WASHINGTON, D.C. - Researchers from Johns Hopkins University report that filtering proteins out of blood before transplanting certain organs increases the procedure's success rate.
The team found that by filtering bacteria, parasites and proteins from blood, kidney transplant patients had a significantly lower rate of rejecting their new organ. Once the filtering process is perfected, the researchers say the operation should be able to take place regardless of blood or tissue type - potentially impacting the number of Americans waiting for a donor organ. There are currently more than 52,000 in the United States waiting for a new kidney.
