Multiple organs from one donor lead to Houston Methodist Hospital’s 5,000th transplant

A heart, liver, two kidneys, two lungs and a pancreas from one donor saved five lives in one weekend, and one of them received the 5,000th transplant performed at Houston Methodist Hospital.

“This is a landmark for our program and shows the hard work, expertise, excellence and dedication of the doctors, nurses, coordinators and the entire staff,” said A. Osama Gaber, M.D., director of the Houston Methodist J.C. Walter Jr. Transplant Center. “We also owe our success to the thousands of people who have donated their organs. Giving to those with little to no chance of survival a second chance at life through transplantation is very powerful. It’s that power that pushes us to do what we do every day.”

Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., performed the first kidney transplant at Houston Methodist Hospital in 1963, and followed that up five years later with the first heart transplant performed in Texas. The Houston Methodist J.C. Walter Jr. Transplant Center was established in 1985 and has become the largest transplant center in Texas.

Gaber says the center performed a record 462 transplants in 2012 and consistently ranks among the leaders in transplant volume throughout the United States. He says the number of people needing a transplant has skyrocketed over the past 10 years and he believes that number will continue to grow because of the increased incidences of chronic diseases.

“As the baby boomers age, we are seeing more people with chronic renal failure, heart failure, lung failure, and many more challenges,” Gaber said. “We are also seeing more people dealing with obesity and metabolic syndrome. If we don’t tackle these problems soon, we will get to 10,000 transplants sooner rather than later.”

The center performs all organ transplants, including heart, lung, islet/pancreas, kidney, liver and bone marrow.