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County Mayo recognizes 60 years of transplant innovation
Charlotte Markle, 81, is one of the world’s longest-living people. kidney transplant Receiver. Her transplant at Mayo Clinic took place on March 2, 1966, more than 57 years ago.
This followed the first kidney transplant performed at Mayo Clinic on November 25, 1963, which was Mayo’s first solid organ transplant of any kind. Charlotte is Mayo’s longest-lived transplant recipient.
She credits her place in medical history to her loved ones and care team.
“I’m thankful for my husband, my family, and my doctors,” said Charlotte, a native of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. “I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am without them.”
Transplant innovation begins
Celebrating 60th anniversaryth This month’s anniversary is Mayo Clinic Transplant Center As the nation’s largest comprehensive transplant center, Mayo’s programs include transplant practices at its Rochester, Minnesota, campus. Jacksonville, Florida. And Phoenix. Since the program’s inception, he has performed more than 31,000 solid organ transplants at Mayo Clinic.
“What started at Mayo Clinic in Rochester in 1963 has become a world-renowned transplant program,” he says. Dr. Barsin Tannerdirector of the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center in Florida.
In October, Mayo Clinic performed the first minimally invasive robot-assisted kidney transplant, which was also the first in Minnesota.
Although these medical bookends are 60 years apart, they represent an important step in transplant innovation. Dr. Julie HeinbachDirector of the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center in Minnesota.
“This reflects a spirit of innovation and recognition of serious and complex diseases and how Mayo can help advance this field,” Dr. Heimbach said.
In 1963, there were few options for caring for people with kidney failure.access to hemodialysisThere were limited options available to temporarily replace kidney function. Kidney transplantation has been an option for early clinical research in the United States since 1954, when a research team in Boston performed the first successful kidney transplant between identical twins. ultimately won the Nobel Prize.
Anti-rejection drugs, which prevent the transplant recipient’s immune system from attacking the donated organ, are in their infancy but were needed for all transplant recipients except identical twins.
“There were notable hurdles that needed to be overcome,” Dr. Heimbach says. “Even very young people were dying of kidney failure. It was a combination of surgical and medical innovations that made this progress possible.”
“My only option was a transplant.”
tired. Charlotte, a native of Waukesha, Wis., remembers how he felt as a young man. But she recalled that in her early 20s, serious health problems struck almost overnight. Charlotte, who was newlywed at the time, said her nausea led her to believe she was pregnant. Before seeing her doctor, she started having seizures. Her local doctors could not identify her problem and she was taken to the Mayo Clinic.
Her Mayo University team ultimately diagnosed her with irreversible chronic kidney failure.
Renal function It is necessary for living. These two bean-shaped organs remove waste products from the blood by producing urine. It also plays a role in regulating blood pressure, fluid balance, red blood cell count, metabolic balance, and bone health. Each healthy kidney is about the size of a human fist. They sit on the abdomen along both sides of the spine.
It is possible to live a healthy life with one healthy kidney.That fact living kidney donation option.
Dialysis, which removes waste products from the blood, is a treatment for kidney failure prior to transplantation, but Charlotte had difficulty tolerating these treatments. “My only option was a transplant,” she says.
In 1966, kidney transplants were rare, but so was air transport of patients between medical centers. “Nothing was common back then,” Charlotte says with a laugh.
donor testing Research in healthy, motivated candidates to identify blood and tissue types that would be compatible with poor transplant recipients was also in its infancy in the 1960s. One of Charlotte’s five older brothers, Roland, was identified as a potential living donor, and Charlotte recalls learning that “we were as close as we could get to being twins.”
“She is an inspiration.”
Dr. Thomas Schwab, a retired Mayo Clinic transplant nephrologist, said Charlotte was in the eighth grade when she received a kidney transplant. By the time he joined Mayo’s staff in 1986 and took over some of the transplant care, Charlotte had already had a kidney for more than 20 years.
“Charlotte’s story and results are a true inspiration to our transplant team, especially our patients who need kidney transplants,” he says.
Caring for Charlotte was a privilege, says Dr. Schwab. “If we can bring patients the kind of results that Charlotte experienced, it gives us a reason to get up every morning.”
