“For the new study, published in JAMA, doctors looked at data on people who died within 90 days after a kidney transplant surgery from 1993 to 2022. Data came from both the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, a nonprofit organization that administers the nation’s only transplant network authorized by the U.S. Congress.

In total, there were 164,593 kidney donors included in the study. Thirty-six died within 90 days after donation. 

From 1993 to 2002, there 13 total deaths after the procedure for a mortality rate of 3 per 10,000 people; from 2003 to 2012, there were 18 deaths, a mortality rate of 2.9 per 10,000. 

Deaths dropped significantly from 2013 to 2022, to just five, or a mortality rate of 0.9 per 10,000. 

During this time, laparoscopic surgery — a minimally invasive technique where surgeons use small incisions and specialized instruments to remove the kidney — became the standard of care, Segev said. Previously, patients underwent open donor nephrectomy, which required a much larger incision that needed longer recovery time and more risk of complications.”

From NBC News.

“eGenesis, a developer of human-compatible organs that are derived from pigs, raised $191 million in new venture capital funding.

Why it matters: There are over 100,000 people in the U.S. on organ transplant waiting lists, the vast majority of whom are in need of kidneys.

Catch up quick: eGenesis provided the genetically-edited porcine kidney used earlier this year in a landmark human transplant, and is working with the FDA to move into Phase 1 clinical trials.”

From Axios.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) says polio vaccinations of children in central Gaza have ‘surpassed the target’ in the first two days of its immunisation campaign.

Dr Rik Peeperkorn, the UN agency’s representative in the Palestinian territories, said 161,030 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated on Sunday and Monday – above the projection of 156,500.

The difference was probably the result of an underestimate of the population crowded into the area, he explained.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a series of localised pauses in the fighting to allow health workers to administer vaccines after Gaza’s first confirmed case of polio in 25 years left a 10-month-old partially paralysed last month.”

From BBC.

“The studies – part of the Select trial – tracked more than 17,600 people, aged 45 or older, as they were given either 2.4 mg of semaglutide or a placebo for more than three years.

Participants were obese or overweight and had cardiovascular disease but not diabetes.

Those who took the drug died at a lower rate from all causes, including cardiovascular issues and Covid-19, researchers found.

People using the weight-loss drug were just as likely to catch Covid but they were less likely to die from it, with 2.6% dying among those on semaglutide compared with 3.1% on the placebo.

And while women experienced fewer major adverse cardiovascular events, the drug ‘consistently reduced the risk’ of adverse cardiovascular outcomes regardless of sex.

It also improved heart failure symptoms and cut levels of inflammation in the body regardless of whether or not people lost weight.”

From BBC.