Newswise — WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Jan. 14, 2013 – The Abdominal Organ Transplant Program of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has reached two important milestones – both the 200th pancreas transplant and the 2,500th kidney transplant were performed in December 2012. The program averages about 18 pancreas and 160 kidney transplants a year.
Wake Forest Baptist’s transplant program performs 160-180 kidney/kidney-pancreas transplants on average annually and is consistently ranked among the top 25 most active kidney transplant programs nationally. Wake Forest Baptist is the largest kidney and pancreas transplant center in the state and one of the largest centers in United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) Region 11, which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. In the 42-year history of the program, more than 2,700 total transplants have been performed.
Within the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database, a national database that compares regional and national data, Wake Forest Baptist has higher than expected patient and graft survival rates based on its patient mix, lower than expected waiting times and waiting list mortality, higher rates of organ acceptance and imports, higher rates of transplantation (in nearly all age groups, but particularly in the elderly), greater utilization of expanded criteria donor kidneys, and improved waiting list turnover compared to other programs in the region.
The program is known for its expertise in transplantation of organs from expanded donors as well as transplanting high risk candidates, including patients with coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, diabetes, morbid obesity, and adequately controlled chronic viral infections such as HIV and hepatitis C.
The program’s physicians, Robert Stratta, M.D., Alan Farney, M.D., and Jeffrey Rogers, M.D., are American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) Fellowship-trained multi-organ abdominal transplant surgeons specializing in kidney and pancreas transplantation, dialysis access, and general surgery in patients with renal failure and are listed among Best Doctors in America®. Surgeon Giuseppe Orlando, M.D., has recently joined the program’s faculty. All are actively involved in managing post-operative immunosuppression, complex infectious disease, critical care, primary care, and long-term management of transplant recipients. They provide transplant care to the full spectrum of patients with end stage renal disease, from pediatric to geriatric candidates, and collectively have more than 50 years of experience.
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