"I'm still kind of overwhelmed by it all, even today."

--Richard Pratt

Illinois man becomes 2,500th kidney transplant patient at UI Hospitals and Clinics

Richard Pratt was amazed in more ways than one when he received a highly anticipated phone call from a transplant nurse at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics on July 29, 2003.

First, an ideal donor kidney had been located just six days after he had been placed on the organ allocation waiting list. This perfect tissue match automatically moved Pratt to the top of the list according to policies established by the United Network for Organ Sharing.

"It was a total surprise," says Pratt, a 49-year-old resident of Alexis, Illinois. "It's not unusual to have to wait two or three years for a donor organ. I couldn't believe it happened so fast."

Additionally, Pratt learned he would be a milestone patient--the 2,500th person at UI Hospitals and Clinics to receive a kidney transplant.

"I'm still kind of overwhelmed by it all, even today," he says.

Pratt opted for the transplant after having been on dialysis since 1995. He decided not to seek the transplant until after his oldest son had graduated from college.

"I'm feeling good, better every day," says Pratt, who expressed gratitude to all those involved in his care, including the surgeon who performed the transplant, You Min Wu, M.D., and to his primary physician, kidney disease specialist Michael Flanigan, M.D.

Key team members also included the dialysis physicians, nurses, social workers, nutritionists, and others who care for patients like Pratt while they await transplant. In turn, this team relies on referring physicians from throughout the state and region to assist in their care.

"The care I received was excellent," Pratt says.

Pratt's transplant outcome mirrored the high success rate documented by the UI Hospitals and Clinics transplant program since its inception nearly four decades ago.

UI surgeons completed the state's first kidney transplant in 1969. The transplant program also performed Iowa's first pancreas transplant in 1979, followed in 1985 by the state's first heart transplant and first liver transplant. Iowa's only academic medical center has provided a total of 464 liver transplants, 287 pancreas transplants, and 196 heart transplants.

The transplant team's success rate remains among the highest in the U.S. The one-year survival rate following kidney transplant is 99 percent, with 98 percent of the transplanted kidneys still functioning. The liver transplant success rate of more than 95 percent at UI Hospitals and Clinics at one year following the procedure is among the nation's best.