DCN Center News

As part of National Donate Life Month, observed annually in April to drive awareness about the importance of organ, tissue and cornea donations, Allegheny Health Network (AHN) will host several celebrations throughout the month at hospitals across its footprint.

Kidney transplant patients are living longer and transplanted kidneys are lasting longer thanks to advances in patient care, improved immunosuppression strategies and organ preservation techniques, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and the UW Health Transplant Center.

The Black community faces a higher risk of chronic kidney disease. This can be due to genetics, higher rates of hypertension and diabetes, and socioeconomic issues such as access to healthcare and structural racism. Dr. Ivan Porter II, a Mayo Clinic nephrologist, discusses ways to help reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease.

Dr. Naim Issa, a Mayo Clinic transplant nephrologist, says, until recently, patients with Type 2 diabetes have been ruled out as potential living kidney donors. Now, following strict criteria, some patients may be eligible to help close the gap on this ever-growing need for living kidney donors. 

At age 72, Carol McCabe went into kidney failure. There was a 7-year waitlist for a deceased donor kidney and her life expectancy on dialysis was 3 1/2 years. Her husband, Jon, donated a kidney through Loyola Medicine’s Living Kidney Donor Program. “I’m pretty sure my kidneys will outlast both of us,” he said.

Intermountain Health has opened the first clinic of its kind in the Intermountain West that is designed specifically to support Spanish-speaking patients undergoing kidney transplantation.

Lisa Brown, 53, of Jacksonville, suffered from severe pelvis and back pain for years. She later learned that her bladder wasn’t working due to follicular cystitis, a rare and non-specific inflammatory disease of the bladder, and inflammatory pseudotumor of the bladder. In 2017, her bladder was removed using robotic-assisted surgery and replaced with a “neobladder”…

This Valentine’s Day, local organ donors and recipients gathered at AHN Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) to share their stories of generosity, courage and the life-saving power of organ donation. AGH’s annual National Donor Day luncheon and recognition ceremony took place at noon in the hospital’s Magovern Conference Center.

Genetic changes or mutations can cause hereditary kidney disease, which can eventually lead to dialysis or the need for kidney transplantation. Identifying the cause of inherited kidney disease is the first step in identifying a treatment.