First Liver Transplant
Thomas Starzl performed the first human liver transplant, though the patient survived only 22 days
March 01, 1963
The Most Complex Transplant
The liver is the body's largest internal organ and performs over 500 essential functions, including filtering toxins from the blood, producing bile for digestion, and manufacturing proteins needed for blood clotting. Transplanting it is one of the most technically demanding operations in medicine. The first human liver transplant was performed on March 1, 1963 by surgeon Thomas Starzl at the University of Colorado. The patient, a three-year-old child, died during the operation due to uncontrollable bleeding. The surgery was not yet feasible.
The First Successful Transplant
Starzl continued his research and attempted more liver transplants over the following years with limited success. The critical turning point came in 1967 when he performed a liver transplant on an 18-month-old girl with liver cancer. She survived for 400 days before dying of cancer, but the transplanted liver functioned throughout. This success proved that liver transplantation was surgically possible. The real breakthrough came in the 1980s with the development of cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant drug that dramatically improved survival rates.
Saving Lives Worldwide
Today, approximately 30,000 liver transplants are performed annually worldwide. Patients with cirrhosis, liver cancer, and acute liver failure can be saved by a successful transplant. Starzl, who passed away in 2017, is remembered as the "father of transplantation" for his pioneering work. His persistence through decades of failures and partial successes opened the door to liver, heart, and multi-organ transplants. The field continues to advance, with researchers exploring the use of pig livers and bioengineered organs to address the chronic shortage of donors. See the first kidney transplant story for the broader transplant history.