COLUMBIA, MO. -- Surgeons at Columbia’s University Hospital have reached a medical milestone.
MU Health Care Doctors performed their 1,000th kidney transplant.
This historic accomplishment saved the life of a Columbia boy.
Eighteen months ago, doctors diagnosed Ethan Russell, 8, with kidney failure. Ethan’s mother Nancy was a perfect match as a kidney donor. When a team of surgeons transplanted Nancy’s kidney into Ethan, it was the 1,000th kidney transplant in the history of Columbia’s University Hospital.
Nancy Russell said, “Just the fact that Ethan could have my kidney and we didn’t have to take one away from somebody else that was good enough for us.”
Doctors also diagnosed Ethan with autism. His parents Emmett and Nancy and his big sister Emma say they sometimes have a hard time knowing just how sick Ethan is feeling.
University Hospital surgeons have been performing kidney transplants for the past 38 years. The first transplant patients had about a fifty-fifty chance of survival. Today, transplant patients have more than a 95% chance of survival thanks to anti-rejection medications.
MU Health Care Surgeon Dr. Mark Wakefield said, “Although the surgery hasn’t changed that much for the recipient in the last 40 years, the care of the patient is a lot better and the chance of success is much greater.”
University Hospital is the only Mid-Missouri hospital with a transplant program.
Doctors say Ethan’s new kidney could remain healthy for at least another 20 or 25 years. Depending on the advancement of medical science in the future, Ethan’s new kidney could last a lifetime.
More than 100,000 Americans are currently waiting for organ transplants.
More than 90 patients are on a waiting list to receive a kidney transplant at University Hospital.
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