{"id":380424,"date":"2026-04-07T23:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/380424\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T23:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T23:59:11","slug":"skin-patch-from-organ-donor-helped-patient-spot-his-new-lung-was-being-rejected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/380424\/","title":{"rendered":"Skin patch from organ donor helped patient spot his new lung was being rejected"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than a year on, the 53-year-old is doing well and said he can be \u201cmore of a dad\u201d to his toddler because he is able to walk and take him to the park.<\/p>\n

\"DarrenDarren with his son Daniel, three, prior to his transplant (NHSBT\/PA)<\/p>\n

Experts leading the Sentinel trial said the skin patch, which is grafted onto the forearm of patients at the same time as their lung transplant, acts as a \u201cwindow\u201d.<\/p>\n

Scientists believe the skin rejects earlier than other organs and is more visible, meaning medics can treat rejection as soon as a rash appears and slash the risk of permanent damage.<\/p>\n

So far, 10 patients have received 10cm by 3cm skin patches from their organ donor as part of the study.<\/p>\n

Mr White, a former bus driver from Stockton-on-Tees, had a lung transplant in late 2024.<\/p>\n

Earlier the same year he was diagnosed with lung fibrosis, which causes the lungs to become scarred and makes breathing difficult.<\/p>\n

He said he did not hesitate to say yes when approached about the Sentinel trial while on the waiting list.<\/p>\n

\"DarrenAccording to NHS Blood and Transplant, lung rejection is hard to detect as it can involve blood tests, biopsies and X rays (NHS Blood and Transplant\/PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything that might help to avoid rejection was worth a try,\u201d Mr White said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRejection is the biggest fear of any transplant recipient, so having something that might be able to catch it much sooner than otherwise, was really appealing.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), lung rejection is hard to detect as it can involve blood tests, biopsies and X rays.<\/p>\n

Rates of rejection are highest in the first three to six months post-surgery, and happen in almost a third of patients.<\/p>\n

Three months after having his transplant, Mr White noticed a purple rash on the skin patch and sent photos to medics.<\/p>\n

A biopsy showed mild rejection and he was treated with steroids.<\/p>\n

\"\"The rash which appeared on Darren\u2019s skin graft three months after his lung transplant (NHSBT\/PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely believe the skin\u00a0patch\u00a0helped to stop the lungs\u00a0from being rejected,\u201d Mr White said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was feeling fine, there was no reason for me to think that the lungs\u00a0were\u00a0being rejected, the only sign was the rash.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0over a\u00a0year post-transplant now and doing\u00a0really well. Who knows if that would be the case if the rash\u00a0hadn\u2019t\u00a0shown up and rejection\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0spotted until further down the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr White, who is a father to Daniel, three, said he hopes the trial shows skin patches are a viable way of detecting organ rejection early.<\/p>\n

Speaking about life post-transplant, he said: \u201cThe biggest difference is I can\u00a0walk,\u00a0I can take\u00a0Daniel\u00a0to\u00a0the park to play.\u00a0Before\u00a0he could sit on my knee, drive my buggy but that was it, I\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0do much with him. I can be more of a dad now.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favourite thing is to go to the\u00a0park,\u00a0Daniel always asks to go on the\u00a0swing\u00a0and we have one in our garden.\u00a0I can push him now.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0the simple things that are the best, we both love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"How Darren\u2019s skin transplant looks now (NHSBT\/PA)<\/p>\n

The Sentinel trial is set to run until 2027 and will recruit 152 patients at five centres; Freeman Hospital, Harefield Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Royal Papworth and Wythenshawe Hospital.<\/p>\n

The skin grafts are carried out by plastic surgeons at the University of Oxford.<\/p>\n

The method has been used previously in patients receiving intestinal transplants.<\/p>\n

The families of donors must consent for the skin transplant to take place via NHSBT specialist nurses.<\/p>\n

Henk Giele, chief investigator of Sentinel and an Oxford plastic surgeon said: \u201cIt seems logical that having a window to your transplant can provide an early warning system of rejection or reassure you that you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have\u00a0rejection\u00a0but we\u00a0have to\u00a0prove it works.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so grateful to the patients, the donors and their families, the transplant teams, and the NHSBT staff who make this important trial happen.\u00a0We hope it will change what we know about transplant and\u00a0makes\u00a0patients\u00a0lives\u00a0better and longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Fisher, a professor of respiratory transplant medicine at\u00a0Newcastle\u00a0University, honorary consultant respiratory physician at Newcastle Hospitals\u00a0and the lead for Sentinel in Newcastle, added:\u00a0\u201cIf successful, this approach has the potential to revolutionise the way lung transplants are performed in the future and reduce the problems with detecting and treating rejection early, which is vital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma Lawson, organ donation innovation and research lead at NHSBT, added:\u00a0\u201cThanks to\u00a0the generosity\u00a0of amazing donor families providing\u00a0additional\u00a0consent for skin grafts, patients are now receiving\u00a0them\u00a0and\u00a0we are privileged to work alongside them to enable this important trial to go ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than a year on, the 53-year-old is doing well and said he can be \u201cmore of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[163,85,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-380424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}