After decades of research in clinical transplantation, new techniques have been developed that permit a further understanding of the immune mechanisms underlying immune recognition of allografts and a more accurate and thorough evaluation of compatibility between donors and recipients. The second edition of Transplantation Immunology: Methods and Protocols expands upon the previous edition with current, detailed methods in transplantation immunology. The new methods chapters cover four major areas that are being applied in compatibility evaluations and ongoing transplantation immunology research. Seven overview chapters provide reviews of the molecular basis for alloreactivity, current understanding of humoral and cellular mechanisms, as well as new developments in thoracic organ transplantation, composite tissue transplantation and in the transplantation of sensitized patients. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology (TM) series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and key tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and practical, Transplantation Immunology: Methods and Protocol, Second Edition is devoted to transplantation immunology, both in the practice of compatibility testing and in transplantation research.

This issue of "Progress in Brain Research" is split over 2 volumes, bringing together cutting-edge research on functional neural transplantation. The 2 volumes review current knowledge and understanding, provide a starting point for researchers and practitioners entering the field, and build a platform for further research and discovery.
Leading authors review the state-of-the-art in their field of investigation, and provide their views and perspectives for future research
Chapters are extensively referenced to provide readers with a comprehensive list of resources on the topics covered
All chapters include comprehensive background information and are written in a clear form that is also accessible to the non-specialist

The difference among pluripotent stem cells, multipotent stem cells, and unipotent stem cells is pointed out. Vast therapeutic applications of the following specific stem cells in disease and tissue injury are discussed: human embryonic stem cells, human mesenchymal stem cells, germ cell-derived pluripotent stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, human umbilical cord blood-derived stem cells, breast tumor stem cells,and hematopoietic stem cells. Because of the potential of human embryonic stem cells to produce unlimited quantities of any human cell type, considerable focus is placed on their therapeutic potential. Because of their pluripotency, these cells have been used in various applications such as tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, pharmacological and toxicological studies, and fundamental studies of cell differentiation. The formation of embryoid bodies, which are three-dimensional aggregates of embryonic stem cells, is explained as this is the first step in cell differentiation. Such embryoid body culture has been widely used as a trigger for the in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells. The basic capacity of self-renewal of human embryogenic stem cells is explained. The role of TGF-beta in the propagation of human embryonic stem cells is discussed. The differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into neurons, hepatocytes, cardiomyocytes, and retinal cells is fully explained. Donor policies for hematopoietic stem cells are also explained.

This issue of Critical Care Nursing Clinics, Guest Edited by Darlene Lovasik, RN, MN, CCRN, CNRN, will feature such article topics as: Evaluation and Work-up for Transplant; Basic Immunology; Pharmacology; Liver, Pancreas, Kidney Transplants; Living Donor Kideny, Liver Transplants; Heart, Lung, Intestinal and Multivisceral Transplants; Complications After Transplant; Patient Education; Psychosocial Concerns; Ethical Issue; Financial/Operational Considerations; Organ Donation.

The History and Evolution of Hand Transplantation, World Experience After More Than a Decade of Clinical Hand Transplantation, How to Establish a Hand Transplant Program, Recipient Selection - Who is the Right Candidate for Hand Transplantation? Donor-related Issues in Hand Transplantation, Surgical and Technical Aspects of Hand Transplantation - Is it Just Another Replant? Functional Outcome After Hand Transplantation - What can be Achieved? Strategies to Enhance Nerve Regeneration, Immunosuppressive Protocols and Immunological Challenges Related to Hand Transplantation, Acute and Chronic Rejection in Hand Transplantation - What have we Learned? Favoring the Risk Benefit Balance for Hand Transplantation - The Pittsburgh Approach Ethical, Financial and Policy Considerations of Hand Transplantation

World-renown expert, Dr. Paul Martin, has assembled an impressive list of authors to update the important topic of orthotopic liver transplantation. The issue provides comprehensive clinical coverage on this topics as articles are focused from the care of the pre-transplant patient to the care of the post-transplant patient. Content also covers the following topics: Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma;
Transplantation for Cholangiocarcinoma; Management of Renal Dysfunction in Liver Transplant Patients; Expanded Donors in Liver Transplantation; Current Status of Liver Transplantation for HBV; MELD: End of the First Decade; and Management of Recurrent HCV Infection.

This volume presents a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in basic and translational research in the field of reconstructive transplantation and its potential therapeutic implications. Dr. Thomas E. Starzl and Dr. Raimund Margreiter, both pioneers in the field of transplantation, have written the foreword for the book. The volume spans such topics as skin rejection, immune monitoring, stem cell-based immunomodulatory strategies, costimulatory blockade, tolerance induction, chronic rejection, ischemia reperfusion injury, nerve regeneration, cortical reintegration, and small and large animal models for reconstructive transplantation. The book is intended for biomedical researchers and basic scientists in the field of reconstructive transplantation, transplant immunology and regenerative medicine, as well as clinicians, surgeons and multidisciplinary specialists, who are practicing or interested in this novel and exciting field. Postgraduate fellows and students will also find it a valuable reference.

