History of Transplantation

The United States has the most effective national donation and transplantation network in the world. Over the years, an efficient, equitable system for the sharing of organs has been developed by medical leaders. In 1984, the National Organ Transplant Act mandated the establishment of the National Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and the U.S. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. These organizations are administered by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), a private, non-profit entity.

Transplantation Timeline

1954 - First successful kidney transplant performed.
1966 - First simultaneous kidney/pancreas transplant performed.
1967 - First successful liver transplant performed.
1968 - First successful isolated pancreas transplant performed. 
          First successful heart transplant performed.
1981 - First successful heart-lung transplant performed.
1983 - First successful single-lung transplant performed.
          Cyclosporine introduced.*
1984 - National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) passed.**
1986 - First successful double-lung transplant performed.
1986 - UNOS receives the initial federal contract to operate the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN).
1987 - First successful intestinal transplant performed.
1988 - First split-liver transplant performed.
1989 - First successful living donor liver transplant performed.
1990 - First successful living donor lung transplant performed.
1992 - UNOS prepares first-ever comprehensive report on transplant survival rates for all active U.S. transplant centers.

UNOS helps found Donate Life America, formerly the Coalition on Donation, to build public support for organ donation.
1998 - First successful adult-to-adult living donor liver transplant performed.
1999 - UNOS launches UNetsm, a secure, Internet-based transplant information database system for all organ matching and management of transplant data.
2000 - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services publishes Final Rule (federal regulation) for the operation of the OPTN.
2001 - For the first time, the total of living organ donors for the year (6,528) exceeds the number of deceased organ donors (6,081).

*Cyclosporine was the first of a number of drugs that effectively treat organ rejection by suppressing the human immune system.
**The National Organ Transplant Act (P.L. 98-507) established the framework for a national system of organ transplantation.