Medical College of Wisconsin Transplant Surgery - Clinical Highlights and Programs

Clinical Highlights

Several new programs are currently underway on the Transplant service. The Froedtert and Medical College program was the first in the state to perform laparoscopic donor nephrectomy, which has led to an increase in the number of living related kidney donors. This program continues to grow and is expected to result in an average of two living donor kidney transplants per week.

The MCW transplant program was also the first in the state to perform a living donor liver transplant from parent to child. This program is ongoing, and we will soon initiate an adult-to-adult living donor liver transplant program. This experience will provide an additional facet to the already excellent experience our residents receive in liver surgery on the general surgical rotations.

The Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin transplant program is also involved in the process of obtaining Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval to perform islet cell transplantation. Several islet cell isolation procedures have been successfully completed on site. The necessary meetings with the FDA are underway and with approval expected by the end of the year we will be able to move forward with actual transplantation in the clinical setting.

Clinical Programs

Of particular importance for the training of general surgeons is the extensive experience in vascular access, which the residents receive while on the transplant service. The transplant service operates a dialysis access clinic that serves as a referral point for patients with dialysis access needs from a wide geographic area. The service performs 6-10 access cases per week in addition to the active organ transplant program. The transplant program at MCW has been in the top ten nationally in the number of transplants performed annually. In recent years the program has performed approximately 140 kidney transplants, 36 liver transplants and 20 pancreas transplants annually. The Transplant surgery service works closely with Transplant Nephrology and Transplant Hepatology in the care of the transplant patients.