title: The kidney transplant program at king faisal specialist hospital and research center.
abstract: The Kidney Transplant Program at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH&RC), Riyadh was launched in 1981 when the first living-donor (LD) kidney transplant was performed in the center. The first deceased-donor (DD) kidney transplant was performed in 1982, and the first simultaneous kidney-pancreas (SPK) in 2004. As of February 2005, more than 1,000 kidney transplants (654 living-donor and 347 deceased-donor) have been performed. The Renal Transplant Program at KFSH&RC underwent a major transformation in the year 2001 with the introduction of the concept of designated Renal Transplant Physicians and the emphasis on multi-disciplinary teamwork. This core team of highly qualified, experienced and dedicated physicians worked along side their colleagues, the Renal Transplant Surgeons, to pursue state-of-the-art kidney and pancreas transplantation. A new theme of true collaboration and shared vision was born. This fundamental change has resulted in tripling of the size of the program and in expanding its scope of services to include high-risk patients (immunological and surgical). The above achievements were coupled with outstanding outcome data. The Kidney Transplant Program at KFSH&RC is now a leading transplant center in the region in terms of size and scope of services and it measures up to the top 10% of the leading kidney transplant centers in the world in terms of size, scope of services, and outcome measures. The current program is a multi-disciplinary program composed of three Consultant Surgeons, two Consultant Renal Transplant Physicians, one Associate Consultant Surgeon, two Assistant Consultant Surgeons, two Assistant Consultant Transplant Physicians, two Clinical Co-ordinators, one Nurse Clinician, one Administrative Co-ordinator, one Clinical Pharmacist, one Health Educator, one Social Worker and a qualified Immunologist with HLA/Immunopathology staff.
authors.affiliation: Director, Renal Transplant Program, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Khalid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Al Meshari