Cleveland Clinic has performed the first double lung/liver transplant in Ohio on a woman from New York. The patient is in stable condition.
The procedure lasted nine hours and involved several surgical teams. Gosta Pettersson, M.D., Vice-Chairman of Cleveland Clinic’s Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, led the lung transplant team and Charles Miller, M.D., Director of Liver Transplantation at Cleveland Clinic, led the liver transplant team.
“It’s important to remember that this would not have been possible without the consent from the organ donor’s family,” said Dr. Pettersson. “Even while they were dealing with their own grief and loss, they were able to make a decision that saved another person’s life.”
“Multiple organ transplants are complicated logistically and technically. Organs don’t fail at the same rate, but in this case, the patient’s disease affected both lungs and the liver. She was too sick to receive just one,” Dr. Miller said. “At the same time the patient’s other organs have to be healthy enough to tolerate such a big operation and the medications required after the transplant.”
Cleveland Clinic has an organized and highly collaborative transplant center. The individual teams include pulmonologists, surgeons, hepatologists, internists, anesthesiologists, and support staff working together daily to do this for patients.
In December 2006, Cleveland Clinic performed Ohio’s first heart/liver transplant.
The Cleveland Clinic performed its first adult lung transplant on February 14, 1990. The first pediatric lung transplant was performed on September 8, 1991. Since then our program has grown steadily with over 450 patients transplanted. In 2004, the Cleveland Clinic led the nation with the most lung transplants (64) ever performed by a center in a single year. Cleveland Clinic performed its first adult liver transplant on November 8, 1984. The first liver transplant on a child was performed on August 26, 1986. Since then, our program has grown steadily with more than 1,000 transplants performed by the end of 2006.
About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey.
Approximately 1,500 full-time salaried physicians at Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida represent more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties. In 2005, there were 2.9 million outpatient visits to Cleveland Clinic. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 80 countries. There were nearly 54,000 hospital admissions to Cleveland Clinic in 2005. Cleveland Clinic’s website address is http://www.clevelandclinic.org/
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