The Comprehensive Transplant Program at University Medical Center and the Division of Abdominal Transplant at the University of Arizona Department of Surgery have been improving the lives of patients in need of organ transplants for more than 40 years. UMC is the only facility in the Southwest with the ability to transplant all solid organs -- kidney, liver, pancreas, intestine, heart and lung -- to both adults and children.  We also perform islet cell transplants for the treatment of chronic pancreatitis.

Our transplant surgeons and physicians are nationally and internationally known for their ability to offer cutting-edge technology and treatments and advancing to the ever changing field of transplantation.  Our program is the first in Arizona to perform a heart transplant and the first in the world to use an artificial heart as a bridge to transplant.  We also are the first in the Southwest  to perform intestine transplants from deceased and living donors and auto-islet cell transplants.  At UMC, we are the first in the Southwest to perform a 3-organ multivisceral transplant on a one-year-old patient.

The care of our transplant patients is handled by a multidisciplinary team, including transplant surgeons, nephrologists, hepatologists, gastroenterologists and anesthesiologists, as well as experts in infectious disease, social work and nutrition services.  Referring physicians are considered an integral part of the pre-transplant workup and post-transplant care. This team approach assures that patients receive optimal care during these highly complex procedures.

The Comprehensive Transplant Program furthers the University of Arizona research mission through basic science research and clinical trials.  Collaboration between surgeons, physicians and research scientists is essential to ensuring the latest treatments are available to our patients.

To schedule an appointment with any of our Transplant Surgeons, call (520) 694-7365.  Patients can contact us directly for any questions regarding end-stage organ failure and transplant options.

Rainer W.G. Gruessner, MD, FACS
Chief, Division of Abdominal Transplantation
Chairman, Department of Surgery
Professor of Surgery
Arizona Health Sciences Center
1501 N. Campbell Avenue
PO Box 245066
Tucson , Arizona 85724
(520) 626-4409
Email: RGruessner@surgery.arizona.edu

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