This issue of Clinics in Chest Medicine, guest edited by Robert Kotloff, focuses on the topics of Lung Transplantation. Articles include: Candidate Selection, Timing of Listing, and Choice of Procedure for Lung Transplantation; Lung Allocation in the United States, Selection and Management of the Lung Donor; Novel Approaches to Expanding the Lung Donor Pool: Donation After Cardiac Death and Ex Vivo Conditioning; Extracorporeal Life Support as a Bridge to Lung Transplantation; Survival and Quality of Life of Patients Undergoing Lung Transplant; Primary Graft Dysfunction; Acute Allograft Rejection: Cellular and Humoral Processes, and more!

This book examines the position of children who provide tissue to potentially save the life of another. It questions whether child donors of all ages have been treated appropriately and whether they are sufficiently protected in acting as tissue donors, and ultimately considers whether a new regulatory response is needed to benefit donor children. The book couples a legal exposition of the donor child's position with the medico-ethical reality of clinical practice. In recent years, a growing body of literature concerning the clinical experiences and outcomes for child donors has emerged. This book adds to this by examining another dimension - the regulatory frameworks at play. It examines the ethical arguments for and against children acting as tissue donors and provides an original analysis of the legal and non-legal regulatory frameworks governing children's participation in the United Kingdom, United States and Australia. It combines these doctrinal and theoretical approaches with insights into clinical practice gained from the results of qualitative research conducted with health professionals. The analysis inevitably explores the more general issues of children's right to make medical decisions, the role of parents in decision-making, the value of the best interests test and alternative (legal and ethical) standards, rights of participation of children before the courts, and the role of law and other forms of regulation in a clinical context.

CARDIAC VALVE ALLOGRAFTS (HOMOGRAFTS) highlights the current controversy about freehand subcoronary aortic valve and root replacement with regard to postoperative morbidity and long term durability. It discusses particular implantation techniques of preference in young patients and in different root pathology. Other chapters address intermediate- and long-term results on cardiac valve and vascular homografts for treating complicating cardiac valve and aortic infections. The chapter on basic science additionally makes this book a highly authoritative reference source for cardiac surgeons, physicians and scientists. This work provides a current survey of the state-of-the-art.

Liver Transplantation: Challenging Controversies and Topics grew out of a need I perceived within the fields of transplant hepatology and liver transplantation. Liver transplantation has rightly gained recognition as an established therapy for end-stage liver disease. Few would argue that liver transplantation is one of the few truly lifesaving and life-altering treatments within medicine and surgery. Not many realize that 20 years passed from the time of the first human liver transplantation in 1963 to its acceptance as therapy by the 1983 NIH Consensus Conference on Liver Transplantation. In 2008, 25 years will have passed since the 1983 NIH conference-a mere 25 years for a field that has provided patients hope, doctors options, and to some the "gift of life. " Many issues in liver transplantation involve indications, patient selection, and outcomes after transplantation-these are standard topics, covered by textbooks of hepatology and transplantation. In contrast, the field of liver tra- plantation is young, evolving, dynamic, and issues and decisions are often controversial. Thus, Dr. Trotter and I, as well as our colleagues at the University of Colorado, felt that a text with a different focus was required, one that highlighted controversy and challenged dogma. Out of this perceived need emerged Liver Transplantation: Challenging Controversies and Topics. To meet the transplant community's need for emerging information about liver transplantation, Dr. Larry Chan, Dr. Igal Kam, and I initiated the Controversies in Transplantation Conference.

This book provides an expert view into the current technologies that are revolutionizing the field of solid organ transplantation. This unique book provides insight into progress made in areas spanning robotic surgery to tissue engineering and also gives a glimpse into what may lie ahead for this innovative specialty. Topics covered include nanotherapy, machine perfusion, artificial organ development, robotics in transplant surgery, mobile health technology, stem cell therapy, and ex vivo repair of organs. This is an ideal book for biomedical engineers, physicians and surgeons, general and transplant surgeons, medical students, medical and surgical trainees, and transplant procurement technicians.

There have been tremendous strides in cellular transplantation in recent years, leading to accepted practice for the treatment of certain diseases, and use for many others in trial phases. The long history of cellular transplantation, or the transfer of cells from one organism or region of the body to another, has been revolutionized by advances in stem cell research, as well as developments in gene therapy.
Cellular Transplants: From Lab to Clinic provides a thorough foundation of the basic science underpinning this exciting field, expert overviews of the state-of-the-art, and detailed description of clinical success stories to date, as well as insights into the road ahead. As highlighted by this timely and authoritative survey, scale-up technologies and whole organ transplantation are among the hurdles representing the next frontier.
The contents are organized into four main sections, with the first covering basic biology, including transplant immunology, the use of immunosuppressive drugs, stem cell biology, and the development of donor animals for transplantation. The next part looks at peripheral and reconstructive applications, followed by a section devoted to transplantation for diseases of the central nervous system. The last part presents efforts to address the key challenges ahead, such as identifying novel transplantable cells and integrating biomaterials and nanotechnology with cell matrices.
- Provides detailed description of clinical trials in cell transplantation
- Review of current therapeutic approaches
- Coverage of the broad range of diseases addressed by cell therapeutics
- Discussion of stem cell biology and its role in transplantation

