History of Kidney and Pancreas Transplant

Patient/Visitor Guide Patient Information Mission Statement History of Kidney - Pancreas Transplant Program Highlights Statistics & Outcomes Transplant Team Referring Physician Info Financial Information

A surgical team from Boston successfully performed the first kidney transplant from one identical twin to the other in December 1954. Emory's first living-related kidney transplant was performed in 1966.

Survival rates improved in the early 1980s with the discovery of cyclosporine, a medicine that reduces the risk that the body will reject the new kidney. Today, kidney transplantation is very successful.  Emory's survival rates for patients and kidney grafts are even higher than the national averages.  Results continue to improve because of better medications for the treatment of rejection and infection. The major limiting factor to transplantation today is the lack of donor organs.

Pancreatic transplantation was first used for the treatment of type I diabetes in humans in 1966. In the earlier years of the procedure the rates of graft and patient survival were low. Important steps towards improving surgical results included the introduction of cyclosporine and anti-T-cell agents, new surgical techniques and the selection of healthier recipients. The first kidney-pancreas transplant was performed at Emory on August 10, 1989.