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Transplant Gives Patient A Second Chance


Eileen Miller (left) with Kim Sullivan, RN
Three months ago, Eileen Miller didn’t dare to plan for her future. Hospitalized eight times in five months, the 74-year-old speech pathologist and grandmother of three was thankful just to be recovering from life-threatening infections in her liver caused by a chronic, incurable disorder of the liver ducts that leads to cirrhosis and, eventually, liver failure.

Eileen’s physician had placed her on a transplant list as a precaution following her diagnosis seven years earlier. But when her condition became critical, she was 73 — three years past the age many hospitals use as the cutoff for liver transplants.

Eileen’s son, David — with help from stepson, Loren — forwarded her medical records to several hospitals, which gave little hope because of her age. An emergency visit to BIDMC in June 2002 became a blessing in disguise. Says Eileen, “I was evaluated by Dr. Douglas Hanto and his team, including Dr. Michael Curry and transplant coordinator Kim Sullivan, R.N., and was asked if I wished to be on their transplant list.” She said yes. “We were relieved, elated and
worried — all at the same time,” she remembers. It was unlikely that Eileen would receive a cadaveric liver because of her rare blood type and small size. Her only other option: a live-donor transplantation from her son Ethan. The family agonized over the risks of surgery for two family members.
BIDMC medical ethicist Lachlan Forrow, M.D., helped them decide to wait until March 31 to do the live-donor transplant — allowing time for the slim possibility of receiving a cadaver liver.

On Jan. 20, 2003, Eileen’s husband, Arnold, received a call that BIDMC had a liver for his wife. After a year of waiting, Eileen received her new liver within four hours and recovered with Arnold by her side. She felt well enough to leave the hospital only two weeks after surgery by Hanto and team.

Eileen and her family have written letters praising all of the BIDMC staff who helped her recover. Wrote son David, “Your heroic efforts resulted in a true miracle for which we will forever be grateful.”
Adds Eileen, “You lifted my spirits through a very difficult time. I shall never be able to fully express how grateful my family and I are.”

- Jordana Zlotnik


April is National Donate Life Month

The New England Organ Bank (NEOB) and BIDMC will staff information tables on organ, tissue, marrow and blood donation. Tues., April 8, East Campus Ullian Dining Area, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m and Shapiro Lobby, 2 to 4 p.m. and Thurs., April 10, West Campus Cafeteria, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

More information on donation: NEOB at 1-800-446-6362

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Published monthly for the people of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to build community, communicate direction, foster pride and recognize accomplishments.

Produced by Beth Israel Deaconess communications, (66)7-7300

director, internal communications:
   Cindy ReVelle
managing editor:
   Valerie Hope Goldstein
print layout & design:
   Jen McGrath & Jane Hayward
web layout & design:
   Jim Dwyer
contributing writers:
Anna Kalluri, Jorie Zlotnik
contributing photographers:
Oran Barber, Bruce Wahl



© CareGroup, Inc., Boston, MA, USA, 2003. All rights reserved. Material may be reproduced only with the express written consent of communications.

 

 

 














Transplant Services:
A Mission of Excellence

L to r: The transplant team: Anthony Monaco, M.D., Martha Pavlakis, M.D., Khalid Khwaja, M.D., Douglas Hanto, M.D.,
Scott Johnson, M.D. and Michael Curry, M.B.


There’s no such thing as a normal workday for Douglas Hanto, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S., chief of BIDMC’s fast-growing division of transplantation. He channels his energy and expertise into expanding transplant services, whether in the operating room, seeing patients, discussing a case with colleagues, or calling on physicians around New England.

Hanto leads a top-flight, multidisciplinary transplant services team that includes surgeons; physician specialists in nephrology and hepatology; nurse coordinators for transplant and dialysis access; a social worker and financial counselor; and administrative staff. Support comes from services including diabetology, infectious and pulmonary disease, radiology, anesthesiology, gastroenterology, vascular surgery, pathology, psychiatry, clinical laboratory and the blood bank, and nurses and staff in the operating room, surgical ICU and on Farr 6.

“BIDMC is known for world-class excellence in clinical transplantation of the kidney, liver and pancreas, as well as innovative research in transplant immunology,” says Hanto. “We are building an organization that patients, families and physicians admire for our superior clinical outcomes, compassionate care, cutting-edge research, and commitment to teaching the next generation of clinicians and scientists.”

Adds Nurse Manager Ann Cavagnaro, R.N., M.B.A., “Our primary care nursing model ensures continuity of care for patients.”

The Center’s services include:

Kidney Transplants: Scott Johnson, M.D., and Khalid Khwaja, M.D., bring expertise in living-donor laparoscopic nephrectomy (kidney removal). The Center’s recent advances in kidney transplantation include desensitizing protocols for highly sensitized patients who, because of the presence of antibodies, would otherwise not qualify for living donor transplant. “We are one of the few in the Boston area to offer this option,” notes Martha Pavlakis, M.D., medical director for kidney, pancreas and islet transplantation. “We also offer general surgery for patients with end-stage renal disease.” Hanto also has created a Dialysis Access Center.

Pancreatic and Islet Cell Transplants: With expertise and leadership from Khwaja, BIDMC has expanded its very active pancreas transplant program. Additionally, BIDMC, along with Joslin Diabetes Center and several Harvard-affiliated Boston hospitals, participates in a research study in conjunction with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation-Harvard Center for Islet Transplantation.

Liver Transplant and Non-Transplant Hepatobiliary Surgery: Transplant surgeons and hepatologists specialize in cadaveric and living-donor transplantation, and in non-transplant hepatobiliary surgery. These physicians work closely with BIDMC’s acclaimed Liver Center and Liver Tumor Center, which offer novel therapies and treatment protocols to adults with liver disease. “Together with Dr. Nezam Afdhal, chief of hepatology, director of the Liver Center, we offer many clinical trials in viral hepatitis, including trials directed to those patients who have failed standard therapies,” says Michael Curry, M.B., medical director of liver transplantation.

Research: Terry Strom, M.D., chief, division of immunology, notes, “Investigators in transplant immunology and transplant biology examine ways to improve transplant organ function and freedom from immunosuppressive therapies, and how to render the transplanted organ more resilient and less vulnerable to injury.”


- Lisa Gilson Clancy


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