The successes and challenges of organ transplantation

The successes and challenges of organ transplantation Fadi G. Lakkis, Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, charts the successes and challenges of organ transplantation. Organ transplantation is a great success story that started 70 years ago with the first successful kidney transplant between identical twin brothers in Boston, Massachusetts. Now, more than 180,000 transplants are performed each year between related and unrelated individuals worldwide, thanks to advances in surgical techniques and medicines known as immunosuppressants. Immunosuppressants weaken the recipient’s immune system and prevent it from rejecting the transplanted organ. In addition to life-saving organs such as kidneys, livers, hearts, and lungs given to patients who otherwise would perish without them, more and more humans are receiving transplants that are not life-sustaining but that enhance life quality.