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��������������������������� KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS LAST LONGER NOW�����������
����������������������������� ��������������������� ���� About 10,000
kidney transplants have been done in the United States so far.� How long should a donated kidney, cadaveric or from live donor, last? ���� In 1998,
the best average, from a living related donor, was 17 years, according to government statistics.�
The typical cadaveric kidney, from a dead donor, lasted
about 11 years.� But
a study, led by Dr. Sundaram Hariharan, at Medical College of Wisconsin, has found major improvement where it matters, in "graft survival," the
amount of time the new organ works in the recipient's body.� ���� This study,
published February in the New England Journal of Medicine, states that a kidney transplant,
from a living related donor, that once might last 17 years,
has more than doubled its "life expectancy,"
to 36 years.� A similar transplant, but from a cadaveric donor, now
lasts an average of 20 years. ���� What has
changed?� Once the surgical techniques
of transplantation were mastered, the biggest problem
has been rejection, the body's attempt to destroy invading tissues.
"Anti‑rejection drugs," necessary to
keep the organ alive in the face of the body's attempt to reject it as "foreign," have been coarse, powerful, and fraught with side effects.
But they are getting better, and as they do, transplants last longer. �� ���� Over all,
the results "show a continuous trend toward improved long‑term graft survival in recent years,"
the researchers said; and, "The survival rate for
someone who receives a transplant today is probably even better."
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