Baylor Regional Transplant Institute: an update on liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation

Nicholas Onaca, MD, Robert M. Goldstein, MD, Marlon F. Levy, MD, and G?ran B. Klintmalm, MD, PhD

From Baylor Regional Transplant Institute, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.

Corresponding author: G?ran B. Klintmalm, MD, PhD, Baylor Regional Transplant Institute, Baylor University Medical Center, 3500 Gaston Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75246 (e-mail: gorank@BaylorHealth.edu).

The Baylor transplant program journey started in 1983, when Dr. Thomas Starzl was invited by Dr. John Fordtran to visit Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC). At that time, there was no liver transplant program in the Southwest (the program at the University of California at Los Angeles started in February 1984). BUMC had the courage to embark on this mission when liver transplantation, although established, was still a pioneering medical procedure. One year later, the transplant program was up and running; the first liver transplant was performed at BUMC in December 1984.

This article reviews Baylor transplant services today, focusing on outcomes of different types of transplantation as well as on organ donation, transplant nutrition, outpatient care, the multidisciplinary approach, research, education, and future trends.