The Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute (NZTI), was founded in 1984 by director Nazih Zuhdi, M.D.

On October 31, 1998, surgeons at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center performed the 1,000th transplant in the history of the Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute (NZTI), founded in 1984 by director Nazih Zuhdi, M.D.

"One thousand people have been given a chance at life by donors and dedicated medical personnel during nearly a decade and a half," said Zuhdi, in announcing the landmark. "Families have been able to experience the joy of their loved one's extended life."

The heart transplantation surgery was performed in the course of three hours from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., Oct. 31, by John Chaffin, M.D., and David VanHooser, M.D. VanHooser and perfusionist Jerry Jenison, C.C.P, were also participants in the first heart transplant surgery at NZTI in 1985. Ye Yong, M.D., and Shi-Feng Le, M.D., retrieved the organ from a local hospital. The patient, 47-year-old Margaret Sue Craig, suffered from cardiomyopathy.

"In founding this program, Dr. Zuhdi believed that Oklahomans had the right to have transplant procedures performed here and should not have to leave the state," said Stanley Hupfeld, INTEGRIS Health president and CEO. "The transplant institute brought life-saving medicine to the Sooner state and has continued to pave the way with cutting-edge procedures."

Since its opening, NZTI has expanded from a staff of only three to more than 130 clinicians and support personnel. And it has emerged as the only comprehensive transplant program in the state of Oklahoma. Transplants are performed for nearly every organ system: heart, lungs, liver, kidney, pancreas and small bowel. The institute also ranks among the top comprehensive organ transplant centers in the country, according to data provided by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

"The UNOS 1997 Report of Center Specific Graft and Patient Survival Rates" – the latest national comparative data – shows that of the 49 comprehensive centers in the country, only six have performed as many or more heart, lung and liver transplants as NZTI. For these seven transplant centers, NZTI ranked first in lung, second in heart and second in liver patient survival rates for the first year after transplantation (the standard national measurement). No other center has overall rankings as high.

NZTI was founded by Zuhdi, the first surgeon in the United States to implant a pig's heart valve into a human. He was the first in the world to implant a stabilized glutaraldehyde porcine aortic valve into a human. Zuhdi is also known as "the father of hemodilution" a principle universally used in open heart surgery procedures with a heart-lung machine.

Transplant Firsts

• First Heart Transplant in Oklahoma
• Oklahoma's First "In-Situ" Split Liver Transplant
  Physicians at NZTI participated in the USA's first "in-situ" split liver transplant where one liver was divided into two parts. The larger right side was sent to an adult in New York and the smaller part was given to a child here at NZTI.
• Oklahoma's First Small Bowel Transplant
  Oklahoma's first small bowel transplant was performed in October 1996. In this case, an isolated small bowel transplant was done in an 8-year-old patient who had never been able to get nutrients any way but intravenously.
• Living Donor Liver Transplants
  NZTI surgeons also performed Oklahoma's first living donor liver transplant. NZTI surgeons have now performed several living donor liver transplants in which a part of a parents' liver (left lateral segment) was resected and transplanted to their child with excellent success.
• Pancreas Transplants
  The first pancreas transplant in the state of Oklahoma was performed at NZTI in November 1995 where a patient with type I diabetes mellitus and end stage renal disease received a simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant. All pancreas transplants performed with a kidney transplant done at NZTI have a patient/graft survival rate of 100 percent with close follow-up of pancreas patients through three years. All of these patients now enjoy a better quality of life without need for dialysis or insulin.