Video: Dr. Thomas Schwab talks about transplant recipients
Journalists: Dr. Schwab’s broadcast-quality soundbites are available in the downloads at the end of the post. Courtesy: “Mayo Clinic News Network.” Super/CG Name: Thomas Schwab, MD/Nephrology/Mayo Clinic.
Charlotte adheres to her anti-rejection medication regimen. “I follow my doctor’s orders,” she says. Dr. Schwab notes that her medical program has had few side effects, and the transplanted kidney’s function is surprisingly normal for a donor kidney that is more than 90 years old.
“A kidney transplant is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. You need to take care of your health and follow the program we recommend. But you’re not there alone. We have doctors, nurses, The entire team of coordinators and surgeons will support you throughout the process,” says Dr. Schwab.
“Our record of steadily improving patient outcomes over the years shows that research by Mayo Clinic and colleagues around the world has developed a recipe for long-term success for transplant patients. ”
Pioneering medicine past and present
Dr. Schwab calls Charlotte a “transplant pioneer” who embraced an opportunity that at the time had many unknowns. So did her surgeon, Dr. George Hallenbeck. He led the pioneering team that performed the first kidney transplant on Mayo in 1963. Dr. Hallenbeck’s innovative efforts include: Not limited to transplant medicine. He was part of the Mayo Aeronautical Research Team that designed the anti-gravity suit known as the G-suit. The G-suit was developed during World War II and is a garment worn by pilots and astronauts to prevent fainting during high acceleration forces.
In the early days of kidney transplantation, living donor surgeries were sometimes more extensive than recipient surgeries. The donor surgery required a long incision spanning about a third of the body, and in some cases required the removal of ribs, Schwab said.
Since 1999, living kidney donation surgery at Mayo has been performed in the following ways: laparoscopic surgeryA small incision is used to insert surgical instruments and a special camera is used to remove the donor’s kidney. This minimally invasive approach shortens recovery and increases living kidney donation rates. Living kidney donation can be arranged in a matter of weeks to months, compared to an average wait of four to six years for a deceased donor kidney.
Even into the 1970s, many patients with kidney transplants did not survive for more than a year. Currently, his one-year survival rate for kidney transplantation is over 98%, making kidney transplantation the treatment of choice for patients with renal failure who are candidates for surgery.
A robot-assisted kidney transplant in October marked another milestone for County Mayo. While most kidney transplants are performed through open surgery with a 4- to 8-inch incision in the lower abdomen, robot-assisted transplants allow the surgeon to use robotic instruments to make a much smaller incision to complete the transplant, thus speeding recovery time. Save time. Receiver.
Mayo is also focused on research and innovation to expand kidney donation eligibility by helping organs from deceased donors survive longer while awaiting transplant. Medical research is being conducted to identify organ failure early and delay or prevent the need for transplantation. Mayo transplant experts are developing new practices to extend the life of organs after transplantation. In the future, it may be possible to bioengineer new organs.
“Our mission is to ensure that no patient dies while waiting for a transplant.” Dr. Bashar Aqueldirector of the Mayo Clinic Transplant Center in Arizona.
“It’s all thanks to Mayo Clinic.”
Charlotte’s family and faith comforted her during her kidney transplant journey. She recalls praying in the hospital chapel with her mother. “I strongly believe that everything we’ve done is the right thing and everything will be fine,” says Charlotte. “It’s all because of Mayo Clinic.”
For Charlotte, it’s hard to believe that transplant medicine has come so far, with surgeons controlling robotic instruments to perform surgeries. “It’s really amazing,” she says. Charlotte and her husband David were advised not to become pregnant in the 1960s and 1970s, but she is happy to learn that today’s female transplant patients may consider pregnancy.
Charlotte is deeply grateful for her good health during her more than 50 years of marriage and 40 years of career as a hospital food aide. A widow, she enjoys spending time with her extended family and making quilts and crafts with her sister Sharon, her only surviving sibling.
Charlotte’s voice cracks with emotion as she talks about Roland, who died while waiting for a heart transplant, years after donating his kidney. “Her brother would be so proud of me,” she says.
Charlotte had a message for future organ donors and recipients: “I hope they have the best and most rewarding year I have had.”
