Arizona Man Breathes Easier Following UMC’s 100th Double-Lung Transplant

TUCSON, Ariz. – A 64-year-old man from Surprise, Ariz., is recovering at University Medical Center after surgeons at The University of Arizona Department of Surgery performed the hospital’s 100^th double-lung transplant on May 28.

The milestone double-lung transplant was performed by Michael Moulton, MD, a UA associate professor in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and a University Physicians Healthcare provider. UA cardiothoracic chief Jack Copeland, MD, performed the hospital’s first double-lung transplant in 1993; that patient’s lungs functioned for more that 10 years.

William M. Moncrieff received two lungs from a deceased organ donor in a six-hour operation after suffering from years of asthma, emphysema and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). He had been hospitalized twice in Phoenix in the past several years after minor respiratory problems turned serious.

“I knew I needed a transplant when my doctors told me I was one cold away from death,” he said. “I was living on borrowed time.”

He sought out UMC’s lung transplantation program, the oldest and most experienced in the state, and was placed on the wait list for an organ in January 2009.

“I got the call at home that there was a potential match, and eight  hours later I was in surgery at UMC for my new lungs,” Mr. Moncrieff said.

He noticed an improvement the moment he awoke from surgery. His first breaths felt cold and fresh after years of breathing oxygen through a nasal cannula.

Mr. Moncrieff is looking forward to playing golf and other physical activities that were impossible for him for years.

“The success of this and the preceding lung transplants at The University of Arizona is ultimately due to a strong team effort, providing exhaustive, comprehensive care for all our transplant recipients before and after transplant,” Dr. Moulton said.  “The team of doctors, nurses, transplant coordinators, social workers, psychologists and hospital administrators work cohesively to maximize our patients’ successful outcomes.”

“The Department of Surgery’s Heart and Lung Transplant Program has established itself as the most outstanding clinical and academic research program of its kind in the Southwest,” said UA Department of Surgery Chairman Rainer Gruessner, MD. “We will continue to offer patients improvements to their health and quality of life that can only be achieved with an organ transplant.”

In addition to the 100^th double-lung transplants, UMC has performed 55 heart-lung transplants and 51 single-lung transplants. Pulmonologist Steven Knoper, MD, an associate professor and research scientist in the UA Department of Medicine, is medical director for UMC’s lung transplant program.

Submitted on behalf of University Medical Center
UMC is a private, nonprofit hospital located at the Arizona Health Sciences Center, adjacent to The University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. AHSC includes the colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health as well as the physicians from University Physicians Healthcare. These affiliations enable UMC to take a leadership role in offering the latest treatments as well as routine medical care and wellness.  For more information, visit http://www.umcarizona.org/

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