History of
Organ & Tissue Transplants

Dr.Richard Lawler performed the first kidney transplant on June 17, 1950 Ruth Tucker, 49, was the recipient, and the donor had expired. The surgery took an hour and was watched by 40 Doctors. Unfortunately, after 10 months, the kidney had to be removed due to rejection. Ruth, on the other hand, was able to live for another 5 years.

Dr.Joseph Murray performed a second kidney transplant on December 23, 1954 in Boston. The Donor was still alive. Richard needed a kidney and Ronald's kidney was a perfect match because it had never been rejected. Years later, Dr.Murray was awarded a nobel prize for his efforts.

Dr. P.K. Sen and his team at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai performed India's first kidney transplant in 1965 The recipient died 11 days later but the kidney continued to function ordinarily till his death.

Dr.Thomas Starzl performed the world's first deceased donor liver transplant in 1967 on a 19 months old Julie Rodriguez. She lived more than a year after her transplant.

Dr.A.S. Soin and Dr.Rajashekar performed India's first liver transplant on November 6, 1998 at Apollo Hospital, Delhi. The recipient was Bharat Bhushan, 42 who could live another 13 years.

On December 3, 1967, in South Africa, Dr. Christian Bernard Denise performed the world's first Heart transplant on Louis Washkansy, a 53 year old man. The donor was Denis Darvall. Washkansy developed double pneumonia due to the immuno- suppressive drugs he was administered and he died 18 days later.

On August 3, 1994, at AIIMS, Delhi, a group of 20 surgeons led by Dr.P Venugopal successfully performed India's first heart transplant. A 40 year old woman was the recipient, and a 35-year-old woman was the donor. Devi Ram lived for another 15 years after the transplant.

In 1963, Dr.James Hardy accomplished a lung transplant in Mississippi, USA. A 58 year old lung cancer patient was the first recipient. The patient died 18 days after the initial success.

The first lung transplant in India took place just a few years ago. Jayshree Mehta, 41 donated her lungs to a senior citizen in July 2012 The transplant was performed at Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai.

In 1966, Dr.W.D. Kelly Dr.Richard Lillehei of the University of Minnesota performed the first successful pancreas transplant in conjunction with a simultaneous kidney transplant. The patient died three months later from a pulmonary embolism even though the transfer was successful and her blood sugar levels had dropped. The same team performed a second transplant in 1969 with a one-year survival rate.

The first pancreas transplant in India was performed in December 2014 at PGIMER, Chandigarh. Anju in her 30s received the organ from a 45-year Ashok Kumar.

Dr.Eduard Konrad Zirm, an Austrian Ophthalmologist, was the first person to perform a flourishing mortal full-thickness corneal transplant on December 7,1905. Karl Brauer, an 11 year old boy with iron ingot anatomy lodged in his eyes, was the donor. Alois Glogar, a 45 year old day labourer with damaged corneas, was the lucky recipient. After the transplant, one of his eyes had clear eyesight, but the other had a barrier.

The first arcus senilis transplant in India took place in 1948 at Chennai's Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital. Dr. Res Muthayya established the country's first eye bank.

Skin transplants were performed in 3000–2500 BC, according to some Sanskrit document but there is no evidence for this. In 1823, a German surgeon named Carl Bunger carried out the first modern skin transplant.

According to some origin, rhinoplasty was first performed in the 2nd century by the Indian surgeon Sushruta.