Kidney Transplantation Program

Convenient Expert Care

The only academic medical center in the Chicago suburbs, Loyola offers kidney transplantation patients world-class care with outstanding outcomes and the convenience of multiple suburban locations. Our transplantation surgeons are specially trained in minimally invasive surgery, multi-organ transplantation surgery and have vast experience in dealing with difficult cases. Together we have performed more than 2,000 kidney transplantations.

Excellent Outcomes

Our rejection rates are among the lowest in the United States. For the past six years, more than 90 percent of Loyola kidney transplantation patients have reached one year free of an acute rejection episode. This translates into our patients having a 50 percent chance of keeping their kidneys for 30 years or longer. Acute rejection is a major risk factor for eventually losing the kidney.

Pay-It-Forward Kidney Transplantation Program

Loyola’s newly introduced Pay-It-Forward Kidney Transplantation Program is a living-donor program that allows recipients with incompatible donors to take part in national donor chains, cutting patient wait times for kidney transplantation.

Advances in Living Donor Surgery

Living donor surgery at Loyola is performed laparoscopically, so an average hospital stay for a donor is now only two to three days. Donors can easily return to a normal lifestyle after an initial healing period of four to eight weeks.

Loyola uses a novel approach to filtering a transplantation patient's blood. This blood purification procedure called plasmapheresis is used to remove antibodies from the bloodstream, which helps to make a patient a match with his/her living donor.

Caring for High Risk Patients

The largest in the Chicago suburbs, the Loyola Kidney Transplantation Program is structured to surround our patients in support. Beginning with the first evaluation, patients are seen by the entire team in a single visit. Transplantation surgeons, specialty physicians, transplantation nurse coordinators, dietitians, and social workers come together to create an individualized care plan for each patient.

Successful kidney transplantation triples life expectancy when compared with patients remaining on dialysis. Loyola outcomes are better than the national standards. For the past six years, more than 90 percent of Loyola patients have reached one year free of an acute rejection episode.

Four decades of being a state and national leader in transplantation services, places us ahead of the curve in offering innovative procedures for patients with special challenges.

Loyola is nationally known for taking on challenging cases that other transplantation programs may be unwilling to accept. Caring for patients who are facing the most complex diseases, is part of our mission as an academic medical center. We are proud of our excellent outcomes despite of dealing with the highest risk patients.

Team Approach

Our team works one-on-one with the patient from the initial evaluation to transplantation to achieve best possible outcomes for each patient. We involve patients and their families in the care to promote high level of understanding, which also leads to successful transplantations.

Additional Support

Nurse coordinators assist patients through the evaluation process from referral to review and approval for transplantation. They provide specialized care as well as the much needed education to the patient and the family. Each patient is assigned a nurse coordinator who is the patient's first link of communication, serves as a liaison between the patient and the team, monitors test results and stays on top of patient's medication needs.

Kidney transplantation social workers assist patients and their families through all phases of the process. They provide counseling and support and help in coping with and understanding the emotional, psychological and social issues related to kidney transplantation.

Financial counselors help patients and their families with the many financial aspect of transplantation, including working with the patient's insurance carrier(s) to verify coverage and obtain all necessary authorizations for transplantation services.

We believe that pursuing both basic and clinical research and help all transplantation doctors take better care of their patients. Our vision is to continue to be pioneers in kidney transplantation medicine, developing alternative options, procedures and therapies to prevent rejection, infection and other complications.

Contact Us

For an appointment or for more information about Kidney Transplantation Program, call (888) LUHS-888 (888-584-7888).