Henry Ford News Feed - Organ Transplant

Kidney Paired Donation: 16 Patients, Four States

July 7, 2009
David Olejarz
dolejar1@hfhs.org
313.874.4094

Kidney Paired Donation: 16 Patients, Four Hospitals, Four States

DETROIT - Henry Ford Hospital is the first in Michigan to participate in a domino donor kidney transplant in which eight patients received a new kidney from eight unrelated donors at four hospitals in four states.

Surgeries were performed on four separate days at Henry Ford, The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis as donated kidneys were transported by airplane to their intended recipients under a Kidney Paired Donation.

It is believed to be the largest series of kidney paired donation procedures performed in the United States. All eight donors - five women and three men - and eight organ recipients - five women and three men - are either in good or fair condition.

The unique organ matching donation takes a group of incompatible donor-recipient pairs and matches them with other pairs in a similar predicament, thus increasing the pool of living-donor kidneys and enabling patients on the transplant waiting list to get transplanted sooner.

At Henry Ford, on the eve of his 14-year wedding anniversary, 57-year-old Daniel Bruce received a life-saving donor kidney June 16 from Johns Hopkins. His wife, Sally, 47, then donated a kidney June 22 to a recipient at Johns Hopkins. The couple resides in Bad Axe, Michigan, located about 120 miles north of Detroit.

A laborer with Farmer's Elevator and Grain Co. in Kinde, 9 miles north of Bad Axe, Bruce had been on thrice-weekly dialysis treatments due to kidney failure for the past year. With an outward charm and gift for giving, Bruce was a natural to play Santa Claus, which he has done for more than 30 years until the dialysis sapped his energy and forced him to curtail his route of delivering candy and peanuts to families across Michigan's Thumb Area.

Bruce hopes he can return as a full-strength Santa this holiday season.

"I'm looking forward to getting back my quality of life and getting back to where I used to be," Bruce says.

In Michigan, more than 2,400 people are waiting for a kidney transplant, according to the Gift of Life Michigan. Henry Ford, one of only two multi-organ transplant centers in Michigan, performed the first kidney transplant in Detroit in 1968. Through June, Henry Ford has performed 2,320 kidney transplants.

Lauren Malinzak, M.D., a Henry Ford transplant surgeon who led the Bruces' surgeries, says the paired kidney donation is an opportunity for Henry Ford to expand the reach for donated organs and to save lives.

"As the number of people on a transplant waiting list continues to outnumber available organs, we need to look for innovative ways to help our patients," Dr. Malinzak says.

The kidney paired donation began June 15 with an altruistic donor (individuals willing to donate a kidney to any needy recipient) donating a kidney to a recipient from one of the incompatible pairs at Johns Hopkins. That recipient's donor's kidney went to a recipient from a second pair and so on. The last remaining kidney from the final incompatible pair was donated by a patient at Barnes-Jewish to a recipient at Johns Hopkins on July 6.

Daniel Bruce was discharged from Henry Ford June 19; his wife was discharged June 24.

Sally Bruce, a nurse at the Courtney Manor Nursing Home in Bad Axe, initially was a compatible donor for her husband. But two weeks before the scheduled transplant, a test showed his body had built up immunity against her kidney enzymes, no longer making Sally a compatible donor for her husband.

When the Bruces were approached by a Henry Ford kidney transplant coordinator about the paired kidney option, both agreed to participate.

"There wasn't a decision to be made," Sally Bruce says. "I can live with one kidney. I've watched my husband go through dialysis and kidney failure. If I couldn't help him, then I wanted to help someone else."

Sally Bruce hopes the couple can resume camping - their favorite pastime - in the months ahead.

"I'm anxious for Dan to get well and to have a normal life again," she says. "I'm looking for the positive; I'm looking forward to our future."

Liver Transplant Milestone

May 6, 2009
David Olejarz
313.874.4094
Dolejar1@hfhs.org

Henry Ford Hospital Exceeds State, National Milestone with Liver Transplant Program

DETROIT - Henry Ford Hospital recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of its liver transplant program by performing a life-saving transplant on a 58-year-old patient with Hepatitis C and liver cancer.

The milestone makes Henry Ford one of 32 transplant centers in the United States to perform 1,000 liver transplants or more.

