University of Pittsburgh intestine transplant results reported at internation...( MIAMI Sept. 11 An approach pioneered ...),Health

MIAMI, Sept. 11 An approach pioneered by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute has resulted in less rejection, infection and lowered immunosuppression in its recent patients compared to those transplanted five and 10 years ago and the center's trend toward higher patient survival rates is continuing, according to clinical results being presented by a member of the Pittsburgh team at the VIII International Small Bowel Transplant Symposium Sept. 11 13 at the Sheraton Bal Harbour in Miami Beach.

Since May 1990, 240 patients have received 259 transplants involving the small intestine at the University of Pittsburgh, representing the largest clinical experience of any center in the world, reports Geoffrey Bond, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at the Starzl Transplantation Institute and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

While overall, the one-year patient survival for the entire experience is 80 percent, one-year survival for patients transplanted within the last five years improved to 90 percent, compared to 72 percent in both 1990 and 1995. The overall five-year patient survival is 60 percent and 10-year patient survival is 39 percent. An adult and child who were transplanted more than 13 years ago at the University of Pittsburgh are the world's longest surviving recipients of a liver-intestine transplant.

"The improvements we have seen in survival rates are clearly related to changes we've made with respect to immunosuppression. As we have better come to understand the rejection process and the unique characteristics of the small intestine, we have been able to make important refinements to therapy. This evolution of care has had a real impact on our patients, and the entire field has benefited as well," noted Dr. Bond.

While in 1990 the availability of the drug tacrolimus made successful transplants of the intestine feasible for the first time, infection and re
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Contact: Lisa Rossi
RossiL@upmc.edu
412-916-3315
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
11-Sep-2003

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