Lung transplant patient Tracy Barnett (seated) is surrounded
by his team of caregivers: (from left) Dr. Basar Sareyyupoglu,
Dr. Kenton Zehr, Dr. Juan Sanchez, and Dr. Heath White.
Read about Mr. Barnett’s story on page 14.
rgan transplantation is a
miracle of modern medicine.
It can be a patient’s last hope
for life. When kidney transplants were
first performed at Scott & White in
1997, it was a pivotal moment in our
patient care, increasing the quality of
life for hundreds of patients. Since
then, we’ve performed more than
500 solid organ transplants, including
kidney, heart, lung and pancreas.*
Scott & White Healthcare has made
an enormous investment in the clinical
expertise and infrastructure to expand its
transplantation programs, much to the
relief of grateful patients and families.
Basar Sareyyupoglu, MD, director of
Thoracic Transplantation and Mechanical
Circulatory Support at Scott & White
Healthcare, says, “By providing transplant
services in Central Texas, Scott & White
spares local patients the added worry of
travel to Austin, Dallas, or Houston.”
This is good news for patients on organ
waiting lists, because their care requires
multiple appointments with specialists.
These include intensive evaluation and
tests prior to surgery. They can also mean
the use of technology, such as ventricular
assist devices for heart failure patients, and
dialysis treatment for diabetic patients.
Long-term follow-up care, such as antirejection medication management and
monitoring by a patient’s clinician team,
is essential as well.
Candidates for organ transplantation
include diabetics with kidney failure and
cardiac patients with coronary artery
disease or viral infections that may
O
trigger heart failure. Emphysematous
lung diseases and interstitial lung fibrosis
are the main conditions for patients
evaluated for lung transplantation.
Also, cystic fibrosis and pulmonary
hypertension are diseases that cripple
patients’ lungs.
Scott & White solid organ
transplantation totals
Heart 26
Kidney 457
Kidney-pancreas 37
A big year for “firsts”
Lung 3
In September 2012, Dr. Sareyyupoglu
and Kenton Zehr, MD, director of
Scott & White Healthcare’s Division of
Cardiothoracic Surgery, performed the
hospital’s first lung transplant (see next
page), and two more patients have since
undergone double lung transplantation.
In December of the same year, two
surgical teams led by Dr. Zehr and
Gregory Jaffers, MD, director of the
Division of Transplant Surgery, joined
forces to perform Scott & White’s first
combined heart and kid