Henry Ford is one of two liver transplant programs in Michigan, the only one in metro Detroit. It has performed more liver transplants than any other hospital in Michigan. Henry Ford, one of only two comprehensive, multi-organ transplant centers in Michigan, also performs heart, kidney, kidney-pancreas and bone marrow transplants.

The March 31 surgery, led by Henry Ford transplant surgeon Atsushi Yoshida, M.D., represented the 1,021st liver transplant performed at the hospital since the liver program's inception in 1989.

Henry Ford's one-year and three-year patient survival rates meet or exceed the national average for deceased and living-donor transplants.

"This a major milestone for our entire transplant program, which is one of the most sound in the country," says Marwan Abouljoud, M.D., director of Henry Ford's Transplant Institute and a liver transplant surgeon.

"We've transplanted more minority liver patients than most other programs in the country, and in the last four years, we've performed the most liver transplants in Michigan."

Since 1996, Henry Ford has performed three notable transplant procedures, for which Dr. Abouljoud led the surgical team:

Michigan's first split-liver transplant in 1996 in which a donor liver was separated to save two patients.
Michigan's first adult-to-adult living donor liver transplant in 2000 in which a daughter donated part of her liver to her mother.
Michigan's first laparoscopic living-donor liver transplant in 2008, in which the surgical team used a minimally-invasive technique to remove part of a liver from a woman who donated the organ to her father.

Henry Ford's ascent as a major national player in liver transplantation came after Dr. Abouljoud and Kim Brown, M.D., division head of Gastroenterology, arrived at Henry Ford in the mid-1990s. Together they have positioned the program fashioned on clinical excellence, leadership and a dedicated staff of surgeons, liver specialists, nurses, pharmacists and many others to ensure patients receive exceptional coordinated care before, during and after transplantation.

"Tenacity, dedication and perseverance, that's what makes it all happen. It's not just me, but the hepatologists, physicians and surgeons, nurses, pharmacists, other specialists and the clerical staff. They're made to feel that it's a team effort, one team," Dr. Abouljoud says. "Everyone knows that when we succeed, we succeed as a team; when we fail, we fail as a team."

Henry Ford Hospital Joins Paired Kidney Exchange

April 9, 2009
David Olejarz
dolejar1@hfhs.org
(313) 874-4094

Henry Ford Hospital Joins Johns Hopkins Paired Kidney Exchange Program

DETROIT - Henry Ford Hospital has joined the Johns Hopkins Hospital Kidney Paired Donation Program in a unique effort to expand the pool of living-donor kidneys available to patients in Michigan in need of a kidney transplant.

The Kidney Paired Donation Program is an organ matching process that makes it possible for thousands of people who wish to donate a kidney to a spouse, family member or friend, but find that they are medically incompatible, to still become living kidney donors. By increasing the number of living-donor kidneys, the program can help patients get transplanted sooner.

Currently in Michigan, nearly 2,500 patients are waiting for a kidney transplant. Henry Ford, one of only two multi-organ transplant centers in Michigan, performed the first kidney transplant in Detroit in 1968.

"We believe this is a unique opportunity for Henry Ford to expand the reach for donated organs and to save lives," says Dean Kim, M.D., surgical director of Henry Ford's Kidney Transplant Program. "As the number of people on a transplant waiting list continues to outnumber available organs, we need to look at innovative ways to help our patients."

By joining this program, Henry Ford will be able to "match" an altruistic donor unable to donate to a loved one who is a Henry Ford patient with another needy recipient - as well as pair a Henry Ford patient in need of a kidney transplant with another altruistic donor in the United States.

With the growing disparity between available cadaveric kidneys and the number of patients waiting for transplant, the Kidney Paired Donation Program expands the pool of available organs by better utilizing live donors. It also offers better graft survival for patients, as live donor kidney transplant outcomes remain superior to those for cadaveric kidney transplants.

The program, pioneered by Johns Hopkins in 2001, allows hospitals like Henry Ford to share donor/recipient pairs with a number of programs nationally. In essence, the process creates a lengthy daisy chain by making it possible for kidneys from live donors to be exchanged, resulting in multiple transplants.

Once one altruistic donor kidney is matched up and transplanted, the kidney from the willing donor from the original incompatible pair goes to solve the problem of another incompatible donor-recipient pair and so on, according to Johns Hopkins researchers. The process is limited only by the number of recipients and available matches. Most notably, a "daisy chain" that began at an Arizona hospital in July 2007 resulted in 10 kidney transplants.

