Kidney failure has a serious impact on the lives of patients, who have to deal with many long-term physical and mental stressors. However, there are no established standards for addressing stressors and supporting effective coping strategies for patients dealing with kidney failure. Using qualitative interview data from the Empowering Patients on Choices for Renal Replacement Therapy (EPOCH-RRT) Study, researchers investigated how patients cope with kidney disease, with the goal of improving support for patients.

People with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) experience severe liver damage, for which the only known cure is a liver transplant. After a liver transplant, PSC returns in 15 to 25 percent of patients.

After living donor liver transplantation, a recipient may experience complications with the transplanted organ soon after surgery. Early Allograft Dysfunction (EAD) may occur when the liver is too small to meet recipient needs, although factors other than size can contribute to EAD. Recent acceptable results with smaller left lobe grafts suggest that the effects of graft size could be mitigated with careful patient selection and technical innovation, such as inflow modification. This has led to renewed interest in smaller grafts to reduce risk to donors during surgery without compromising recipient outcomes.