The First Report of Orthotopic Liver Transplantation in the Western World

Abstract

Until the present time, the first experimental liver transplant which led to the development of human liver transplantation is attributed to C. Stuart Welch who performed a heterotopic transplant in the canine species in 1955. In 1956, Jack Cannon is credited with the first animal orthotopic liver transplant although the species was not disclosed. This report is intended to set the historical record straight by acknowledging that Vittorio Staudacher in 1952 was the first to perform a liver transplant in a large animal model.

Transplantasyonda koruma solüsyonlarına eklenen P-Coumaric asit ve Ellagic asit etkinliği

“…Completed for the first time in 1963, liver transplantation in the terminal period is used for a variety of liver diseases (21). In spite of increasing success linked to the use of immunosuppressive agents, intensive care facilities and experience, failure is still a serious problem (22).…”

Current Approaches in the Allocation of Liver Transplantation

“…The earliest attempts at liver transplantation were in canine models but did not initially see therapeutic success. In 1952, Vittorio Staudacher, in Italy, published the first description of a canine liver transplant [ 6 ]. In the US in 1955, Stewart Welch described another canine transplant attempt, followed in 1956 by Jack Cannon of the University of California, Los Angeles, who described the concept of orthotopic transplantation [ 7 ].…”

“…Shortly thereafter, in 1958, teams led by Thomas Starzl in Denver, Colorado, and Francis Moore in Boston, Massachusetts, performed canine liver transplants. They were technically successful but were doomed to failure due to poor organ preservation, as well as rapid organ rejection [ 6 ].…”

Transplantation With Livers From Deceased Donors Older Than 75 Years

“…The first attempts of orthotopic liver transplantation were performed in dogs as early as 1952 by V. Staudacher at the University of Milan 77,78 . In 1955, C Stuart Welch of Albany, New York, described an auxiliary placement of a liver graft into the right paravertebral gutter of nonimmunosuppressed dogs.…”