The Paired Kidney Exchange Program will allow Henry Ford Hospital to build on its already successful Kidney Transplant Program. Since the program's inception in 1968, Henry Ford has been nationally recognized for having patient outcomes that consistently meet or surpass national rates.

To date, Henry Ford has transplanted more than 2,300 kidneys, utilizing innovative procedures to help patients with irreversible kidney disease who would be dependent on dialysis without a transplant. A FAST Track process is in place to evaluate kidney transplant candidates within one to two weeks, with 90 percent completed within 24 hours.

Henry Ford is one of only a few centers in the United States to perform both standard laparoscopic and robotic-assisted laparoscopic kidney removal. With a focus on patient safety and treatment innovations, its team became the first in Michigan in 2008 to use robotic surgery to remove a diseased kidney through a single incision. Robotic technology is revolutionizing kidney surgery, first making living-donor kidney transplants safer and easier on the donor and now helping to provide safer surgeries for patients with diseased kidneys.

The Henry Ford Kidney Transplant Program provides both deceased-donor and living-donor kidney transplants as well as simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplants. Its program is the only one in Michigan with a high-risk kidney transplant protocol for patients who are unlikely elsewhere to receive a transplant due to a previous transplant or blood transfusion.

To learn more about the Henry Ford's Transplant Program, visit http://www.henryford.com/

Henry Ford Performs State’s First Laparoscopic Living-Donor Liver Transplant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 7, 2008 CONTACT: David Olejarz (Radio/TV) Maria Seyrig (Print) (313) 876-2882 DETROIT – Henry Ford Hospital performed the state’s first laparoscopic surgery for living-donor liver transplantation, another milestone in the hospital’s transplant program. The surgical team, headed by Marwan Abouljoud, M.D., used the minimally-invasive procedure to remove a section of the liver from Amy Frankford, 26, of Milford, who donated the organ to save the life of her ailing father, Michael Frankford, 51, also of Milford, who battled hepatitis C since 1986. Traditional surgery was used to transplant the donated organ. The transplant was performed June 9. The milestone was the third in 12 years involving Henry Ford’s Transplant Institute, which also performed Michigan’s first split-liver transplant in 1996 and Michigan’s first adult-to-adult, living donor liver transplant in 2000. In 2007, Henry Ford performed the most liver transplants in Michigan with 114 patients. Laparoscopic surgery is a growing field in medicine because it’s a less invasive procedure for patients, who recover faster and experience less post-operative pain than traditional open surgery. Henry Ford has used laparoscopic surgery for living-donor kidney transplants since 1999 and for removing liver tumors since 2002. “The laparoscopic technique for living-donor liver transplantation is relatively new because the surgery is more complex given the need to preserve the integrity of the blood vessels in the liver,” says Marwan Abouljoud, M.D., director of Henry Ford’s Transplant Institute and Amy Frankford’s surgeon. Atsushi Yoshida, M.D., part of the surgical team, was Michael Frankford’s surgeon. Laparoscopic surgery is performed through three small holes in the abdomen. The surgical instruments and the laparoscope (a long, slender optical instrument containing a miniature camera) are placed through these holes, and the surgeon removes the organ through a 4-inch abdominal incision. ###

Henry Ford Performs State's First Laparoscopic Living-Donor Liver Transplant

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE 10 a.m. EST, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008 CONTACT: David Olejarz (Radio/TV) Maria Seyrig (Print) (313) 876-2882 MEDIA ALERT WHAT: A media briefing to announce that Henry Ford Hospital performed the state’s first laparoscopic surgery for living-donor liver transplantation. The surgical team, headed by Marwan Abouljoud, M.D., used the minimally-invasive procedure to remove a section of the liver from a Milford woman, who donated the organ to save the life of her ailing father, who battled hepatitis C since 1986. Traditional surgery was used to transplant the donated organ. The transplant occurred June 9. The milestone was the third in 12 years involving Henry Ford’s Transplant Institute, which also performed Michigan’s first split-liver transplant in 1996 and Michigan’s first adult-to-adult, living donor liver transplant in 2000. Laparoscopic surgery is a growing field in medicine because it’s a less invasive procedure for patients, who recover faster and experience less post-operative pain than traditional open surgery. Henry Ford has used laparoscopic surgery for living-donor kidney transplants since 1999 and for removing liver tumors since 2002. The laparoscopic technique for living- donor liver transplantation is relatively new because the surgery is more complex given the need to preserve the integrity of the blood vessels in the liver. Laparoscopic surgery is performed through three small holes in the abdomen. The surgical instruments and the laparoscope (a long, slender optical instrument containing a miniature camera) are placed through these holes, and the surgeon removes the organ through a 4-inch abdominal incision. WHO: Marwan Abouljoud, M.D., director of Henry Ford’s Transplant Institute. Amy Frankford, 26, of Milford, the organ donor. Michael Frankford, 51, of Milford, the organ recipient and Amy’s father. WHEN: 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 7 WHERE: Henry Ford Hospital 2799 W. Grand Boulevard Detroit, 48202 EDITOR’S NOTE: Media should come to the hospital’s Clinic Entrance, located off the Lodge Service Drive between Pallister and West Grand Boulevard.

