History of Transplant

Canadian Event

British Columbia Event

1905-1951

In North America and Europe, various experiments demonstrate that organ transplantation is possible.

1952

France: The first kidney transplant, from mother to son. However, the sixteen-year-old recipient dies of organ rejection.

1956

Toronto: Heart valves are transplanted for the first time worldwide.

1958

Montreal: Canada’s first successful kidney transplant is done between identical twins.

Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) is discovered, which leads to the creation of tissue-matching for donors and recipients.

1962

Boston: Kidney transplant from a deceased donor.

1963

Mississippi: First successful lung transplant.

Montreal: Canada’s first successful kidney transplant between people who are not identical twins.

1967

Denver: First successful liver transplant by Dr. Thomas Starzl.

Cape Town, South Africa: First successful heart transplant is performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard.

1968

Montreal: Canada’s first heart transplant.

Vancouver: BC’s first organ transplant (kidney) performed at Vancouver General Hospital.

1970

Montreal: Canada’s first liver transplant.

1971

Cyclosporine – a fungal extract that combats organ rejection – is discovered by a Swiss pharmaceutical company. This makes transplants without ideal donors feasible.

1981

Stanford, California: First successful heart/lung transplant.

1983

Toronto: Dr. Joel Cooper at Toronto General Hospital performs the first successful single lung transplant in the world.

London, Ontario: Canada’s first heart-lung transplant is performed at University Hospital.

1984

New York: First successful pediatric heart transplant.

1986

Toronto: World’s first successful double-lung transplant

1987

Toronto: World’s first pediatric lung transplant.

1988

London, Ontario: The first worldwide successful liver-bowel transplant.

1989

Chicago: First successful living-related liver transplant.

1992

Pittsburgh: First baboon to human liver transplant.

1993

London, Ontario: The first living related liver transplant in Canada with a mother donating part of her liver to her son.

1995

Montreal: First time pig liver tissue is used to keep a patient alive temporarily until human liver tissue is available for transplant.

1997

BC: The first computerized organ donor registry for consent in North America.

1998

France: First successful hand transplant led by Australian Dr. Earl Owen and Frenchman Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard in a 13-hour long operation.

1999

Boston: Dr. Anthony Atala successfully transplants the first lab-grown organ, a bladder.

Winnipeg: First living-related double lung transplant, where two people each donate part of a lung.

2000

London, Ontario: Canada’s first adult-to-adult living-related liver transplant.

The “Halifax Protocol”, a combination of two anti-rejection drugs that dramatically reduces organ rejection, earns international attention.

2005

India: First successful ovarian transplant.

France: First successful partial face transplant.

2006

Toronto: First jaw transplant to combine bone marrow from a recipient with a donor jaw.

2008

Germany: First successful complete double arm transplant.

2008

Vancouver: First organ donation after cardiac death in Western Canada at St. Paul’s Hospital.

Missouri: First baby born from a transplanted ovary (between twin sisters).

Spain: Dr. Paolo Macchiarini performs the first transplant of a human windpipe using a patient’s own stem cells.

Cleveland: First successful transplantation of near total area (80%) of face, (including palate, nose, cheeks, and eyelid).

2010

BC Transplant celebrates milestone of 5000 transplants since 1968.

Spain: First full facial transplant.

2011

Spain: First double leg transplant.

2013

Vancouver: BC Children’s Hospital launches pediatric heart transplant program.

2014

Australia: First ‘dead heart’ transplant

Sweden: First successful uterine transplant resulting in live birth.

Sources

Donate Life New York, http://www.donatelifeny.org/all-about-transplantation/organ-transplant-history/

The Kidney Foundation of Canada: http://www.kidney.ca/page.aspx?pid=645

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_transplantation#Timeline_of_successful_transplants

Watson, C.J.E. and J.H. Dark (2012). “Organ Transplantation: historical perspectives and current practice” in British Journal of Anaesthesia, pp: i29-i42.