| ■ U.S. Surgeons Perform 6 Simultaneous Kidney Transplants | 2008.04.14 |
| In what's believed to be the first operation of its kind, Johns Hopkins surgeons transplanted six kidneys simultaneously, hospital officials announced Tuesday. The 10-hour surgeries on Saturday required six operating rooms and nine surgical teams, the Associated Press reported. "All 12 (donor and transplant) patients are doing great, the kidneys are working well," said Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of Hopkins' transplant center and head of the transplant team. The transplants were made possible when a donor who was willing to donate a kidney to anyone was found to be a match for one of the transplant candidates. The other five candidates each had a willing donor whose kidney wasn't a match for their particular relative or friend, but was a match for one of the other candidates, the AP reported. |