Thursday, February 4, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 3
Med center doctor says rare transplant could be common
By T. J. Johnson Kansan staff writer
A doctor at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., performed the first pancreas-kidney transplant in the Kansas City area last week.
The operation was performed by Daniel Murillo, a transplant surgeon at the Med Center. The transplant recipient was Larry Hatz, 55. of Overland Park.
Eventually Murillo said that he would like the Med Center to be a hospital that could perform between 15 and 20 pancreas-kidney transplant each year.
"The major breakthrough in doing it in Kansas City is offering it to people here, so they don't have to leave the city or the state to have this done," Murillo said.
Each year about 1,000 of these double transplant operations are performed across the world, Murillo said. Most of the operations were on Type-I diabetes patients who were in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Many of the patients also had experienced kidney failure or deficiency or were brittle diabetics with blood sugar levels that were hard to control.
He said that these transplant operations were relatively rare because of a short supply of organ donations and potential patients.
Amy Newman, Leawood graduate student and Type-I diabetic, said she had heard of the transplant operation and thought it sounded risky.
"There are a lot of things that your pancreas does besides produce insulin," Newman said. "If you take it out there is a good chance it is going to fail, and then what are you going to do?"
Murillo said that two other patients were waiting to have the procedure performed and
"The major breakthrough in doing it in Kansas City is offering it to people here so they don't have to leave the city or the state to have this done."
Daniel Murillo
Med Center transplant surgeon
about five others were being evaluated to see if the operation was right for them.
The double transplant often will help to stop the onset of many complications that could sometimes be associated with diabetes, including premature blindness and vascular problems in the hands and feet, Murillo said.
He said that Hatz had been taking insulin injections for 20 years and had dialysis treatment three times a week for six months before the operation.
"Since then he has had no dialysis, no insulin and other than taking the anti-rejection medication, he should lead a normal life," Murillo said.
Hatz is expected to be released from the Med Center tomorrow, nine days after his surgery. Murillo said.
Randall Rock, chief of staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said that pancreas transplants had not been common because the technology to perform them had not existed.
According to Murillo, advances in the anti-rejection medication used to keep the transplant patient's body from rejecting the new organs would allow a quick growth in the number of transplants performed.
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