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UPMC Is The Largest Lung Transplant Center In The United States With Survival Rates Well Above National Average
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
PITTSBURGH , April 6, 2006 — The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is the largest volume lung transplantation center in the United States. In 2005, a record 91 such surgeries were performed, according to new data from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). UPMC surgeons performed 61 lung transplants in 2004. Since 1982, they have performed 903 lung transplants (115 of which were combined heart/lung).
“Through a dedicated team of specialists, including cardiothoracic transplant surgeons, transplant pulmonologists, transplant coordinators, nurses, social workers and administrators, we have been able to get patients evaluated, listed and transplanted more quickly, including patients that would otherwise be turned down at other centers due to combined illnesses or combined organ failure. Additionally, through our novel immunosuppression therapies we have been able to better manage infection and rejection postoperatively, resulting in improved survival and a better quality of life for our patients,” says Kenneth R. McCurry, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and director of cardio-pulmonary transplantation at the UPMC Heart, Lung, and Esophageal Surgery Institute.
As lung transplant volumes at UPMC have increased, outcomes also have improved. The medical center’s one-year survival rate of 88 percent far exceeds the national average of 81 percent; experiences with re-transplanting patients who experience chronic rejection after transplantation also have produced better than average results. For example, 18 lung re-transplants at UPMC completed during the past three years have generated a 100 percent one-year survival rate.
Recognized both nationally and internationally for clinical and research excellence, the UPMC lung and heart-lung transplant program offers state-of-the-art, cutting edge treatments, providing a viable option for patients with end-stage lung diseases. UPMC also continues to innovate to improve patient outcomes. Initial clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh lead to the development of aerosol cyclosporine, which in the case of lung transplants, allows patients to breathe in the anti-rejection medication directly to the transplanted organ. A recent New England Journal of Medicine article jointly published by researchers now at the University of Maryland but formerly of the University of Pittsburgh, and current Pitt researchers showed that the inhaled drug dramatically improved survival rates after a lung transplant. Similar innovative ongoing therapy with Campath®, a drug that is given just prior to transplant to help achieve immune tolerance, also has resulted in improved outcomes.
Reasons for lung transplantation can vary, but primary reasons include pulmonary hypertension, emphysema, cystic fibrosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
For more information about lung transplantation at UPMC, visit www.upmc.com.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
www.upmc.com
'Silent killer' may be a healing treatment
By Lisa Ryckman, Rocky Mountain News
October 10, 2006 - You never know when your worst enemy might be your best friend.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have found that carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless toxic gas known as the "silent killer," can help treat symptoms of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Studies already have shown that low doses of carbon monoxide before organ transplants or balloon angioplasty can help protect against organ rejection or blockage of the arteries. It appears the gas can treat and reverse existing disease.
PAH involves thickening of blood vessels in the lungs until no blood can be pumped through them. There is no cure for PAH, which eventually leads to heart failure.
The latest study found that exposing a PAH mouse model to a short, daily regimen of carbon monoxide reversed the disease.
The study appears in the September Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Sliding the scales
October 9, 2006 - It was considered the most effective weight loss drugs available, but almost a decade after Fen-Phen was pulled off the shelves, researchers are still looking for a formula to slide the scales toward skinny. Now, a new clinical trial shows promise in melting away the pounds. 7Healthcast reporter Dr. Deanna Lites has more.
Could these medicines help you lose weight? A clinical trial is underway to see if these drugs will create the same success as Fen-Phen without the deadly consequences.
"Hopefully we'll see a reasonable amount of weight loss," Endocrinologist Dr. Priscilla Hollander.
"In 10 weeks, I have lost 15 pounds," Maria Lightford, a clinical trial patient, says.
Like Fen-Phen, this trial combines two drugs, already approved by the FDA, where the side benefit has been weight loss. The idea is putting the two together will equal greater benefits for the patient.
"I don't feel as hungry," Lightford says. "I feel like I'm more in control of when I'm eating instead of trying to eat everything in sight. I get full and I stop."
"Most appetite drugs do affect seratonin, because seratonin is a key message to stop eating," Dr. Hollander says.
In this study, Wellbutrin, an anti-depressant deals with seratonin, while an anti-seizure drug goes for the dopamine, which is another messenger that tells the brain the body's full.
Lightford is one of 45 patients who will be followed for the next year. She says the early results are a boost that's helping her get on track to a healthy lifestyle. And she welcomes whatever help she can get.
"If it'll help you lose weight why not?" asks Lightford
Like any drug, these two drugs have potential side effects. This can include numbness, tingling and a feeling of fogginess. Another phase of the trial will get underway in a matter of months.
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