New Mayo Clinic approach to kidney transplants means more patients can be successfully tr...( antibodies is discarded and the red b...),Health

antibodies is discarded, and the red blood cells are reconstituted with saline solution, then put back in the patient's body. The next day, this is done again. And again the next day for several days. Each time, the antibody strength is diluted by half. Once the patient's antibody profile is so diluted it registers as a negative cross-match, the patient follows the regular course of all transplant patients of immunosuppressive drugs.

Significance of the Mayo Work

The Mayo Clinic study may change the heart-wrenching cycling through the donor-organ waiting list. Says Dr. Gloor, "The importance of this study is that we take a group of patients, and in a doable fashion with technology that is readily available today, we can now transplant these people who otherwise would never be transplanted."

Adds Dr. Stegall, "We've decided to take on these high-risk, difficult patients and just see if we can improve their outcomes -- and the answer is 'yes.' The results have been surprisingly good. However, we believe that this is only the beginning. These types of protocols are increasing our understanding of the role of antibody in kidney transplantation. We believe that the technology will continue to improve as we know more. There are thousands of patients out there who could benefit from this or similar therapy."

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Contact: Sara Lee
newsburea@mayo.edu
507-284-5005
Mayo Clinic
27-Aug-2003

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