Recent News

2008 SRTR Report on the State of Transplantation now available
The 2008 SRTR Report on the State of Transplantation was recently published in the American Journal of Transplantation (Volume 9, Issue 4, Part 2) and is available online at http://www.ustransplant.org/rotsot.aspx?y=2008. This year’s report consists of eight peer-reviewed articles devoted to specific topics in solid organ transplantation. Each article was written by a group of experts in the field of transplantation and provides a comprehensive look at the current state of transplantation and trends over the past decade. The text and figures in these articles are based on SRTR analyses and the extensive reference tables of the 2008 OPTN/SRTR Annual Report.

Thoracic Cohort Change for July 2009
On July 14, 2009, the SRTR will release the next version of the Program-Specific Reports. One important change to note at this time is that the one year survival cohort of transplants for thoracic organs will have sufficient follow-up data for all the transplants occurring up until June 30, 2008. We will, therefore, move this cohort ahead to have the cohorts of all organ programs synchronized. Please see http://www.ustransplant.org/csr/current/timeline.aspx for a complete list of important dates for the upcoming Program-Specific Reports.

New Center and OPO Specific Reports Published January 13, 2009
On January 13, 2009, the SRTR released the newest version of the Program-Specific Reports. Released every six months, these reports provide different measures of performance and characteristics about each transplant program and OPO in the United States, including waitlist outcomes, post-transplant survival, and organ recovery and transplantation rates. View Current Program-Specific Reports for all transplant centers and OPOs 

Arbor Research, the SRTR Contractor, Announces New President
Robert M. Merion, M.D. will succeed Friedrich K. Port, M.D. M.S, as the third president of the Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, the organization’s Board of Directors is very pleased to announce. More...

SRTR Re-Weighting The Model For End-Stage Liver Disease Score Components Paper Published
To determine whether the previously established weights assigned to the three components of the existing MELD formula optimally predict mortality risk, SRTR data for the liver waiting list was examined. A time-dependent analysis predicted waiting list mortality risk more accurately than a model based only on the MELD score at listing. More...

SRTR Immunosuppression and Hepatitis C Paper Published
In kidney recipients with HCV-positive serology, the use of antibody induction did not negatively affect patient survival and the use of mycophenolate mofetil as part of maintenance immunosuppression was associated with better patient survival. More...

US-Canada kidney transplantation mortality rates
A recently published report by the SRTR compared mortality rates following kidney transplantation between recipients in the United States and Canada, using data from the national registries of both countries. The results showed an increase in overall mortality of 35% in U.S. (compared with Canadian) kidney transplant recipients. The relative risk of mortality was similar in the first year after transplantation but increased, and remained elevated, for U.S. patients after the first year. A similar pattern was seen for the number of years of pre-transplant dialysis.

ECD Mortality Paper Published in JAMA
Kidneys from expanded criteria donors (ECDs) are helping ease the organ shortage. But who among the many waiting-list candidates are most likely to benefit from these organs, which are characterized by a higher risk of graft failure? A new SRTR study, published December 7 in The Journal of the American Medical Association, shows that ECD transplants should be offered principally to candidates who are more than 40 years old in OPOs with long waiting times. In OPOs where the wait is shorter, only patients with diabetes are shown to have improved survival with ECD kidneys. Further detail about this manuscript is available in this press release, and citation and PubMed abstract are available here.