3/6/2025
PITTSBURGH — Clinicians performed a heart and kidney transplant without the use of blood products for the first time at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. The patient is a Jehovah’s Witness who, for religious reasons, does not accept blood products. This may be the first time a heart-kidney transplant has been performed in a patient who could not accept blood transfusion.
The patient was in heart failure and had been turned down for surgery at other locations due to heart failure as well as renal insufficiency. After careful evaluation at UPMC Presbyterian, the patient was listed for a heart and kidney transplant.
“This was a complicated case,” said Dr. David Kaczorowski, surgical director of the Center for Advanced Heart Failure at the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute. “The entire team of surgeons, nurses, pharmacists, hematologists and OR staff members worked together to accommodate the unique needs of the patient.”
The amount of blood typically transfused during transplant surgery varies. To accommodate the lack of transfusions, the UPMC clinicians worked before, during and after surgery to minimize blood loss. Prior to the operation, medications increased the patient’s red blood cells and during surgery, the care team was meticulous about closely monitoring any blood loss.
“It’s our responsibility to give every patient who comes through our doors their best possible outcome,” Kaczorowski said. “Thanks to the dedication of our entire team before, during and after surgery, this could not have gone better.”
The patient was discharged about a week after surgery and continues to recover at home.
The UPMC Heart Transplant Program is the national leader in heart transplant outcomes. Data recently released by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) reveals that UPMC is the top transplant program in the country in 90-day survival rates following adult heart transplants.
