Baylor Transplant Programs: Third in the World to Hit Milestone

Contact: Maria Carpenter, 214-820-4827
Email: mariaca@baylorhealth.edu

(DALLAS, TX, Oct. 31, 2007)-Officials at Baylor Regional Transplant Institute have announced their programs-at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas and Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth--have performed their 3000 adult liver transplant; only the nation's third such program to reach this milestone. The surgery was performed at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas on Thursday, October 18th and the patient-a 53-year old male from Kemp, TX-was discharged in good condition.

Liver transplantation has advanced dramatically since surgeons on the medical staff at Baylor Dallas performed their first liver transplant surgery in April of 1985. Göran Klintmalm, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, chairman of the Transplant Institute, recalls at that time the one-year survival rate for patients was 22 percent. Today, the national five-year survival rate reported by UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing, is 87 percent; Baylor currently has a 92 percent five-year survival rate. Dr. Klintmalm says, "Many of our patients are now approaching 10, 15 and even 20-year survival milestones, with an excellent quality of life."

"Today, liver transplant patients have virtually normal liver function following their recovery," Dr. Klintmalm reports. "In fact, the science of transplant surgery and anti-rejection medications has progressed such that the majority of liver transplant patients will die from causes unrelated to their transplant--like car accidents, heart attacks or strokes. Typically, not from problems related to liver function."

Dr. Klintmalm, who is the current president of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons, says knowledge is gained with every case performed; making 3000 transplants of any organ a significant accomplishment for any one of the nation's 120 programs.

As experience and surgical techniques in the field of transplantation are refined, the length of time it takes to perform liver transplant surgery has decreased dramatically. "When I first trained, a good liver transplant case took 14 to 15 hours. A more complex one could take 25 hours, but on average, it was 10 to 20 hours of surgery without a break. It was incessant. Today, at Baylor, from the time you lay the incision to the time you close, it takes usually just four to five hours."

Dr. Klintmalm credits refined surgical techniques and decades experience for the success of the Baylor liver transplant program. The Institute's programs in Dallas and Fort Worth transplant about 175 livers a year; it's among the busiest liver transplant programs in the world.

"It's amazing how things have changed since we started the program," Dr. Klintmalm says. "The Baylor Regional Transplant Institute is among the most significant transplant centers in the world. Doctors come to one of our program to learn our techniques. We have trained more than 20 fellows who have gone on to start transplant centers in other cities. I have a very great pride for what we have accomplished."

Background Information:
The world's first successful human liver transplant was performed by Dr. Thomas Starzl at The University of Pittsburgh in 1967. Since that time, transplant techniques have been refined and enhanced and now, hundreds of lives are saved every year when patients receive new livers.

The liver is the largest glandular organ in the body. It performs more than 400 vital functions each day, relating to digestion, protein synthesis, waste product disposal, and the storage of vitamins, fats and sugars the body uses to fuel itself. The liver is essentially an energy storehouse the body draws upon when it needs to perform any physical task.

When the liver fails, people become profoundly ill. Their quality of life is severely affected, with fatigue, drowsiness and confusion becoming more pronounced as waste product builds up in the blood because the liver is not working properly.

For more information about the Baylor Regional Transplant Institute, call 800-4BAYLOR.

About Baylor Dallas
Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, a 997-bed not-for-profit academic hospital, is a major patient care and research center in the southwest. The nationally acclaimed medical center serves as flagship hospital for Baylor Health Care System and has earned Magnet status for "Excellence in Nursing Services" from the American Nurses Credentialing Center-the organization's highest level of recognition.

In addition to its level one trauma center, Baylor Dallas is also home to many nationally ranked centers of excellence including transplant, cardiovascular services, orthopaedics, oncology, digestive diseases, neurosciences and gynecology. In 2007, U.S. News & World Report recognized Baylor Dallas in seven specialty areas for the 15th consecutive year in its "America's Best Hospitals" guide.