The Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi has developed a comprehensive multi-organ transplant programme, and successfully completed UAE’s first full liver transplant and first lung transplant, both from deceased donors.
Four major transplants of the kidney, heart, liver and lung were carried out.
The liver transplant was performed on 1st February, by a five-person medical and surgical team led by Dr. Antonio Pinna, Transplant Surgeon. The first deceased donor lung transplant held on the same month, was led by Dr. Redha Souilamas, Chief of Thoracic Surgery.
In December 2017, surgeons at Cleveland Clinic performed the UAE’s first full heart transplant, while a team from the hospital successfully conducted one of the UAE’s first kidney transplants from a deceased donor in September 2017.
The clinic is currently the UAE’s first and only multi-organ transplant facility, following the UAE government decree last year allowing deceased donor transplants.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Hamed, Chairman of the Department of Health, said, “We are immensely proud to achieve these new medical milestones in the UAE. Coming only weeks after Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi completed the UAE’s first full heart transplant, this progress shows just how far the UAE has come in providing advanced medical services which enable patients to receive the very best care at home.”
“Our next step has to be supporting a robust culture of organ donation to make it easy for people to gift their organs. We are seeing the incredible impact that organ donation is having on multiple lives within the UAE, and are receiving regular inquiries from people looking to donate, so will work with our partners to make the process easier and more accessible,” he added.
Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, part of Mubadala’s network of healthcare providers, has worked closely with the Cleveland Clinic Transplant Centre in the US; partner hospitals in the UAE; and the Saudi Center for Organ Transplant, SCOT, in establishing its organ transplant programme. The transplant programme has also benefitted from continued collaboration with Abu Dhabi Police and a number of other government entities. By cooperating with multiple facilities across the region, experts are optimistic that a wider pool of potential donors can be engaged and transplants can be conducted more rapidly for the seriously ill.
Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Chairman of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Mubadala’s Deputy Group CEO, and Chief Executive Officer, Alternative Investments and Infrastructure, said, “These historic surgeries are the product of ongoing and established cooperation between a number of UAE, regional and global entities. They involved physicians from Abu Dhabi, Ajman and Fujairah as well as transportation from the National Transplant Committee and liaison and expert advice from Cleveland Clinic Transplant Centre in the US.”
Dr. Rakesh Suri, CEO of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, said, “We are very proud that Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi is the first and only multi-organ transplant facility in the country. The hospital is pleased to be able to repay just a small amount of the trust placed in us by the people of Abu Dhabi by ensuring that some of the sickest patients we treat are now able to receive cutting edge surgical and medical treatment without travelling abroad.”
