On Sept. 1, surgical teams at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas participated in a momentous event for the hospital, transplanting 12 organs in 24 hours, in turn giving nine patients the gift of life.
According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), on average, seven transplants are performed each day in Texas.
Most of the organs transplanted during this 24 hour period were from deceased donors. These types of transplant surgeries are not planned in advance and require rapid, methodical action and coordination to execute at a moment's notice.
"I am very proud of this milestone," said Goran Klintmalm, MD, PhD, FACS, chief and chairman of Baylor Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute. "This is a collaboration of more than 150 people coming together in a short amount of time to change the lives of these patients," Klintmalm added.
The transplant surgeries performed during the record-breaking 24 hours included:
- One heart transplant
- Two lung transplants (one double lung, one single lung)
- Three kidney transplants
- Three liver/kidney transplants (multi-organ transplants)
The transplanted organs helped save the lives of nine patients, including a grandfather from Louisiana, a Texas state trooper, a North Texas veterinarian, and a young Atlanta resident living with kidney disease. All traveled to the Dallas hospital for their much-anticipated surgeries. Two of the transplants were from living kidney donors, in both cases a wife giving the gift of life to her husband.
In addition to the 12 organs transplanted in 24 hours, the heart transplant surgical team implanted mechanical heart assist devices in three patients from Oklahoma and Texas. These left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation procedures are as complex as heart transplants.
"There are only a handful of centers that have the infrastructure, the personnel, and the ability to pull resources together in a short amount of time and that is why people come from around the world to Baylor," said Gonzalo Gonzalez-Stawinski, MD, chief of heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support for Baylor Dallas.
Not lost in this accomplishment is the sacrifice made by the donors. Their generous gift has made new life possible for these families, and without them transplantation would not be possible.
"This is the one good thing that comes out of tragedy, this helps bring hope to donor families," Klintmalm said. "The donors changed all these lives, we are just the messengers."
This record day of organ transplantation is the latest achievement for the program at Baylor Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute, which is credited with a number of milestones, including:
- First and only adult living liver donor program in North Texas
- First islet cell transplant in North Texas
- First certified ventricular assist device (VAD) program in the U.S.
- First matched, unrelated donor bone marrow transplant in Texas
- First adult liver transplant in the Southwest
- World's first extra-corporeal perfusion (bridge to transplant) using a genetically engineered pig liver, allowing the patient to survive and successfully undergo liver transplantation
- First heart/lung/heart "domino" procedure in North Texas, in which a patient with terminal emphysema receives a single heart and two lungs, while another patient with cardiomyopathy receives the good heart from the patient with emphysema
- First paired kidney donor transplant in North Texas
Baylor Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute is one of the busiest multi-specialty transplant centers in the world. It is home to a highly experienced team of physicians and other clinicians who provide comprehensive transplant services. A leader in solid organ transplant in the United States, Baylor Annette C. and Harold C. Simmons Transplant Institute has successfully transplanted more than 8,200 organs over the last 30 years. In 2014, the team performed 102 cardiac transplants in one year, becoming one of the top two programs by volume in the country for heart transplantation, with excellent outcomes.
* based on unaudited fiscal year 2014 financial statements
Physicians provide clinical services as members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Scott & White Health's subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and do not provide clinical services as employees or agents of those medical centers, Baylor Health Care System, Scott & White Healthcare or Baylor Scott & White Health. ©2015 Baylor Scott & White Health.
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Media Contact:
Craig Civale
craig.civale@baylorhealth.edu
cell: (817) 709-7067
About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com
