Our Transplantation Center
How experienced is the team?
Led by Sukru Emre, MD, the Yale-New Haven Transplantation Center (YNHTC) team, composed of physicians, surgeons, nurses, physician assistants, clinical technologists, nutritionists, social workers, pharmacists, financial coordinators and support staff, offers an unparalleled level of expertise to meet the needs of patients and their families.
What makes YNHTC unique is its team approach, integrating specialists who are experts in their field, prepared to deliver the most advanced treatment modalities available. This approach generates superior results, from managing chronic conditions related to organ disease to performing transplant procedures.
Another facet of YNHTC's commitment to excellence is the global expertise of its team. Drawn from all over the world, their diverse backgrounds have a common denominator: to provide the finest transplantation care possible.
What kinds of clinical advances are performed?
YNHTC team members perform liver, kidney, kidney/pancreas, pancreas and heart transplantation. The center is the region's leader in the evaluation and treatment of advanced liver disease. In addition, we provide vascular access for patients who require dialysis treatment. YNHTC offers innovative treatments and access to research trials for patients suffering from a wide range of conditions, including kidney failure, liver failure and Type 1 diabetes mellitus.
YNHTC provides options and hope for high-risk patients who have been turned down for transplantation elsewhere. YNHTC is the only transplant center providing pediatric liver transplantation in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and Southern Massachusetts; in addition we serve the Northeastern U.S. region and receive international referrals. Innovations in surgery include living donor, split, reduced and mono-segment liver transplantation.
Patients who have end-stage kidney disease, complications from diabetes, or both may be referred to YNHTC for transplant evaluation. Our well-established program, in existence for more than 20 years, offers traditional transplantation of the kidney donated from a deceased donor as well as living-donor transplantation.
The Hepatobiliary Cancer Program offers an entire spectrum of therapies for liver cancer, also known as hepatobiliary carcinoma. A combination of interventional radiology and surgical techniques, including ablation therapy, liver resection, new chemotherapeutic options and liver transplantation, are now available; and in certain patients, these treatments can even cure the disease.
YNHTC serves patients from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, throughout the country and beyond. We are a major referral center for other transplant programs faced with particularly challenging cases.
YNHTC provides options and hope for high-risk patients who have been turned down for transplantation elsewhere. YNHTC is the only transplant center providing pediatric liver transplantation in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and Southern Massachusetts; in addition we serve the Northeastern U.S. region and receive international referrals. Innovations in surgery include living donor, split, reduced and mono-segment liver transplantation.
Patients who have end-stage kidney disease, complications from diabetes, or both may be referred to YNHTC for transplant evaluation. Our well-established program, in existence for more than 20 years, offers traditional transplantation of the kidney donated from a deceased donor as well as living-donor transplantation.
The Hepatobiliary Cancer Program offers an entire spectrum of therapies for liver cancer, also known as hepatobiliary carcinoma. A combination of interventional radiology and surgical techniques, including ablation therapy, liver resection, new chemotherapeutic options and liver transplantation, are now available; and in certain patients, these treatments can even cure the disease.
YNHTC serves patients from Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, throughout the country and beyond. We are a major referral center for other transplant programs faced with particularly challenging cases.
What are the patient survival rates?
We at YNHTC are proud of our commitment to high-quality patient care and the impact it has on superior outcomes. According to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, a national database of organ transplantation statistics (from 7/1/06-12/31/08):
- The adult patient one-year survival rate for liver transplants at YNHTC is 100 percent
- The pediatric patient one-year survival rate for liver transplants at YNHTC is 100 percent
- The adult patient one-year survival rate for kidney transplants at YNHTC is 97.67 percent
- The pediatric patient one-year survival rate for liver transplants at YNHTC is 100 percent
What are the facilities like?
YNHTC provides leading-edge facilities to support the evaluation and treatment of organ transplant patients, with dedicated inpatient units and operating suites. In addition, our modern, full-service outpatient facility is the place where surgeons, nephrologists, hepatologists, transplant coordinators, social workers, nutritionists, financial coordinators and pharmacists deliver multidisciplinary, coordinated care. With its exam rooms, consultation rooms and transplant procedure rooms, the outpatient center performs biopsies, paracentesis infusions, transfusions and PPD tests, which can reduce the need for hospitalization.
Within all YNHTC programs, patients will find a dedicated, experienced staff offering expert patient service, from pre-admission counseling to post-transplant outpatient care.
Within all YNHTC programs, patients will find a dedicated, experienced staff offering expert patient service, from pre-admission counseling to post-transplant outpatient care.
What kinds of post-transplant services are offered?
Patients are given detailed instructions in person and in writing before they leave the hospital. A YNHTC clinical team member is available around-the-clock in case of an emergency. And patients return on a regular basis so that we can monitor their progress with the transplanted organ.
Tissue Typing Laboratory
YNHTC has its own tissue typing laboratory, where a series of blood tests are performed in order to find good compatibility between a donor organ and the recipient. Specific tests include histocompatibility testing, in which a patient's tissue is matched with potential donor tissue; cross-match testing, to determine the occurrence of rejection-promoting antibodies; and testing to determine a patient's overall ability to accept the transplanted organ. The staff of the tissue typing laboratory is committed to the rapid assessment of the test results, in order to provide the multidisciplinary medical team with the best information to develop the most effective treatment plan.
What are its research capabilities?
YNHH, through its affiliation with Yale School of Medicine, supports nationally and internationally recognized research programs in clinical transplantation and immunology, as well as in many related medical and surgical disciplines. This active research environment has led to the development of new and effective surgical techniques, immunosuppressive regimens, and protocols for the treatment of rejection and other critical medical complications of transplantation.
YNHTC is also researching ways to decrease the gap between patients needing a transplant and organ availability, including increasing the donor pool with the use of living donations and split livers; and reducing the number of patients with end-stage organ disease.
YNHTC is also researching ways to decrease the gap between patients needing a transplant and organ availability, including increasing the donor pool with the use of living donations and split livers; and reducing the number of patients with end-stage organ disease.