Froedtert Leads in Kidney and Liver Transplant Survival Rates

    MILWAUKEE, Aug. 13 /EMWNews/ -- According to data recently released

by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients, for the second

consecutive reporting period, Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin

Transplant Center leads Region 7, which includes Michigan, Illinois,

Wisconsin and Minnesota, in kidney and liver transplant survival rates. The

one-year survival rate for a patient who received a kidney transplant at

Froedtert is 98.7 percent, about 2.5 percent higher than the national

average. The one-year survival rate for a patient who received a liver

transplant at Froedtert is 93.2 percent, about six percent higher than the

national average.



    Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Transplant Center also

lead in one-year graft survival rate of the 15 largest renal transplant

centers in the Midwest. The 15 largest renal transplant centers in the

Midwest includes Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin, Barnes

Jewish, University of Indiana, University of Minnesota, University of

Illinois, Mayo, University of Nebraska, University of Michigan, Cleveland

Clinic, The Ohio State University, University of Wisconsin, Rush and Henry

Ford.



    Froedtert performs about 120 kidney transplants and 40 liver

transplants a year. "In transplant medicine, having a medium size program

like ours that performs between 70-150 kidney transplants a year is

conducive to having good outcomes," said Christopher Johnson, MD, Medical

College of Wisconsin transplant surgeon and director of the Froedtert & The

Medical College Transplant Center. "If your program is too small, it's

challenging to develop the expertise and if your program is too large, you

can easily lose quality control."



    With more than two decades of experience, Froedtert & The Medical

College of Wisconsin hepatologists and other physicians have the expertise

to better recognize and treat complications of cirrhosis and other liver

diseases, which means patients undergo transplant surgery in overall better

health.



    "The key is also having an experienced, dedicated team to manage both

pre- and post- transplant patients," said Johnson. "Our transplant programs

have provided high-quality, innovative transplant services for people in

Wisconsin and northern Illinois for more than 30 years."



    The multidisciplinary approach taken by Froedtert & The Medical College

of Wisconsin Transplant Center draws upon the broad range of resources and

expertise available through a variety of specialties within our campus. "As

an academic medical center, we are at the forefront of new developments and

information, and we can help patients explore all available treatment

options," said Johnson.

    About Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin



    Froedtert Hospital is a 450-bed academic medical center staffed by

faculty of The Medical College of Wisconsin. The hospital employs more than

1,400 registered nurses and is one of just 230 hospitals in the country to

receive the prestigious Magnet designation by the American Nurses

Credentialing Center. It serves as an eastern Wisconsin referral center for

advanced medical practice care in 37 specialties and subspecialties. It is

a major training and research facility with more than 1,000 medical,

nursing and health technical students in training and over 2,000 active

clinical trials each year. Froedtert, part of Froedtert & Community Health,

operates the region's only adult Level One Trauma Center.