transplants

Aimee Sachs' father is spearheading a massive organ donor registration campaign.

Massachusetts General Hospital announced that Tim Andrews recovered well enough from the transplant to leave the hospital a week later. Andrews calls himself “a new man,” free from two years of dialysis.

The hospital completed 889 procedures at its Transplant Institute last year. That's more than Arizona’s Mayo Clinic, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (845).

Previously, such transplants could be done only as part of research studies. The rule, which takes effect Wednesday, is expected to shorten the wait for organs for all, regardless of HIV status.

Lisa Pisano received the kidney and an implanted device to pump her failing heart in April. Her heart medications damaged the pig kidney, forcing doctors to remove it and return her to dialysis.

Richard Slayman died almost two months after the historic procedure, the Boston hospital where he had the transplant said Saturday. At 62, he had the transplant to treat his end-stage kidney disease.

Tampa General's Transplant Institute had a record year, due in part to innovative technology that expands the donor pool. But thousands of Floridians are still waiting for help.

Program host Dr. Joe Sirven examines the transformative effect of organ donation and transplantation.

The 12-floor, 565,000-square-foot building, adjacent to the hospital's Davis Islands campus, will be named for the Taneja family, major donors to the project. It is slated to open in 2027.

Researchers have externally attached a pig liver to a brain-dead human and watched it successfully filter blood. The experiment is a step toward one day trying the technique in patients with liver failure.