1668 | First successful bone graft (bone from a dog’s skull used to repair defect in human cranium) documented by Job van Meeneren (Dutch). |
1674 | Description of bone structure by Antoni van Leeuwenhock (Dutch). |
1822 | Fresh autograft ( transplantation of tissue from one location on an individual’s body to another location) of skin, by Berger. |
1867 | L. Ollier (France) publishes treatise showing that bone autografts are viable: Traite experimental et clinique de la regeneration des os. |
1868 | Fresh allograft (transplant from one individual to another) of skin by Swiss surgeon Jacques Louis Reverdin. |
1880 | First clinical bone autograft, by William Macewen (Sweden). |
1906 | First corneal transplant, by Dr. Edward Zirm. |
1908 | Successful cadaveric knee joint transplant, by Dr. Eric Lexer. |
1911 | First use of homologous vein tissue in arterial reconstruction, by Dr. Yamanouchi. |
1915 | F.H. Albee publishes influential text on bone graft surgery. |
1949 | U.S. Navy establishes first U.S. tissue bank at Bethesda, Maryland. |
1954 | First kidney transplant (brother to brother) performed by Dr. Joseph E. Murray, Peter Brent Brigham Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. |
1955 | First fresh heart allograft put into descending aorta, By Dr. Gordon Murray. |
1956 | Frozen venous allograft for femoral bypass, by Drs. Shaw and Weelock. |
1962 | First fresh heart valve transplants in cardiac position, by Sir Brian Barrett-Boyes (New Zealand) and Dr. Donald Ross (Great Britain). |
1963 | First liver transplant, by Dr. Thomas Starzl, University of Colorado, Denver. |
1964 | First lung transplant, by Dr. James Hardy, University of Mississippi, Jackson. |
1967 | First heart transplant, by Dr. Christian Barnard, Groote Schur Hospital, Cape town, South Africa. |
1968 | National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws draws up first legislative proposal addressing organ donation, the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA). |
1968 | First definition of brain death based on neurologic criteria, The Harvard Criteria For The Determination Of Brain Death (amended, 1969). |
1969 | First pancreas transplant, by Dr. Lillche, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. |
1970s | First use of cryopreserved (frozen) heart valves, by Dr. Mark O’Brien (Australia) and Dr. William Angell (Stanford Medical Center, Palo Alto, California). |
1972 | Introduction of cryopreserved human skin allografts. |
1973 | Use of cryopreserved venous allograft, by Drs. Dent and Weber. |
1976 | American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) established. |
1978 | Introduction of Cyclosporin as a major immunosuppressant. |
1978 | Kidney transplants included under Medicare coverage (Social Security Act Amendment, P.L. 92-603). |
1979 | National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law recommends Uniform Determination of Death Act for adoption by all 50 states. |
1980 | President’s Commission for Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical Research establishes neurologic criteria for determination of death, expanding on the Harvard Criteria. |
1981 | First heart/lung transplant, by Dr. Norman Shumway, Stanford Medical Center, Palo Alto, California. |
1984 | National Transplant Act (P.O. 98.507) establishes National Task Force on Organ Transplantation, legislates federally funded centralized waiting list for organ recipients, outlaws buying and selling of human organs, mandates establishment of scientific registries to monitor transplant centers, Organ Procurement Organizations and hospitals. |
1985 | Oregon, California and New York become first states Required Consent Laws mandating that hospitals ensure that families of potential donors are offered the opportunity to donate. |
1986 | Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (P.L. 99-509) amends Social Security Act to require all hospitals to adopt policies and procedures for identification of potential donors and notification of families of their option to donate. The Routine Notification requirement supersedes state laws and directly ties Medicare funding to hospital compliance. |
1988 | Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations sets donor identification and notification standards. |
1989 | 200,000 tissue transplants performed in the U.S. |
1993 | Food and Drug Administration initiates regulation of all U.S. tissue banks. |
1996 | 500,000 tissue transplants performed in the U.S. |
1996 | National performance standards for Organ Procurement Organizations implemented by the Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA). |
1997 | Food and Drug Administration requires registration of all tissue recovery and processing facilities. |
1998 | Federal legislation “Routine Notification” requires all hospitals to notify their local Organ Procurement Organizations of each death and links compliance to Medicare reimbursement. |
1999 | Food and Drug Administration proposed further regulations extending oversight to all products derived from human tissue and cells including reproductive technology. |
2000 | Almost 112,000 people waiting for an organ transplant and one million waiting for a tissue transplant. |
2005 | First successful partial face transplant in France. |
2006 | First jaw transplant to combine donor jaw with bone marrow from the patient, by Eric M. Genden at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. |
2008 | First successful complete full double arm transplant by Edgar Biemer, Christoph Höhnke and Manfred Stangl at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. |
2008 | First baby born from transplanted ovary. |
2008 | First transplant of a human windpipe using a patient’s own stem cells, by Paolo Macchiarini in Barcelona, Spain. |
2008 | First successful transplantation of near total area (80%) of face, (including palate, nose, cheeks, and eyelid by Maria Siemionow in Cleveland, Ohio. |
2010 | First full facial transplant, by Dr Joan Pere Barret and team at the Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, Spain. |
2011 | First double leg transplant, by Dr. Cavadas and team at Valencia's Hospital La Fe, Spain. |