Henry Ford, Hurley Form Partnership

CONTACT: David Olejarz
June 10, 2008;
313) 874-4094
Dolejar1@hfhs.org
Henry Ford Hospital, Hurley Medical Form Kidney Transplant Partnership

DETROIT - Henry Ford Hospital's Transplant Institute provides kidney transplant services to patients with debilitating kidney disorders in the Flint area under a partnership with Hurley Medical Center.

Under the partnership, Henry Ford's surgeons will evaluate patients for transplantation and coordinate and perform surgery at Henry Ford, while Hurley's nephrologists will continue to manage their patients before and after surgery. Henry Ford also works with other private-practicing referring nephrologists in the Flint area.

The hospitals say the partnership provides patients with clinical excellence and care close to home.

"We welcome the opportunity to partner with Hurley Medical Center in providing an exceptional level of support and coordinated care before, during and following transplantation," says Marwan Abouljoud, M.D., director of Henry Ford's Transplant Institute.

"Our patients will continue to receive high quality, convenient care close to home from the Nephrology staff here at Hurley, while receiving the expertise gained from one of the most experienced kidney transplant teams in the country. This is a win-win situation," says Sayed Osama, M.D., chairperson and chief of Nephrology at Hurley.

Henry Ford, one of only two multi-organ transplant centers in Michigan, performs heart, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas and bone marrow transplants. More than 2,100 kidney transplants have been performed since the program's inception in 1968.

The Hurley partnership comes one year after Henry Ford opened a liver transplant clinic at the in. Henry Ford specialists evaluate and work with referring physicians in the Kalamazoo area to manage potential liver transplant patients. ###

An Act of Love: Husband Makes Life-Saving Organ Donation to His Wife

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008

CONTACT: Zoila Brown (Print)
David Olejarz (Radio/TV)
(313) 876-2882
MEDIA AVAILABILITY

WHAT: Spouses do incredible things to show their love for each other. But the one by Bruce Coburn was awe-inspiring.

Coburn, 38, made a life-saving organ donation to his wife Carolyn, 36, during a 12-hour living donor, adult-to-adult liver transplant Jan. 14 at Henry Ford Hospital. The couple resides in Macomb Township and have three children ages 8, 7 and 5.

The spouse-to-spouse organ donation was the first in Michigan for a liver transplant.

Carolyn was diagnosed three years ago with autoimmune hepatitis, believed to be a genetic disease in which the body’s immune system attacks liver cells, causing liver failure. After Carolyn learned she needed a transplant, her husband immediately volunteered to be tested as a donor. “It was a no brainer,” he says. “It was fortunate we were able to do this.”

As of Dec. 1, 2007, 3,190 people in Michigan are awaiting an organ transplant, of which 388 need a liver transplant, according to Gift of Life Michigan.

WHO: The Coburn family will be available for one-on-one interviews.

WHEN: 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 12

WHERE: Henry Ford Hospital

2799 W. Grand Blvd.

Detroit, 48202

###

EDITOR’S NOTE: Media should come to the Clinic Entrance, located off the

Lodge Service Drive between W. Grand Boulevard and Pallister.

74-Year-old Grandmother Receives Gift of Life from Her Grandson at Henry Ford Hospital

WHAT:For Christmas, Chad McMaster gave the gift of life to his 74-year-old grandmother Patricia Middleton, who received a section of his healthy liver during a 12-hour living-donor, adult-to-adult liver transplant Dec. 3 at Henry Ford Hospital.

