SALT LAKE CITY – Surgeons with ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ of Utah ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ broke previously set records in five categories of organ transplant in 2017 and tied records previously set in two other categories. In the past year, U of U ÈËÆÞÖгöÊÓƵ teams performed the following life-saving surgeries:
- 136 kidney transplants
- 64 involving living donors
- 40 liver transplants
- 3 involving living donors (tying previous record)
- 22 lung transplants
- 25 heart transplants (tying previous record)
"We were very fortunate to be able to help as many patients as we did," said Robin Kim, MD, executive medical director of the transplant service line. "We were also pleased to see the number of living organ donors rise in 2017."
In addition to increasing the number of patients receiving transplants in 2017, the team widened the scope of the patients eligible by performing their first kidney transplant involving an HIV-positive recipient.
"We were pleased to be able to help a patient we wouldn't have been able to in the past," said Jeffrey Campsen, MD, surgical director of pancreas transplantation, adult and pediatric kidney transplantation, and living donor kidney transplantation. "At the core of our mission is helping as many people in need of organ transplant as possible."