Division Overview

In 1972, the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center initiated its transplantation program. As numerous breakthroughs occurred, the program expanded to include pancreatic and intestinal transplants and has gained worldwide recognition. The division has also pioneered much of the work on removing the Islets of Langerhans from the pancreas for transplantation into diabetes patients.

The Division of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation participates in numerous multi-center clinical trials and is on the forefront of several cutting-edge kidney and pancreas transplantation procedures. Its surgeons are recognized worldwide for pioneering techniques that have saved the lives of hundreds of transplant patients. The division is considered one of the most successful transplant programs in the country, with higher patient and graft survival rates than national averages.

The kidney program’s exceptional success rate is due to a number of factors: improved organ removal and preservation techniques; collaboration with pharmaceutical companies developing new immunosuppressant drugs; and the division’s unique and sophisticated “immunological monitoring” systems that allow physicians to continuously determine whether a patient is receiving the correct amount of postoperative medication.

Candidates for kidney, pancreas or kidney/pancreas transplantation are individuals with chronic kidney failure related to:

• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Glomerulonephritis (chronic kidney inflammation with failure)
• Polycystic kidneys
• Other kidney diseases