Transplant Lab News & Events

Medical Devices Fall Short for Children

"Innovation in medicine is driven by need, but also by the market," said Dr. Michael R. Harrison, the director emeritus of the Fetal Treatment Center and the director of the Pediatric Device Consortium, both at the University of California, San Francisco. "Big markets have lots of folks developing devices, but small markets like the pediatrics market don't."

Maternal Liver Grafts More Tolerable for Children with Rare Disease

Children with a rare, life-threatening disease that is the most common cause of neonatal liver failure - biliary atresia - better tolerate liver transplants from their mothers than from their fathers, according to a UCSF-led study......"This result is exciting because it supports the concept that trafficking of cells between the mother and the fetus has functional significance long after the pregnancy is over," said senior author  Tippi MacKenzie, M.D., assistant professor of pediatric surgery at UCSF and a fetal surgeon at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. "This is a topic we are actively studying both in animal models and in patients who have fetal surgery. Practically speaking, this study may allow us to counsel families in which both the mother and father are willing and able to be a donor."

"Inside Surgery", The Department of Surgery Newsletter, Summer 2012

This issue of Inside Surgery describes several exciting developments that are advancing our ability to provide outstanding care for a range of patients including the new Hepatobiliary Service, under the direction of  Carlos Corvera, M.D., which provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary care for patients with liver and bile duct disease. Other topics include updates on  Endocrine Surgery, San Fancisco General Hospital's Wraparound Project, and notable rankings of our surgeons within U.S. News & World Report annual update.

Magnet trial an attractive option for kids with sunken chest

Surgeons at the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital in San Francisco are using magnets to reshape the breastbones of children who suffer from Sunken Chest Syndrome. The technique is undergoing phase 3 clinical trials, but the doctors hope to prove that long term magnetic force is as effective and less painful than conventional surgery.

UCSF Recognized for Trial of the Year

The Society of Clinical Trials has named UCSF's Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS), a review of prenatal versus postnatal surgery for myelomengingocele (spina bifida), as its Trial of the Year. The study earned recognition as an important clinical trial that overcame difficulties and produced remarkable results.

UCSF Consortium Collaborates to Invent Medical Devices for Children

The UCSF "D'Vice Squad," a group of innovators from across the Bay Area, has drawn from diverse disciplines over the last two years to develop medical devices for children.

Now the squad's hard work has been rewarded with a $1 million grant from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand its work over the next two years.

Zarate strikes critical balance in disclosures

Doctors call Vilma Zarate's role as an administrative analyst in University of California, San Francisco's fetal surgery department invaluable to both faculty and patients. For faculty, Zarate carefully crafts grant and funding applications and coordinates clinical trials. Patients, on the other hand, benefit from the clear and thoughtful consent documents Zarate creates to help them understand the risks of cutting-edge medicine.

Spina Bifida Study a "Huge Gamechanger for Fetal Surgery"

For years, surgeons have been seeking ways of operating on babies in the womb, reasoning that medical abnormalities are easier to address while the fetus is still developing. Now, for the first time, a large clinical trial has shown that fetal surgery can also benefit infants with non life-threatening conditions. The eight-year study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that babies born with myelomeningocele, the most common form of spina bifida, a debilitating spinal abnormality, were twice as likely to walk and experienced fewer neurological problems with in utero repair versus standard post-natal repair. 

Mother’s stem cells likely key to treating genetic disease before birth

UCSF researchers have tackled a decade-long scientific conundrum, and their discovery is expected to lead to significant advances in using stem cells to treat genetic diseases before birth. Through a series of mouse model experiments, the research team determined that a mother's immune response prevents a fetus from accepting transplanted blood stem cells, and yet this response can be overcome simply by transplanting cells harvested from the mother herself.

Institute for Fetal and Neonatal Health 1st Annual Research Symposium

UCSF announces the formation of the Institute for Fetal and Neonatal Health symposium brings together clinicians and basic scientists involved in different aspects of development and fetal intervention.

Teen girls’ obesity surgery may raise birth defect risk

A report by Diana Farmer, MD*, (former) chief of pediatric surgery at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, has highlighted a possible link between gastric bypass surgery in adolescent girls and an increased risk for neural tube defects in their future children.

*Dr. Farmer is now Chief of Surgery at UC Davis

Treating scoliosis in kids with magnets

Stopping curvature of the spine in kids usually requires a series of painful operations to implant rods and screws to adjust the spine. Even then, the results are often less than perfect. However, a medical team at UCSF has developed a technique using magnets that promises to do away with so many surgeries.

Magnet Therapy Corrects South Bay Boy's Birth Defect

Magnets have a brand new use. They are being tested in a new procedure to correct a rare birth defect , Pectus Excavatum, in a Los Gatos boy. Dr. Kim Mulvihill reports.

Michael Harrison M.D. Elected to Institute of Medicine

Michael Harrison M.D., a renowned pioneer in fetal and pediatric surgery, Professor Emeritus of Surgery and Pediatrics, and Director Emeritus of the Fetal Treatment Center at UCSF, has been elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM), one of the U.S. National Academies. Membership in the IOM reflects "the height of professional achievement and commitment to service" and is reserved for those at the pinnacle of their field.

Pediatric Surgery Pioneer Alfred de Lorimier Dies

Dr. Alfred de Lorimier, a pioneer in pediatric surgery and founder of the Division of Pediatric Surgery at UCSF, has died. We owe much to his contributions and express our heartfelt sympathies to his family.