HOUSTON – (July 14, 2010) – Texas Children's
Hospital in Houston has performed the hospital's first triple-organ transplant on
a 16-year-old Brenham resident.
The patient, Taylor Sherrouse, underwent a 13-hour
surgery on Tuesday, June 22 to replace her heart, lungs and liver, which had been
severely damaged by cystic fibrosis. Taylor is one of only three pediatric patients
in the country this decade to receive heart, lungs and liver in one operation. Taylor
is recovering well and is scheduled to be discharged this week. Watch a video of
Taylor's journey here.
Jeffrey S. Heinle, MD, surgical director of Texas Children's heart and lung
transplantation
program, performed the heart-and-double-lung portion of the transplant, which lasted
more than nine hours. Once the heart and lungs were transplanted,
Dr. John Goss, director of the liver transplant programs at Texas Children's
and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, performed a three and a half
hour liver transplant.
"The triple combination of heart-lung-liver
transplantation is a rare pediatric procedure, in this country," said Heinle, who
is also an assistant professor of surgery at Baylor College
of Medicine. "We are extremely pleased with Taylor's progress. We believe
this operation will give her an opportunity for a good quality of life and a chance
to fulfill some of her dreams. Without the 3 organs, her long-term outlook was not
good."
Taylor has been treated for cystic fibrosis
at Texas Children's for 12 years. During that time, she has suffered recurring liver
problems or respiratory infections that landed her in the hospital for weeks at
a time. Doctors worked hard to keep her condition stable, but her lungs and liver
continued to worsen.
In early November 2009, she was admitted to
Texas Children's with a lung infection. Even though she hoped to be home by Thanksgiving,
she was never able to leave the hospital. During those seven months, her liver and
lungs were getting progressively worse with an added complication of a severe heart
problem. Cardiologists diagnosed a restrictive cardiomyopathy, meaning that her
heart muscle was stiff and chambers could not properly fill with blood. On June
11, doctors listed her for a triple organ transplant.
In the dawn hours of June 22, Taylor learned
that three suitable organs had become available, and she was taken to be prepped
for the rare transplantation.
"Taylor's recovery has been going amazingly
well," said
Dr. George Mallory, pediatric pulmonologist at Texas Children's and associate
professor at Baylor College of Medicine. "This triple-organ surgery highlights the
critical need for small donor organs in this country that can save more young lives,"
said Mallory. "We are grateful for families who donate organs, and our regional
organ procurement partner, LifeGift. We work together to save children whose organs
are so damaged that transplantation is the only life-saving option."
Texas Children's History of Transplantation
Texas Children's Hospital runs an active transplantation program in heart, lungs,
liver, kidney and bone morrow for pediatric patients. In 1984, Dr. Denton A. Cooley
performed the first pediatric heart transplant on a 9-month-old female patient.
She lived to be 13 years old. Since that time, the heart transplant program has
grown into one of the largest and most successful program of its kind in the nation,
averaging 12 to 15 transplants per year.
The Pediatric Liver Transplant Program, founded
July 1, 2000, has performed 192 pediatric transplants since its inception. So far
this year, 13 patients have been transplanted with 12 other patients on the waiting
list.
The Pediatric Lung Transplant Program, founded
in 2002 by pediatric pulmonologist, Dr. George Mallory and pediatric cardiothoracic
surgeon, Dr. E. Dean McKenzie, is one of only 5 pediatric lung transplant centers
in the country. In the 8 years, the center has transplanted 101 patients, ranging
from babies to teens. This year's count stands at 11 patients transplanted with
6 patients on a wait list.
In addition to transplanting single organs,
Texas Children's has transplanted 9 other pediatric patients with double organs
such as heart-lungs, heart-kidney and lungs-liver.
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About Texas Children's Hospital
Texas Children's Hospital is committed to a community of healthy children by providing
the finest pediatric patient care, education and research. Renowned worldwide for
its expertise and breakthrough developments in clinical care and research, Texas
Children's is nationally ranked in all ten subspecialties in U.S. News & World
Report's list of America's Best Children's Hospitals. Texas Children's also
operates the nation's largest primary pediatric care network, with more than 40
offices throughout the greater Houston community. Texas Children's has embarked
on a $1.5 billion expansion, Vision 2010, which includes the Jan and Dan Duncan
Neurological Research Institute, a comprehensive obstetrics facility focusing on
high-risk births and a community hospital in suburban West Houston. For more information
on Texas Children's Hospital, go to www.texaschildrens.org.
Get the latest news from Texas Children's Hospital by visiting the online newsroom
and on Twitter at twitter.com/texaschildrens.
