Renal and Pancreatic Transplant News

NBA Star Alonzo Mourning Receives Kidney Transplant at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/CUMC

Mark A. Hardy, MD

Former Miami Heat star and recent star of the New Jersey Nets, Alonzo Mourning took a giant step against kidney disease on Friday, December 19, 2003 when he underwent a kidney transplant at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. Mark A. Hardy, MD, Auchincloss Professor of Surgery at Columbia, performed the transplant. Marc Bessler, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery at Columbia and Director of Laparoscopic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center removed the kidney from the donor through minimal access surgery which results in a very small scar and a very short hospital stay.

Mr. Mourning was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in October 2000. The disease affects the filters of the kidney that remove toxins from the blood. Mr. Mourning received a transplant just 26 days after his doctor, Gerald B. Appel, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine and Nephrology at Columbia, announced he needed one. Mr. Mourning played 88 games for the Heat from 2000-2002, and 12 games this past season for the New Jersey Nets before the disease forced an early retirement on November 24, 2003.

Mark Bessler, MD

The NBA great was not given preferential treatment over the 56, 611 people waiting for kidney transplants in the U.S. In the end, the donation came not far from home—a cousin of his agreed to donate his kidney in the hopes of saving Mr. Mourning's life. Although other volunteers stepped forward, including innumerous fans, Dr. Hardy determined a relative would be best since the success of graft survival is best with living donor kidney grafts and the surgery becomes a safer elective procedure. Mr. Mourning's height also made finding a donor a challenge. His 6-foot 10-inch stature required that a tall individual would be the best donor so that the single kidney transplanted would be large enough to clear the toxic materials from his blood and tissues most efficiently.

It will be months or perhaps several years before doctors can tell whether Mr. Mourning's body will accept the kidney fully. About 75 percent of people who undergo a transplant from a living donor continue to maintain their kidney function from 10 to 20 years, while others maintain it for even longer periods. Dr Hardy reports,"Improvements in immunosuppressive drugs has reduced the uncomfortable side effects and enhanced results over the years, and progress is actively continuing."

Dr. Hardy placed the new kidney in the right lower part of Mr. Mourning's abdomen. A person's native kidneys are higher up, closer to his or her back than front. Kidneys that lose function are often not removed from the body. Mr. Mourning now has three kidneys—one that is functioning (the transplanted one) and two that are his own and are scarred from the disease.

A kidney transplant functions at its best as a very effective treatment of renal disease, allowing the patient to function normally with few dietary restrictions, minor physical limitations and continued maintenance on medications. In regards to the success of Mr. Mourning's transplant, Dr. Hardy says, "I am very optimistic that Mr. Mourning's transplanted kidney will function well for a long time. And I look forward to Mr. Mourning's increased activities in promulgating organ donation to the American public, which I expect to be highly productive and beneficial to the many patients waiting for organs on the transplantation lists."