Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, although availability of donor organs is a major limitation. Liver transplantation is highly regulated, and only performed at designated transplant medical centers by highly trained transplant physicians. Favorable outcomes require careful screening for eligible recipients, as well as a well-calibrated live or deceased donor match.
Transplant rejection occurs when transplanted tissue is rejected by the recipient's immune system, which destroys the transplanted tissue. Transplant rejection can be lessened by determining the molecular similitude between donor and recipient and by use of immunosuppressant drugs after transplant.
The Temerty Faculty of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Toronto. Founded in 1843, the faculty is based in Downtown Toronto and is one of Canada's oldest institutions of medical studies, being known for the discovery of insulin, stem cells and the site of the first single and double lung transplants in the world.
The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue's Hospital Row; it is directly north of The Hospital for Sick Children, across Gerrard Street West, and east of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Mount Sinai Hospital. The hospital serves as a teaching hospital for the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. In 2019, the hospital was ranked first for research in Canada by Research Infosource for the ninth consecutive year.
Lung transplantation, or pulmonary transplantation, is a surgical procedure in which one or both lungs are replaced by lungs from a donor. Donor lungs can be retrieved from a living or deceased donor. A living donor can only donate one lung lobe. With some lung diseases, a recipient may only need to receive a single lung. With other lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, it is imperative that a recipient receive two lungs. While lung transplants carry certain associated risks, they can also extend life expectancy and enhance the quality of life for those with end stage pulmonary disease.
Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO), also known as obliterative bronchiolitis, constrictive bronchiolitis and popcorn lung, is a disease that results in obstruction of the smallest airways of the lungs (bronchioles) due to inflammation. Symptoms include a dry cough, shortness of breath, wheezing and feeling tired. These symptoms generally get worse over weeks to months. It is not related to cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, previously known as bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia.
Joshua R. Sonett is the Chief of General Thoracic Surgery, Surgical Director of Price Family Center for Comprehensive Chest Care, and an Attending Surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. He is also a Professor of Clinical Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Joel D. Cooper, F.A.C.S., a thoracic surgeon, is known for having completed the first successful lung transplant and the first successful double lung transplant.
Vivek Rao is a Canadian cardiac surgeon and researcher. He was the youngest faculty member ever to join the University of Toronto cardiac surgery division, and, later, the second youngest chief of cardiac surgery ever appointed at the University Health Network Division of Cardiac Surgery.
David John Sugarbaker was an American physician who was chief of the division of general thoracic surgery and the director of the Baylor College of Medicine Lung Institute at CHI St. Luke's Health–Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center in Houston, Texas. He was an internationally recognized thoracic surgeon specializing in the treatment of mesothelioma, the surgical management of malignant pleural mesothelioma, and treatment of complex thoracic cancers.
Hans-Joachim Schäfers is a German surgeon, as well as cardiac, thoracic, and vascular surgeon and university professor. He is director of the department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the Saarland University Medical Center in Homburg/Saar, Germany. He is known for his activities in aortic valve repair, aortic surgery, and pulmonary endarterectomy.
Thorsten Walles is a German general thoracic surgeon and professor at the University Hospital of Würzburg. He is known for his works in the field of trachea surgery and his research for early diagnosis of lung cancer.
Stuart William Jamieson is a British cardiothoracic surgeon, specialising in pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE), a surgical procedure performed to remove organized clotted blood (thrombus) from pulmonary arteries in people with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).
Jack Greene Copeland is an American cardiothoracic surgeon, who has established procedures in heart transplantation including repeat heart transplantation, the implantation of total artificial hearts (TAH) to bridge the time to heart transplant, innovations in left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) and the technique of "piggybacking" a second heart in a person, while leaving them the original.
Bruno Reichart is a retired German cardiothoracic surgeon who performed Germany's first successful heart transplant in 1981 and its first combined heart–lung transplant in 1983.
Michael L. Hess was an American professor of cardiology and physiology at the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) who was instrumental in founding the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT), of which he served as its first president.
Transplant engineering is a variant of genetic organ engineering which comprises allograft, autograft and xenograft engineering. In allograft engineering the graft is substantially modified by altering its genetic composition. The genetic modification can be permanent or transient. The aim of modifying the allograft is usually the mitigation of immunological graft rejection.
Yolonda Lorig Colson is an American thoracic surgeon, working in Boston, who was the 103rd president and first female president of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), succeeding Shaf Keshavjee, MD and preceding Lars G. Svensson, MD, PhD. Colson is the Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, Hermes C. Grillo Professor in Thoracic Surgery, and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Colson is an Officer and Exam Chair for the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. She is also a collaborator of the Grinstaff Group.
Todd K. Rosengart is an American cardiothoracic surgeon, educator, and researcher, currently serving as the Chair of the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery and Vice President for Hospital Operations and Quality Improvements at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). In addition, he serves as the DeBakey-Bard Chair and professor of heart and vascular disease at the Texas Heart Institute. He has been a leading researcher in cardiac angiogenesis and regeneration and is known for performing the world's first viral-based gene cardiac transfer procedure. and for his contributions to medical education and technology entrepreneurship. Rosengart is recognized for his expertise in procedures such as bypass surgery, valve repair, minimally invasive surgery and heart transplantation
Ex vivo lung perfusion, EVLP, is a form of machine perfusion aimed at sustaining the active aerobic cellular metabolism of donor lungs outside the donor's body prior to lung transplantation. This medical preservation technique typically occurs within a specialised machine engineered to mimic the conditions of the natural circulatory system. The machine supplies the lung with perfusate and ventilates it using a protective mechanical ventilator under human body temperature. This allows the delivery of essential nutrients and oxygen to the donor lung, supporting metabolic functions and allowing for prolonged preservation up to 17 hours. The three major EVLP protocols at present are the Toronto protocol, Lund protocol, and Organ Care System protocol. These EVLP protocols can be effective in rendering initially rejected donor lungs suitable for transplantation through reassessment and damage repair, thus widening the donor lung pools.
