HARD GRAFT
‘Crucial’ new skin patches that develop into a rash can alert doctors to organ transplant rejection
The skin patches could also naturally reduce the risk of organ rejection
SKIN patches could halve rates of deadly organ rejection in transplant patients, hope scientists running an NHS trial.
Around 4,500 Brits have organ transplants each year but the body rejects them in up to a third of cases.
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An experiment will now give 152 lung transplant patients a small 10x3cm skin graft from their donor at the same time as their op.
Experts believe the skin patch, to be put on the forearm, will come up in a rash if the body starts to reject it – as a warning that the lung is being rejected, too.
Skin reacts faster than other organs and can be seen so it is easier for a patient to tell something is wrong.
If this happens doctors can ramp up treatment to control the immune system and prevent the donated lung being rejected too.
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Trial leader Professor Hank Giele, from Oxford University, said: “A visible warning system like this is crucial for all transplants, but especially those with higher rejection rates.
“It is often difficult to know if a reaction is caused by infection or rejection as they look the same at the early stages, but the treatments for each are completely opposite.
“It’s for this reason that we have focused the trial on the lungs.”
NHS rollout 'could reduce rejection rates by 50 per cent'
Previous research on gut transplants found the skin patch may also naturally reduce the risk of rejection.
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The £2million trial will be run by Oxford University along with NHS Blood and Transplant and recruit 152 lung transplant patients over three years.
The researchers hope if it is successful and rolled out to all lung transplant patients it could reduce organ rejection rates by up to 50 per cent.
Health Minister Andrea Leadsom said: “Early detection of organ rejection means a healthier transplant, giving people greater control of their care and speeding up access to treatment.”
HOW TO BECOME AN ORGAN DONOR
JUST over 4,500 people received an organ transplant in 2023 from 2,387 donors – but more than 400 people per year die waiting because there are not enough donors.
NHS Blood and Transplant says: "Only one per cent of people who die in the UK every year die in the right circumstances and in the right location to be eligible for their organs to be used to save someone’s life.
"That is why we need as large a pool of people as possible."
The law has changed so all adults are "opt-out" organ donors, meaning hospitals can use their organs unless they told the NHS they did not want to be a donor, or their family says no after they die.
Six in 10 families refuse to let doctors use their loved one's organs.
People who want their organs to be used to help others after they die can register online on this link.
Health chiefs have also added sign-up options to new passport and driving licence applications to try and boost numbers.