HOPKINS TRANSPLANT SURGEONS REMOVE HEALTHY KIDNEY THROUGH DONOR’S VAGINA

[Adsos Letter]

Sorry about the shouting......

Source: Johns Hopkins Press Release

February 2, 2009- In what is believed to be a first-ever procedure, surgeons at Johns Hopkins have successfully removed a healthy donor kidney through a small incision in the back of the donor’s vagina.

“The kidney was successfully removed and transplanted into the donor’s niece, and both patients are doing fine,” says Robert Montgomery, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the transplant division at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who led the team that performed the historic operation.

The transvaginal donor kidney extraction, performed Jan. 29 on a 48-year-old woman from Lexington Park, Md., eliminated the need for a 5-to-6-inch abdominal incision and left only three pea-size scars on her abdomen, one of which is hidden in her navel.

Transvaginal kidney removals have been done previously to remove cancerous or nonfunctioning kidneys that endanger a patient’s health, but not for healthy kidney donation. Because transplant donor nephrectomies are the most common kidney removal surgery — 6,000 a year just in the United States — this approach could have a tremendous impact on people’s willingness to donate by offering more surgical options,” says Montgomery.

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2009/02_02_09.html

[SoCalDem]

1. and for you MALE donors.. have we got a deal for YOU!...n.t

[BrklynLiberal]

6. ROTFLMAO...

That should be a REALLY interesting surgery!!!

[razors edge]

7. A shot of Jack and two aspirins,

no problem.


:evilgrin:

[Captain Hilts]

2. Oh my. nt

[NOW tense]

3. My wife just said

"What? How did it get in there?"

[Stellabella]

4. Wow, is that cool.

I always wonder where medicine would be if it weren't for hysterics blocking medical research because it's 'against the will of God.' I mean, really.

[Muttocracy]

5. Anyone else feel like ALL the real news is weirder than The Onion? nt

[MrModerate]

9. I really wanted to make up a witty little bon mot based on this headline . . .

But I'm stumped. Maybe it's the imagery or maybe it's the suggestion (above) of what the equivalent operation for a male donor might be.

[Muttocracy]

10. I read the LBN article about outsourcing U.S. EMPLOYEES to India right before this.

[jdadd]

8. Breaking News.....

Oil pump replaced through tailpipe on Honda Accord.....:rofl:

[elshiva]

11. "Do vaginas wiggle?"

[cynatnite]

12. This is a MAJOR breakthrough...

Normally, they have to practically saw a patient in half to get to the kidney. Not anymore.

We'll see a rise in kidney donors once this procedure becomes the norm.

[question everything]

13. UC San Diego performed an appendectomy this way

3. Scarless Surgery
A team at the University of California at San Diego performed the first such appendectomy in the U.S. in March, using camera-fitted scopes to guide the removal of a woman's appendix through her vagina.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=222&topic_id=49067

(And, I admit, I found it a bit bizarre..)