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Researchers began experimenting with organ
transplantation in animals and humans in the 18th century.
Over the years, scientists experienced many failures,
but by the mid-20th century, successful organ transplants
had been performed. Transplants of kidneys, livers,
hearts, lungs, pancreases and small bowels are now considered
an accepted part of medical treatment. Bone marrow transplants
are saving lives, corneal transplants are restoring
sight and medical miracles are happening every day.
During the last 20 years, important medical breakthroughs
such as tissue typing and development of immunosuppressive
drugs have allowed for more successful organ transplants
and a longer survival rate for transplant recipients.
The most notable development in this area was Jean Borel's
discovery of an immunosuppressive drug called cyclosporine
in the mid-1970s. This drug was approved for commercial
use (in the US) in 1983.
Unfortunately, the need for organ transplants continues
to exceed the organ supply. Fifteen people die each
day (or one person dies every 1 hours and 45 minutes)
due to the shortage of transplantable organs; and every
18 minutes a new name is added to the transplant waiting
list. But as medical technology improves, and more donors
become available, thousands of people each year will
live longer and better lives.
Transplant Milestones* in
the United States and Canada
1954 First successful kidney transplant - Dr. Joseph
E. Murray, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
1966 First successful pancreas transplant - Drs. William
Kelly and Richard Lillehei, University of Minnesota,
Minneapolis, MN
1967 First successful liver transplant - Dr. Thomas
Starzl, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center,
Denver, CO
1968 First successful heart transplant - Dr. Norman
Shumway, Stanford University Hospital, Stanford, California
1981 First successful heart-lung transplant - Dr. Bruce
Reitz, Stanford University Hospital, Stanford, California
1983 First successful single lung transplant - Dr. Joel
Cooper, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
1986 First successful double lung transplant - Dr. Joel
Cooper, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
1989 First successful living-related liver transplant
- Dr. Christopher Broelsch, University of Chicago Medical
Center, Chicago, Illinois
1990 First successful living-related lung transplant
- Dr. Vaughn A. Starnes, Stanford University Medical
Center, Stanford, California
* The first transplant of this kind in the US or Canada,
with the recipient surviving for one year or more.
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