McMaster is a newlywed, having married in June. Middleton, a retired school bus driver, is a mother of four children, grandmother of five and great-grandmother of three.

For 25 years, Middleton has lived with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), a liver disease that slowly destroys the bile ducts in the liver. Ultimately, the disease leads to liver failure. There is no known cure for PBC and medication may slow the progression. Transplantation may prolong life. Henry Ford performed Michigan’s first living donor, adult-to-adult liver transplant in December 2000. The hospital has since performed 28 such transplants.

As of Dec. 1, 3,190 people in Michigan are awaiting an organ transplant, of which 388 need a liver transplant.

WHO:

Chad McMaster, 29, of Deckerville, about 45 miles north of Port Huron.

Patricia Middleton, 74, of Fort Gratiot, about 8 miles north of Port Huron.

Atsushi Yoshida, M.D., Middleton’s transplant surgeon.

WHEN:

11 a.m. – noon Tuesday, Dec. 18

WHERE:

Henry Ford Hospital 2799 W. Grand Blvd. Detroit, MI 48202

Detroit Institute of Arts Co-Workers Share the Bond of Organ Donation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 29, 2007 CONTACT: Zoila Brown (Print) Synthia Bryant (Radio/TV) David Olejarz (Print/TV) (313) 876-2882 “MEDIA AVAILABILITY” Detroit Institute of Arts Co-Workers Share the Bond of Organ Donation WHAT: Until recently, Denise Harting and Ann Serra were mere co-workers in the Development Department at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Now they will forever be linked by the ultimate human sacrifice of organ donation. Serra received a section of Harting’s healthy liver during a 13 ½-hour living-donor, adult-to-adult liver transplant on Aug. 6 at Henry Ford Hospital. For 20 years Serra has lived with autoimmune hepatitis, believed to be a genetic disease in which the body’s immune system attacks liver cells, causing liver failure. She had been on the transplant waiting list since January. Henry Ford performed Michigan’s first living donor, adult-to-adult liver transplant in December 2000. WHY: Harting offered to be an organ donor so Serra’s two children, ages 11 and 9, wouldn’t grow up without a mother. During family discussions on the decision, Harting’s three boys encouraged their mother to be an organ donor. As of Aug. 1, 3,166 people in Michigan are awaiting an organ transplant. WHO: Ann Serra, 42, of Wyandotte Denise Harting, 47, of Commerce Township Marwan Abouljoud, M.D., Harting’s transplant surgeon Atsushi Yoshida, M.D., Serra’s transplant surgeon WHEN: 11 a.m. – noon Thursday, Aug. 30 WHERE: Henry Ford Hospital 2799 W. Grand Blvd. Detroit, MI 48202 Media should come to the Clinic Entrance of the hospital, located off the Lodge Service Drive between Pallister and West Grand Boulevard. ###

Henry Ford Hospital Surgeon Honored

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 6, 2007 CONTACT: David Olejarz (313) 874-4094 Dolejar1@hfhs.org Henry Ford Hospital Surgeon Honored by Arab American Organization DETROIT – Marwan Abouljoud, M.D., director of Henry Ford Hospital’s Transplant Institute, was named Arab American Professional of the Year in Medicine by the Arab American Professionals Network. The award honors successful Arab American professionals who serve as mentors and role models to young Arab Americans. Dr. Abouljoud oversees all administrative and regulatory functions for the Transplant Institute, which consolidates the hospital’s transplant specialties. He also is a liver transplant and hepatic surgeon. Henry Ford is recognized nationally for heart, liver, kidney, lung, kidney-pancreas and bone marrow transplantation. Dr. Abouljoud joined Henry Ford as surgical director of its liver transplant program in 1994. Two years later, he was appointed division head. In 1998, Dr. Abouljoud received the Benson Ford Endowed Chair in Transplant Surgery. During his tenure, Dr. Abouljoud has led Henry Ford’s transplant surgery program to state and national prominence. He performed the state’s first adult-to-adult, living donor liver transplant in 2000 and the state’s first split-liver transplant in 1996. Under his leadership, patient volumes have increased, programs were enhanced and a transplant surgery fellowship program was created. Dr. Abouljoud obtained his medical degree from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. He received additional training at the University of Michigan, Henry Ford Hospital, Baylor University and University of Alabama. ### EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Abouljoud is a resident of Grosse Pointe Park.