Rush University Medical Center’s solid organ transplant program has better–than–expected rates of one–year adult patient survival after liver and kidney transplantation, according to the most recent transplantation report released by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). These rates makes Rush’s program unique to Chicago and among the nation’s best.

“The liver transplant program has a one–year patient survival of 97.6 percent, placing it sixth among 146 liver transplant centers in the United States and first among the centers in the Chicago area,” said Dr. Martin Hertl, director of the Rush Solid Organ Transplant Program and section chief of transplant surgery at Rush.

SRTR provides data on organ transplantation that is used by regulatory agencies, insurance companies, and prospective patients. (SRTR is operated by a division of the nonprofit Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation under contract with the Division of Transplantation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.)

Every six months SRTR releases data about organ transplant activity in the United States. The most recent data, released on January 5, includes outcomes for transplants that occurred during July 2013 through December 2015. According to the transplant data, the living donor kidney transplant program at Rush continues with 100 percent one–year organ and patient survival rates. Additionally, the kidney–pancreas program continues to grow in numbers while maintaining its 100 percent organ and patient survival rates, extending now to three years after transplantation.

“This data available on the SRTR website enables anyone to search online for local transplant programs to see how well patients are after they receive an organ transplant. This empowers patients with the information they can use when deciding where to receive their care,” said Hertl.

“It’s very difficult to reduce something that is as complicated as transplant to a grade or score; but when using the survival rate to measure the success of the program, it shows that Rush is one of the best in the nation,” said Dr. Nancy Reau, chief of the Section of Hepatology at Rush and associate director of the Rush Solid Organ Transplant Program.