Services and Specialties

We are proud of the comprehensive transplant services we offer, which include heart, heart-lung, lung, liver, kidney, kidney-pancreas and bone marrow transplantation. Examples of our expertise in transplantation include:
More than three decades of organ transplant experience
One of the first heart transplants in the Midwest
One of the earliest programs in the United States to treat insulin-dependent, Type 1 diabetics with kidney-pancreas transplant
One of the most experienced ventricular assist device programs in the country, designed to help patients waiting for a heart to live longer until a heart becomes available

Here is an overview of our program:

Cardiothoracic Transplant Program (Heart, Lung, Heart-Lung)
One of the first clinical heart transplants in the Midwest was performed at Saint Louis University Hospital in 1972. The Cardiothoracic Transplant Program was officially established in 1979, at which time Saint Louis University Hospital was among a limited number of facilities performing cardiac transplants. The program further expanded its capabilities by performing heart/lung transplants in 1986 and single- and double-lung transplants in patients with end-stage lung disease in 1988.

Frequently, a candidate for a heart transplant has to wait for an appropriately matched organ. The physicians of SLUCare utilize ventricular assist devices designed to do the work of the diseased heart while patients wait for transplants. Some patients receive mechanical support in the hospital, while others take advantage of advances in implantable devices that may enable them to be discharged from the hospital while awaiting transplantation.

SLUCare has used mechanical support to stabilize many patients.

Click here for information on heart program and respiratory program.

Abdominal Transplant Program (Liver, Kidney, Kidney-Pancreas)
Saint Louis University Hospital's first kidney transplant was performed in 1968. Since then SLUCare physicians have developed one of the most comprehensive abdominal organ transplant programs in the country including kidney, kidney-pancreas, isolated pancreas and liver programs

Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Program: Successful kidney-pancreas transplants may reverse the progression of vascular disease, including degeneration of the retina and other complications related to Type 1 diabetes. SLUCare physicians initiated one of the earliest programs in the country to treat patients with Type 1 diabetes with this procedure.

Since their first kidney-pancreas transplant in 1985, the programs transplant teams have performed many such transplantation procedures.

Click here for information on kidney and urinary tract diseases.

Liver Transplant Program: The Abdominal Transplant Program at Saint Louis University Hospital began performing liver transplant procedures in 1988. The program has these continuing goals:
making liver transplantation available to more patients
helping patients survive the time between the availability of a suitable organ transplantation
surgical advances enabling two patients to benefit from one organ
lowering the rate of complications
reducing the average length of hospital stay for liver transplantation
continued improvement in survival rates

Click here for information on digestive diseases and disorders.

Bone Marrow and Stem Cell Transplantation Programs
A commitment to cancer care led Saint Louis University Hospital and SLUCare to establish a Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation Program in 1990. Since the program's inception, SLUCare specialists have performed hundreds of allogeneic and autologous blood and marrow transplants. An allogeneic transplant uses blood or marrow given by a donor. An autologous transplant uses a patient's own blood or marrow, which has been harvested at an earlier time.