By Barry Silverman, MD
In the age of advanced technology and groundbreaking medical treatments, it might seem unnecessary to stress the importance of good manners in healthcare. After all, many of us entered this profession with the goal of helping people, driven by compassion and the desire to alleviate suffering. We've been taught basic etiquette by our parents, and we assume that our role as ... Continue Reading
By Dhaval Desai, MD
Hot, dripping sweat, donned in maximal personal protective equipment (PPE) with a gown, mask, face shield, essentially screaming to a patient trying to gather more history on their respiratory illness, which was suspected to be COVID. They were deemed a "PUI" or person under investigation since there was a high probability that they would test positive for COVID. It was the ... Continue Reading
By Steven C. Kim. MD
There are currently over 100,000 patients on the organ transplant waitlist in the United States, with an estimated 17 deaths occurring every day as patients await suitable life-saving organs. For decades, the demand for organs in transplantation has outpaced the availability of organs. While there have been significant improvements in organ preservation techniques that have ... Continue Reading
By Sagar Damle, MD; Karolis Bauza, MD, PhD; and Ezequiel Molina, MD
Adult heart transplantation became a reality on Dec. 3, 1967, a date etched into the minds of cardiac transplant surgeons. On that day, Christiaan Barnard was the first surgeon to perform a human-to-human heart transplant. Since then, evolution and advancements in the procedure have followed periods of intense exciting activity and growth in the field, followed by periods of ... Continue Reading
By Brittany Hall, BSN, RN, CCRN; Hope Weed, BSN, RN; and Clark Kensinger, MD
Donor care units are specialized intensive care facilities that play an increasingly critical role in the complex process of organ donation and transplantation. These centers are designed to evaluate and manage organ donors with the primary goal of maximizing organ availability and ensuring optimal transplant outcomes for patients in need of life-saving transplants. In 2022, ... Continue Reading
By Giri Vedula, MD
Liver transplantation is a life-saving intervention for patients with end-stage liver disease, acute liver failure, select metabolic disorders and certain malignancies. Traditionally, donor livers have been preserved using static cold storage (SCS), a method that involves flushing the liver with a preservation solution and keeping it at low temperatures (typically around 4¡C or ... Continue Reading
By Adam Gracon, MD, PharmD, FACS, and Sharon Holloway, MS, M
Donation after circulatory death (DCD) refers to organ donation from patients who do not meet brain death criteria but have life-sustaining therapy withdrawn due to a non-survivable condition. After withdrawal of care, the patients heart stops and death is declared based on circulatory criteria (no pulse or blood pressure). Unlike donation after brain death (DBD), DCD organs ... Continue Reading
By Adam Gracon, MD, PharmD, FACS
Organ transplantation has transformed from experimental surgery into a cornerstone of modern medicine, saving thousands of lives each year. In just over half a century, the United States has built a robust transplant system — from the first successful kidney transplant in 1954 to the one-millionth organ transplant performed in 2022. The history of organ transplantation in ... Continue Reading
By Lance L. Stein, M.D.
One field within the specialty of gastroenterology that has witnessed rapid changes over the last two decades is hepatology. Over the past 20 years, there have been significant advances to the understanding of many liver diseases and rapid evolution of therapies. These advancements have been recognized by the gastroenterology societies and the American Board of Internal ... Continue Reading
Sign up for MDatl.com’s monthly newsletter, featuring local physician news, events and articles contributed by your physician colleagues.
