Important Dates
DATE |
EVENT |
1823 |
German surgeon Carl Bunger performed plastic surgery on woman’s nose, grafting skin from her thigh. (First reliable report of transplant surgery.) |
1863 |
French physiologist Paul Bert demonstrated that tissues transplanted from one person to another are rejected. |
Early 20 th century | |
French surgeon Alexis Carrel and American physiologist Charles Guthrie developed surgical techniques needed for performing transplants, but rejection remained a problem. |
|
1906 |
First corneal transplant by Austrian ophthalmologist, Dr. Edward Zim. |
1908 |
First skin allograft by Swiss surgeon Jacques Louis Reverdin. |
1918 |
First blood transfusion. |
1954 |
First successful living-related kidney transplant from identical twins performed by Dr. Joseph Murray & Dr. David Hume in Boston, MA. The recipient had normal kidney function for 8 years. |
1955 |
Initial fresh heart valve allograft put into descending aorta. |
1958 |
French immunologist Jean-Baptiste-Gabriel-Joachim Dausset discovered histocompatibility system for tissue matching. |
1962 |
First fresh heart valves implanted into cardiac position. |
1962 |
First successful cadaveric kidney transplant by Dr. Joseph Murray and Dr. David Hume in Boston, MA. The recipient had normal kidney function for 21 months. |
1963 |
First liver transplant performed by Dr. Thomas Starzl. |
1963 |
First lung transplant performed by Dr. James Hardy at the University of Mississippi Medical Centre, Jackson, MS. |
1967 |
First heart transplant performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard at Groote Schuur Hospital, South Africa. The recipient had normal heart function for 18 days. |
1967 |
First successful pancreas transplant performed by Dr. Richard Lillehei at Minnesota University. |
1968 |
Brain death criteria created. |
1968 |
America – The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act Legislation allows gifts of organs to others. |
1971 |
Frozen heart valves used in allograft. |
1971 |
Introduction of cryopreserved human skin allografts. |
1972 |
Swiss biochemist Jean Borel discovered remarkable immunosuppression properties of cyclosporine. |
1979 |
Living related pancreas transplanted, Minneapolis, MN. |
1981 |
First heart and lung transplant performed by Dr. Norman Shumway at Stanford University Medical Centre, Stanford, CA. |
1983 |
Approval of cyclosporine, the most successful anti-rejection medication developed to date. |
1984 |
First heart and liver transplant performed by Dr. Starzl at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. |
1989 |
First liver transplant from a living related donor. |
1990 |
Lung transplantation attempted as cure for cystic fibrosis. |
1990 |
Dr. Joseph Murray (performed first kidney transplant) awarded Nobel Prize for Medicine. |
1990 |
Dr. Thomas (pioneered bone marrow transplant as cure for leukaemia) awarded Nobel Prize. |
1990 |
First successful heart related lung transplant. |
1991 |
First attempt at partial lung transplant. |
1991 |
First successful small intestine transplant. |
1996 |
U.S. Surgeons at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, University of California, San Francisco, and Stanford University Hospital perform split-liver transplant. |
1998 |
First successful hand transplant led by Australian Dr. Earl Owen and Frenchman Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard in a 13-hour long operation in Lyon, France. |
2005 |
First successful partial face transplant led by Dr. Bernard Devauchelle and Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard in Amiens, France. |
2008 |
Dr. Michael DeBakey, the world-famous cardiovascular surgeon who pioneered such now-common procedures as bypass surgery and invented a host of devices to help heart patients, died on July 11, at the age of 99. |
2010 |
The world’s first full face transplant took place in Spain. The recipient was a man injured in a shooting accident. In July, the recipient who was only identified as Oscar (age 31), spoke with considerable difficulty at a news conference at Barcelona’s Vall d’Hebron hospital, where he was operated on in late March. |