Advances in the surgical techniques, preservation solutions, and methods for predicting eventual long-term renal function from expanded donors will be critical in allowing precise selection criteria for kidneys for transplantation, resulting in the optimum use of a scarce and precious resource. Until other options such as xenotransplantation or tissue engineering become realistic, the challenge for the millennium will be to identify which donor organs previously considered suboptimal can be safely used to expand the organ donor pool.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Initial studies with FK506 in renal transplantation.

FK506 is a novel immunosuppressive agent which is approximately 100 times as potent as cyclosporine in vitro. In this initial trial, 65 renal transplant patients of high complexity received primary FK506 immunosuppression. Overall, graft and patient survival rates are 80% and 98.5%, respectively. A major advantage of FK506 is its potency with relatively few side effects, which has permitted elimination of steroids in 31 (60%) of these patients. Because of these encouraging results, a randomized trial comparing the therapeutic efficacy and toxicity of FK506 and cyclosporine is currently underway at our institution.

Follow-Up Studies↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Nurses' attitudes toward death and caring for dying patients.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To examine possible relationships among the demographic variables of nurses and their attitudes toward death and caring for dying patients. DESIGN: Descriptive. SETTING: A private hospital and Visiting Nurses Association office in an ethnically diverse metropolitan area in the Midwest. SAMPLE: 403 nurses, predominantly female (90%) and Caucasian (70%), with a mean age of 41.8 years. METHODS: Participants completed the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale, the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R), and a demographic questionnaire. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Attitudes toward death and caring for dying people. FINDINGS: DAP-R scores were related to sex, religious affiliation, and current contact with terminally ill patients. Frommelt scale scores (e.g., showing acceptance of death) were positively related to current contact with dying patients, negatively correlated with two DAP-R subscales (Fear of Death and Death Avoidance), and positively correlated with two other DAP-R subscales (Approach Acceptance and Neutral Acceptance). CONCLUSIONS: Nurses' attitudes toward death and their current contact with terminally ill patients were predictive of their attitudes toward caring for terminally ill patients. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Professionals who are responsible for designing educational programs focused on nurses' attitudes toward caring for terminally ill patients may want to include an assessment of death attitudes and interventions aimed at decreasing negative attitudes and increasing positive attitudes toward death in such programs.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Regulation of Kupffer cell-mediated alterations in hepatocyte protein synthesis in vitro.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Cells, Cultured↗