Richard H. Lawler Performs First Kidney Transplant in the World, 75 Years Ago

The Shiro Corporation , Jakarta - On June 17, 1950, the medical world recorded an important milestone in medical history. . Richard H. Lawler, a doctor at Little Company of Mary Hospital, Evergreen Park, Illinois, successfully performed a transplantation. ginjal First to a 49-year-old woman from Chicago, United States.

Quoted from StressMarq Biosciences , the patient named Ruth Tucker is suffering from Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) or polycystic kidney disease, namely Genetic disorder causing cysts filled with fluid to grow in the kidneys. According to information from life-source.org, Ruth's kidney condition was very severe at that time. Both her kidneys were damaged, one was not functioning, while the other was only working at 10 percent capacity. Her family also had a history of similar illnesses, previously her mother and elder sister had died due to PKD.

Transplantation as the Only Option

Because dialysis procedures were not widely available at that time, transplantation became the only option to extend her life. Despite the frequent rejection by the recipient's immune system, the kidney transplant in 1950 was successful and allowed the donor organ to survive for more than 10 months. Ruth Tucker was still alive five years after the procedure took place.

"Not the most ideal patient, but the best we could find," Dr. Lawler said after the surgery. Observed by around 40 other doctors, Lawler performed the surgery, and the transplantation process went smoothly, taking only 45 minutes from the retrieval of the kidney from the donor to the completion of the operation. Tucker left the hospital a month later.

In that year, doctors had already known about the importance of blood group compatibility between organ donors and recipients. However, at that time, they did not have a method to ensure overall tissue matching.

The human immune system naturally attacks foreign substances or tissues, so there is a high risk that organs transplanted from another individual will be rejected by the body. In the current era, organ transplant recipients are required to take immunosuppressive drugs for life. However, in the 1950s, immunotherapy was still in the experimental stage and had not been fully developed.

In his notes, Dr. Lawler along with his colleague, James West, hope to boost the morale of their peers in the medical field. They aim to prove that at least technically, the transplantation procedure can be carried out successfully. Both of them also strive to demonstrate that human blood vessels and arteries can still function properly after being carefully sutured. In addition, they aim to extend Tucker's life as much as possible through this medical procedure.

Animal Testing

Dikutip dari mdlinx.com Ruth's operation began after a wait of five weeks, when she finally received a kidney from a deceased donor due to liver cirrhosis. At that time, technology to ensure tissue matching and the use of immunosuppressive drugs was not yet available. Organ selection was based on gender similarity, blood type, as well as age and body size between the donor and recipient.

Before performing this procedure on humans, Dr. Richard Lawler first conducted various organ transplantation experiments on dogs. He applied his experience during Tucker's transplantation. Lawler did not work alone; he was assisted by James West, MD; Raymond Murphy, MD; nurse Mary Lou Zidek, RN; and Nora O'Malley, known as a field nurse. The transplanted kidney functioned in Tucker's body for at least 53 days. However, ten months later, the organ had to be removed due to Tucker's immune system rejecting it.

Another Successful Kidney Transplantation

Dinukil dari chicagotribune.com , the success of the kidney transplantation operation performed by Dr. Richard Lawler opened the way for similar trials in the United States and France. However, there were still no patients who could survive after the procedure. This was because at that time, the medical world had not yet known the agents immunosuppressive And network typing techniques are still in the early stages of development. In fact, both components are now recognized as standards to prevent organ rejection by the recipient's body or transplant failure.

The first truly successful kidney transplant was recorded again in 1954. At that time, medical staff at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, performed a kidney transplant between identical twin brothers. The kidney was donated by Ronald Herrick to his brother, Richard Herrick, and the procedure was declared a success, marking a major step in the history of world medicine.

Entering the 1960s, the medical world began to make important breakthroughs. Immunosuppressive drugs and tissue typing methods became available, making organ transplantation procedures safer and achieving much higher success rates. Between 1954 and 1973, approximately 10 thousand successful kidney transplants were recorded.

A major transformation occurred in the 1980s. The introduction of cyclosporine, a more effective immunosuppressive drug, made organ transplantation increasingly common with more positive outcomes. Data from 1986 showed that nearly 9,000 kidney transplants were performed in the United States with a one-year patient survival rate reaching 85 percent.

As of now, more than 70 thousand transplantation procedures have been performed. ginjal Taking place every year around the world. Meanwhile, Dr. Richard Lawler, a key figure in medical history, retired in 1979 and passed away three years later in 1982.

Sukma Kanthi Nurani dan Rindi Ariska contributed to the writing of this article.

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