Organ transplant numbers at Cleveland Clinic hit record highs
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Thanks to innovations in technology that have helped boost the number of viable donor organs, organ transplants reached record levels at the Cleve- land Clinic in 2023, the hos- pital announced, drawing attention to National Donor Day on Wednesday, Valen- tine’s Day.
In fact, the Cleveland Clinic main campus performed the third highest number of transplants in the nation in 2023, accord- ing to data from the Organ Transplant and Procurement Network.
The Cleveland Clinic’s main campus completed 46 living-donor kidney trans- plants and 19 living-donor liver transplants last year, the hospital said. All the donor surgeries were done lapa- roscopically, providing the living liver donor with the benefits of minimally invasive surgery.
are grateful for organ donors and their families who make the gift of life pos- sible for our patients,” said Dr. Charles Miller, Cleve- land Clinic’s enterprise director of transplantation. “Our teams work collaboratively to honor that gift and save more lives.”
The top five hospitals that performed the greatest num- ber of total transplant proce- dures — from both living and deceased donor organs — in 2023 were:
■ Mayo Clinic Hospital Ari- zona (843)
■ University of California San Francisco Medical Center (803)
■ The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Ohio (783)
■ Tampa General Hospi- tal (756)
■ Vanderbilt University (739)
However, including al three of the Cleveland Clinic’s transplant site, main campus in Cleveland, Ohio; Weston Hos- pital in Florida; and Cleve- land Clinic Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates; the Clinic performed 1,232 organ transplants in 2023.
This included heart, intes- tine, kidney, liver, and lung transplants from deceased donors — as well as living donor transplants for kidney and liver. That is up 17% from the number of organ trans- plants performed at Cleveland Clinic in 2022, the hos- pital reported.
In addition, the lung and intestine transplant programs were the largest programs in the United States wi h 129 lung transplants and 18 intestine transplants; and Cleveland Clinic’s liver transplant and kidney transplant programs in Ohio reached records with 235 liver transplants and 326 kidney transplants.
One way the hospital is able to increase the number of transplants is by increasing the number of viable organs.
Many organs from deceased donors are discarded because they are deemed unsui able for transplant. However, by utilizing technology that preserves the donor organ in a warm, oxygen- and nutrient-rich envi
nment, more donated livers and lungs could be assessed and safely preserved, resulting in more usable organs and less time waiting to receive a lifesaving transplant.