History

1869:  First "transplant" which was a skin graft

1906:  First transplant of a cornea (the clear covering over the colored part of the eye.)

1954:  First kidney transplant - the living donor donated to his identical twin.

1962/1963:  First kidney, lung, and liver transplants from deceased donors

1967:  First successful liver transplant performed

1967/1968:  First heart transplant (in South Africa) and first U.S. heart transplant

1968:  Congress passes Uniform Anatomical Gift Act and makes donating organs and tissues legal

1968:  First pancreas transplant

1981:  First heart/lung transplant

1983:  The Federal Food and Drug Administration approves cyclosporine which reduces rejection of transplanted organs or tissues

1983/1984:  First successful lung and heart/liver transplants

1984:  Congress passes the National Organ Transplant Act, which prohibits the selling of organs and tissues and establishes the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (to ensure fair and equitable allocation of donated organ and tissues)

1986 – First successful double-lung transplant; UNOS received federal contract to oversee the national transplant network

1988:  The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) sets donor standards and requires hospital policies and procedures for organ and tissue procurement

1991:  First successful small intestine transplant

1992:  UNOS helps found the Coalition on Donation, now known as Donate Life America

1998:  First successful living-donor liver transplant between adults

2002:  Up-to-the-minute data on the number of people waiting for organ transplants in the United States are now available online through the OPTN

2003:  Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services designates April as National Donate Life Month