Update: Transplant Dogs Doing Well and Heading Home
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Bull terriers Zansi and Toni are headed to their St. Petersburg, FL, home today after a rare yet successful canine renal transplant last week performed by Drs. Lillian Aronson and Heidi Phillips at the Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital. Fourteen-month old Toni donated a kidney to her sister in a seven-hour operation that was needed to save Zansi's life. Before coming to Penn Vet, Zansi received hemodialysis at the University of Florida under the supervision of Dr. Carsten Bandt. Owner Jennifer O'Brien met with the Penn Vet surgeons today for discharge instructions before leaving for home.
Dr. Heidi Phillips and Her Team are Performing a Canine Renal Transplant Today
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Dr. Heidi Phillips and her team are performing a canine renal transplant today. Please see story and video link on CBS 3. "Surgeons at the University of Pennsylvania are gearing up to perform a kidney transplant that is anything but routine as the recipient walks on four legs..."
There is a long history of dog renal transplantation technique at Penn Vet. In 1971, JAVMA published two papers by Dr. David Nunamaker and his colleagues regarding kidney transplants and dialysis. He writes, " I did a number of dogs with Dr. Berg but we did them as temporary dialysis treatments since we could not control rejection and we didn't have hemodialysis available. We even developed a treatment for antifreeze poisoning in dogs."
Dr. Paul Berg wrote a monograph describing liver transplants in the dog as well, truly the "first" liver transplant at Penn. The transplantation paper was presented at the ACVS in February 1969 at the Philadelphia meeting.
In addition to renal transplantation for dogs, Dr. Donawick at New Bolton Center was doing his heart transplants at about the same time in calves.
Berg P, Nunamaker DM, Amand W, Harvey C, Klide A: A renal allograft in a dog poisoned with ethylene glycol. JAVMA 159:468, 1971.
Nunamaker DM, Medway W, Berg P: Treatment of ethylene glycol poisoning in the dog. JAVMA 159:310, 1971.
Feline Renal Transplantation Program
The Feline Renal Transplantation Program at Penn Vet was successfully initiated in February 1998 by Dr. Lillian R Aronson, Associate Professor of Small Animal Surgery. You can learn more on our web site about the kidney transplant program for cats, which recently celebrated the 100th surgery. We welcome you to download and read more in Bellwether, (number 66) the alumni publication of Penn Veterinary Medicine.
Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine is one of the world's premier veterinary schools. Founded in 1884, the School was built on the concept of Many Species, One Medicine™. The birthplace of veterinary specialties, the School serves a distinctly diverse array of animal patients, from pets to horses to farm animals at our two campuses. In Philadelphia, on Penn's campus, are the Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital for companion animals, as well as classrooms, laboratories and the School's administrative offices. The large-animal facility, New Bolton Center, in Kennett Square, Pa., encompasses hospital facilities for the care of horses and food animals as well as diagnostic laboratories serving the agriculture industry. The School has successfully integrated scholarship and scientific discovery with all aspects of veterinary medical education.
Visit us on-line at www.vet.upenn.edu