Organ transplants are miracles. But with a worldwide organ shortage, they are all too rare. To address this issue, Cedars-Sinai performed one of the first living donor transplants from a non-relative. In a living donor liver transplant, the surgeon removes half the liver from the healthy donor and transplants it to the recipient.

Cedars-Sinai has one of the oldest lung transplant programs in the Western United States. Since the program began in 1988, we have performed 77 single and bilateral transplants. Our specialists see transplant candidates with many types of lung conditions. Case managers work with patients and families before, during and after the surgery to help with their medical and social needs.

One of the innovations at Cedars-Sinai is the availability of the HeartMateŽ Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS) to support patients with end-stage heart failure. This device takes over the work of the left ventricle. It increases the heart's ability to pump and stabilizes the patient. Patients with this device have shown survival rates nearly double those of patients without it. The device lets the patient leave the hospital and live at home with his or her family while waiting for a heart transplant.

Heart transplants can save, extend and enhance the lives of critically ill patients. Our program has one of the best success rates in the region. Much of our research is focused on improving outcomes after a heart transplant. Since more than half of recipients experience hardening of the arteries five years or more after surgery, our scientists are looking into the causes.

We are also studying the effect of substance abuse on donor heart function. This study may guide the way to enabling these people to become acceptable donors. Finally, we were the first group in the United States to use a new surgical technique for heart transplants, which we're comparing to traditional techniques. Instead of connecting the new heart to the atria, we connect it to the great vessels. This provides for better atrial function and, we believe, fewer complications.

Stem cell/bone marrow transplants are used more and more to treat many cancers. These include breast cancer, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, neuroblastoma and testicular cancer. The Cedars-Sinai Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Division has done many transplants on adults and children since it started in 1992. Our superbly trained team of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, blood bank doctors, dieticians and support staff offer a full range of services. BMT surgeons do transplants either on an inpatient basis on the dedicated Oncology Unit or on an outpatient basis at the Cedars-Sinai Outpatient Cancer Center.

Cedars-Sinai's liver transplant team is one of the most experienced in the world. Our program offers superior care and the most advanced techniques in treating both adults and children. Our services include:

• Living donor transplantation
• Cadaver-donor transplantation
• Clinical research opportunities
• Education and support for patients and families
• Complete follow up care
• 24-hour access to the transplant team

The Kidney and Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Programs at Cedars-Sinai are dedicated to providing the highest quality care while staying at the forefront of investigation in transplant medicine. Living donor kidney transplants are done in cooperation with our Minimally Invasive Urology Institute. Our transplant teams include surgeons, kidney specialists, immunologists, nurses, social workers, pharmacists and dieticians. They provide the most advanced treatments available for children and adults. The programs have won several grants from the National Institutes of Health. The grants pay for controlled clinical trials in kidney transplantation.