Over the past decade, there has been rapid growth in bioengineering applications in the field of spine implants. This book explains the technical foundation for understanding and expanding the field of spine implants, reviews the major established technologies related to spine implants, and provides reference material for developing and commercializing new spine implants. The editors, who have a track record of collaboration and editing technical books, provide a unified approach to this topic in the most comprehensive and useful book to date.
-Related website provides the latest information on spine technology including articles and research papers on the latest technology and development.
-Major technologies reviewed include devices used for fusion (screws, plates, rods, and cages), disc repair and augmentation, total disc replacement, and vertebral body repair and augmentation.
-Technology landscape, review of published/public domain data currently available, and safety and efficacy of technology discussed in detail.

Every day, newspapers and television news programs present stories on the latest controversies over healthcare and medical advances, but they do not have the space to provide detailed background on the issues. Websites and weblogs provide information from activists and partisans intent on presenting their side of a story. But where can students - or even ordinary citizens - go to obtain unbiased, detailed background on the medical issues affecting their daily lives? This volume in the Health and Medical Issues Today series provides readers and researchers a balanced, in-depth introduction to the medical, scientific, legal, and cultural issues surrounding organ tranplants and its import in today's world of healthcare. Organ Transplantation is organized to provide readers with easy access to the information they need: BLSection 1 provides overview chapters on the background information needed to intelligently understand the issues and controversies surrounding organ transplants, such as how organs are procured and who determines who gets an organ. BLSection 2 offers capsule examinations of the contemporary issues and debates that provoke the most heated disagreements and misunderstandings, such as controversies over who deserves to get an organ, and the concerns over xenotransplantation BLSection 3 includes reference material on organ transplantation, including primary source documents from important players in the debates, a timeline of important events, and an annotated bibliography of useful print and electronic resources. This volume in the Health and Medicine Today series provides everything a student requires to understand the issues involved in organ transplantation and provides aspringboard for further research into the issue

With the success of organ transplantation and the declining number of heart beating cadaver doctors, the number of patients awaiting a transplant continues to rise. This means that alternative sources of donors have been sought, including donors after cardiac death. Such donors sustain rapid damage to their organs due to ischaemia, and as a consequence, some organs do not work initially and some none at all. The proportion of such transplants has increased dramatically in recent years--25% of kidney transplants in the UK were from such donors in 2006, highlighting how much progress has been made.
Written by international experts, this book lays out the moral, legal, and ethical restraints to using such donors for organ transplant together with the techniques that have been adpoted to improve their outcome. The different approaches and results of renal transplant according to country are covered together with the procedures and outcomes adopted to use other organs, notably the liver and lungs.

This book analyzes the reasons for organ shortage and ventures innovative ideas for approaching this problem. It presents 29 contributions from a highly interdisciplinary group of world experts and upcoming professionals in the field. Every year thousands of patients die while waiting for organ transplantation. Health authorities, medical professionals and bioethicists worldwide point to the urgent and yet unsolved problem of organ shortage, which will be even intensified due to the increasing life expectancy. Even though the practical problem seems to be well known, the search for suitable solutions continues and often restricts itself by being limited through disciplinary and national borders. Combining philosophical reflection with empirical results, this volume enables a unique insight in the ethics of organ transplantation and offers fresh ideas for policymakers, health care professionals, academics and the general public.

In the late 1980s, a promising new treatment for breast cancer emerged: high-dose chemotherapy with autologous bone marrow transplantation or HDC/ABMT. By the 1990s, it had burst upon the oncology scene and disseminated rapidly before having been carefully evaluated. By the time published studies showed that the procedure was ineffective, more than 30,000 women had received the treatment, shortening their lives and adding to their suffering. This book tells of the rise and demise of HDC/ABMT for metastatic and early stage breast cancer, and fully explores the story's implications, which go well beyond the immediate procedure, and beyond breast cancer, to how we in the United States evaluate other medical procedures, especially life-saving ones.
It details how the factors that drove clinical use--patient demand, physician enthusiasm, media reporting, litigation, economic exploitation, and legislative and administrative mandates--converged to propel the procedure forward despite a lack of proven clinical effectiveness. It also analyzes the limited effect of technology assessments before randomized clinical trials evaluated decisively the procedure and the ramifications of this system on healthcare today.
Sections of the book consider the initial conditions surrounding the emergence of the new breast cancer treatment, the drivers of clinical use, and the struggle for evidence-based medicine. A concluding section considers the significance of the story for our healthcare system.

This book covers lymphoproliferative disorders in patients with congenital or acquired immunodeficiencies. Acquired immunodeficiencies are caused by infections with the human immunodeficiency virus or arise following immunosuppressive therapy administered after organ transplantation or to treat connective tissue diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. It was recently discovered that various diseases or therapeutic modalities that induce a state of immunosuppression may cause virally driven lymphoproliferations. This book summarizes for the first time this group of immunodeficiency-associated lymphoproliferations.