Photos courtesy of Mayo Clinic
Donated organs can change lives.
Mayo Clinic, as a three-site organization, is the largest transplant provider in the country. In 2021, our experts performed 2,564 solid organ and bone marrow transplants in adults and children—performing nearly twice as many solid organ transplants as any other transplant center. We are consistently producing some of the best transplant outcomes, including patient survival, organ acceptance, and how quickly a person receives a transplant. We recognize the transformative power of donated organs, and are also leading initiatives to expand the donor pool through updated protocols, new technology, and a better understanding of the potential each organ has to help a person who needs it.
Experts on the cutting edge.
The transplant experts at Mayo Clinic are leading the way in many cutting-edge transplant innovations like combination sleeve gastrectomy and liver transplant, and multi-organ transplants. Several advancements have been made with kidney transplant at our Rochester location. Dr. Mikel Prieto, transplant surgeon at Mayo Clinic, pioneered a combination surgery of kidney transplant with removal of kidneys with polycystic kidney disease—which used to be two surgeries and now can be completed in just one. Dr. Naim Issa, nephrologist at Mayo Clinic, led a study which determined that select individuals with hypertension can safely be living kidney donors. Dr. Tayabb Diwan, kidney transplant surgeon, and Dr. Aleksandra Kukla, nephrologist, paved the way to transplant for patients with higher BMIs who were previously ineligible for transplant, using bariatric surgery to increase access.
Kidney transplant at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
According to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR), patients listed for a kidney transplant at Mayo Clinic in Rochester tend to spend less time waiting than those listed at other centers. Our median kidney transplant wait time is 15.9 months, where the region and U.S. median wait times are 30.2 months and 40 months respectively. We offer both living and deceased donor kidney programs, including our kidney paired exchange program.
Three sites are more efficient than one.
Through the collaboration and coordination of our three centers located across the country, things like paired donation with living donors can be larger and quicker because of the resources and volumes available. Our transplant teams collaborate across all three centers, leading multi-site studies that help expand the donor pool and shorten wait times to transplant. Mayo Clinic hepatologists and surgeons recently led a multi-site study of liver transplants using livers donated from Hepatitis C positive patients for recipients who did not have Hepatitis C. This study demonstrated that Hepatitis C is no longer a barrier to transplant and has been expanded to apply to other organs. Everything we do at all three sites is to continue to change the lives of as many patients as possible.
