be the only major organ able to regenerate itself when parts have been removed. The scientists found that they could encourage this natural tendency by inserting stem cells into the damaged livers of rats, they used Mesenchymal stem cells which are found in the bone marrow. Dr Martin  Yarmush who led the study published in the journal of the Public Library of science, said: " We have identified a non-hepatic source of cells that can easily be expanded to the scale required for clinical application."