ABSTRACT
The transplantation of solid organs is becoming increasingly common as surgeons have become more skilled in transplantation techniques and immunosuppressive drugs have become more effective. Only the supply of donor organs seems to limit this growing surgical practice. The first successful solid organ transplant was a kidney graft from one identical twin brother to the other at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston in the mid-1950s. Since then, solid organ transplantation has expanded to successful transplants of liver, heart, lungs, and pancreas.
