NewYork-Presbyterian, one of the largest, most experienced transplant hospitals in the nation, performed 953 transplant surgeries in 2023, more than any other hospital in the U.S., according to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS). This includes heart, lung, liver, kidney, intestine, and pancreas transplants from deceased donors, as well as living donor transplantation for kidney and liver.
Nothing excites me more than watching a patient enjoy a healthy life after transplant,” says Tomoaki Kato, MD, chief of transplant surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia. “We are grateful to organ donors and their families, and proud of our teams that take on complex cases that other institutions turn away.”
NewYork-Presbyterian has performed more than 19,000 transplants since the program’s inception and has been the leading transplant hospital in the nation for the past three years based on annual transplant volume. The hospital has also performed the most living donor transplants in the United States (including transplants from NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia, and Weill Cornell Medicine).
The transplant teams at NewYork-Presbyterian are continuing to experience periods of high volume of procedures in 2024, including a 36-hour period during which two pediatric heart transplants and two adult heart transplants, including a multiorgan transplant, occurred; 25 transplants the week of March 10; 27 transplants the week of May 12; and eight transplants on May 30 alone.
“The tremendous skill and experience of our team allows us to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients with the most complex, challenging cases,” says Sandip Kapur, MD, FACS, chief of transplant surgery and Director of the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Programs at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine. “We continue to champion life-changing strategies and initiatives to help those in need to receive successful transplants.”
The kidney transplant program at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine is the founding center of the National Kidney Registry, leading national efforts in utilizing paired donation and advanced kidney donation.
Innovating Organ Transplantation to Improve Patient Outcomes
As an international leader in organ transplantation with more than 50 years of experience, NewYork-Presbyterian is at the forefront of innovation, using cutting-edge technologies and pioneering minimally invasive robotic surgeries.
Teams across multiple specialties provide care for some of the most complex transplants, including multi-organ transplants. The transplant team recently performed the first-ever “domino” heart valve transplant in infants, saving the lives of two babies and potentially transforming how heart valve disease is treated in children. In 2022, NewYork-Presbyterian expanded its renowned heart transplant program, increasing access to its world-class heart failure care.
Members of NewYork-Presbyterian’s heart transplant program performed the first domino partial heart transplant in infants in 2023.
“We are committed to advancing heart transplant care by developing new and innovative therapies to help patients live longer and enjoy a better quality of life,” says Nir Uriel, MD, director of advanced heart failure and cardiac transplantation at NewYork-Presbyterian. “It is a privilege to help our patients in need, many of whom have run out of options.”
NewYork-Presbyterian’s transplant team recently celebrated key milestones of 6,000 living donor transplants (kidney and liver) and 1,500 lung transplants.
“I am proud of our amazing lung transplant team for their dedication to our patients and commitment to advancing care for end-stage respiratory disease,” says Selim Arcasoy, MD, MPH, medical program director of lung transplantation at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia. “Our mission is to offer patients with advanced lung disease a renewed opportunity for a healthy and fulfilling life.”
In 2022, the lung transplant program at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia performed its 1,500 transplant.
By pioneering new approaches to transplantation and working to improve health equity, NewYork-Presbyterian is helping save lives. NewYork-Presbyterian’s renowned team performed the first paired liver swap (which matches donor and candidate pairs who are not the best match with other pairs who are) in the region.
“We are excited to offer living donors robotic-assisted surgery, with advanced, minimally invasive techniques that reduce recovery time and result in exceptional outcomes,” says Benjamin Samstein, MD, chief of liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery in the Department of Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine and surgical director of the living donor liver transplant program at NewYork-Presbyterian. “Our team is dedicated to driving innovation and delivering compassionate, comprehensive care to each patient.”
Organ Transplant Milestones
Below are additional key highlights about NewYork-Presbyterian’s transplant programs:
Liver
- NewYork-Presbyterian is one of only a few centers in the nation offering robotic donor surgery to all living liver donors.
- NewYork-Presbyterian’s surgeons developed robotic surgery protocols for liver cancer surgery, living donor liver surgery and liver transplantation, expanding the benefit of a minimally invasive approach to all patients.
- NewYork-Presbyterian’s teams performed more than 500 living donor liver transplants since the program’s inception. The pediatric liver program also reached a milestone of performing its 500th transplant in 2023.
Kidney
- The kidney transplant program at NewYork-Presbyterian has performed the most transplants in the nation.
- NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine is the founding center of the National Kidney Registry, leading national efforts in utilizing paired donation and advanced kidney donation (when a living donor can donate on their schedule, giving the recipient a voucher for another living donor kidney when they’re ready for one).
- NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia is one of the participating sites in a clinical trial that aims to decrease the barriers to successful kidney transplantation, the PANORAMA trial. In January 2023, we enrolled the first patient in the world in this pivotal trial.
Heart
- At the forefront of new and revolutionary therapies, the teams at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia performed a first in the northeast in December 2022: a total artificial heart implant in one of the youngest pediatric patients.
- The adult heart transplant program at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia has the highest three-year patient survival outcomes in the country, as of June 2024.
- NewYork-Presbyterian’s heart transplant team has performed more than 3,000 heart transplants, far exceeding other hospitals. The program has trained one of the largest cohorts of transplant physicians and surgeons in the U.S. and recently expanded services so that patients can get world-class cardiac care closer to where they live.
Lung
- The program at NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia has become the third largest transplant center in volume of transplants nationwide, performing more than 100 transplants annually.
- NewYork-Presbyterian’s five-year and 10-year lung transplant survival rates exceed the national average, as we help patients through their transplant journey while maintaining a high standard of care.
