For years, endomyocardial biopsies have been the gold standard for monitoring potential cardiac rejection. But because rejection can be sporadic or patchy in its presentation, the biopsy can sometimes miss it, or pathologists can overdiagnose it or underdiagnose it.
Amar Gupta, MD, FRCS(C), an abdominal transplant and hepatopancreatobiliary surgeon on the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center, was skeptical about the benefits of the robotic surgical system in complex liver surgeries. He saw it as a gimmick, something that was more industry-driven than something that would offer a real benefit to patients. After a week’s observation of a surgeon in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who has performed more than 200 robotic hepatectomies, Dr. Gupta became a true believer in its value.
Patients with chronic pancreatitis often experience intractable pain. Patients make frequent trips to the emergency department and may have numerous hospital admissions. They also can experience significant lifestyle disruptions and a greatly diminished quality of life.
The opioid epidemic has resulted in thousands of deaths in people infected with acute hepatitis C (HCV) due to IV drug use. Because many of these people are undiagnosed, especially in high-risk populations, many organs from HCV-positive donors are still being procured. The development of highly effective direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy has made it possible to successfully transplant HCV-positive organs into HCV-negative recipients and treat the hepatitis C post transplant.
The Uterus Transplant Program at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas (Baylor Dallas), part of Baylor Scott & White Health, was one of the first programs in the world to study uterus transplantation and has quickly become the largest program in the world. With 20 transplants and 14 healthy babies, the Baylor Dallas Uterus Transplant Program is now the first in the world to offer uterus transplantation outside of a clinical trial.
