New research to be presented at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2022, Lisbon, 23-26 April) shows that organ donation from dying donors testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 appears to be safe and does not cause COVID-19 in the patient receiving the donated organ. The study is by Dr Cameron Wolfe and Dr Emily Eichenberger and colleagues, from Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.

"Cardiac disease is the major cause of death in dialysis patients, acccounting for half of the total mortality. When routinely assessed by echocardiography, the proportion of patients with abnormal dimensions of cardiac compartments is even higher. When chronic kidney disease progresses, cardiovascular damage starts to develop and may already be quite severe before dialysis is started. Initiation of dialysis treatment comes with a step further increase in cardiovascular mortality during the first year of treatment, and remains very high thereafter," Prof. Dr. Branko Braam and colleagues report in the textbook "Hypertension and Cardiovascular Aspects of Dialysis Treatment".

Duke University doctors say a baby is thriving after a first-of-its-kind heart transplant — one that came with a bonus technique to try to help prevent rejection of the new organ.

The thymus plays a critical role in building the immune system. Doctors have wondered if implanting some thymus tissue that matched a donated organ might help it survive without the recipient needing toxic anti-rejection medicines.

A review of adverse events following vaccination against COVID-19 with mRNA vaccines in the USA confirms that most side effects were mild and decreased substantially after one day. The new study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, suggests that for more than 298 million vaccine doses administered between December 2020 and June 2021, 92% (313,499/340,522) of reported adverse events were not serious, and less than 1% of v-safe participants reported seeking any medical care following vaccination.

Xenotransplantation: The transplantation of organs, tissues, and cells from animals, preferably pig-to-man, might be considered to become the transplantation of the future. By selective breeding the anatomical and the physiological characteristics of these animals could be at least partly adapted to match the human body. However, the immunological mechanisms and the antigenicity of cells and their surface structure will remain obstinately unaltered.

The European Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion (EBCP) decided to bring it´s literature resource to a next level and use single literature source for the examination: "After profound analysis of available literature we concluded that the new textbook ´Extracorporeal Circulation in Theory and Practice´ gives the complete overview of needed theoretical knowledge."

Studies of heroin users often depict people living in a state of struggle separate from conventional society. Dr. James Morgan (London) identified heroin users who live somewhat traditional lives. He concludes (in the new reader: "Who? Variation and distinction in the European drugs landscape"):

Omicron case numbers have risen by 555% in the last month alone. Ukrainian hospitals could run out of medical oxygen within the next 24 hours, endangering the lives of thousands of critically ill patients, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned.

The accidental finding was made when a man suddenly died during a routine brain scan. After an elderly patient died suddenly during a routine test, scientists accidentally captured unique data on the activity in his brain at the very end of his life: During the 30 seconds before and after the man's heart stopped, his brain waves were remarkably similar to those seen during dreaming, memory recall and meditation, suggesting that people may actually see their life "flash before their eyes" when they die.