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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- University Hospital has performed its first liver transplant in the wake of failed negotiations to create a joint transplant program with LDS Hospital.
The recipient was Jeff Call, 56, of Salt Lake City, who developed cirrhosis of the liver about six years ago. Call had a liver transplant two years ago, but the organ weakened.
In Utah in 2004, 57 liver transplants were done -- 48 at LDS Hospital and nine at Primary Children's Medical Center. Currently, 67 people are waiting for livers, according to Intermountain Donor Services.
LDS has performed 578 procedures the last 20 years. Officials there question whether having a newer program without the experience of the LDS team would jeopardize the quality of patient care.
"We have to wonder if there is a true community need for another program, given the limited number of liver transplants that are performed each year in this area," said LDS Hospital spokesman Jess Gomez. "If you have two centers competing for 40 to 45 patients a year, will either one get the needed volume of patients to ensure excellent outcomes?"
Sean Mulvihill, chairman of the surgery department at the University of Utah Medical School, believes the community can support both. He said the university's goals are to perform surgeries and study liver diseases. Researchers plan to analyze diseased livers, try to determine if there is a genetic basis to some liver diseases and conduct clinical trials of drugs used to prevent organ rejection.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
