Study Shows Kidney Transplant Can Reverse Heart Failure; University of Maryland Study May Change Traditional Thinking About Offering Kidney Transplants to Dialysis Patients Whose Hearts Do Not Pump Effectively.

(From AScribe)

BALTIMORE -- Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore say that contrary to conventional thinking, a kidney transplant can significantly improve the heart function of people on dialysis with a serious form of heart failure. In a study published in the April 5, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the researchers found that a majority of patients who had systolic heart failure, in which the heart's left ventricle was weak and not pumping blood efficiently, had a dramatic recovery after their kidney transplant.

"These findings are contrary to conventional thinking that a kidney transplant may put additional strain on the hearts of patients with systolic heart …