Organ transplants reached record levels at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus in Cleveland, Ohio, in 2020. 629 transplants were performed at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus, including heart, kidney, liver and lung transplants. That’s up 5 percent from the number of transplants performed at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus in 2019. Charles Miller, MD, Enterprise Director of Transplantation, … Read More
Features & Updates
Dad Meets Heart Donor’s Family For First Time After 113 Days In Hospital
Three days after Christmas, Ken Vogelsong received one extra gift – an emotional embrace with Lisa Bragg, the mother of his heart donor, Markus Abbott. “Markus is my hero,” said Ken, 45, who met Lisa for the first time, at the Scott Emergency Communications Center in Davenport, Iowa. It was there, on January 19, 2018, that … Read More
Cleveland Clinic Using Augmented Reality to Enhance Liver Cancer Therapy
Augmented reality is the use of computer technology to visually expand a user’s environment. It’s transforming countless industries, from gaming to retail, and, increasingly, the practice of medicine, too. A form of augmented reality is being adapted by Cleveland Clinic research scientists and physicians for use in a wide array of clinical applications. Doctors are … Read More
Organ Transplants Reach Record Levels at Cleveland Clinic in 2018
Organ transplants in the United States hit a record in 2018. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), 36,527 organ transplants were performed in the U.S. Cleveland Clinic followed the national trend. The hospital system saw a 24 percent increase in solid organ transplants in 2018, compared to 2017. According to Lifebanc, more … Read More
Church Bulletin Leads to Priceless Gift in Mother’s Cancer Fight
Scanning the church bulletin just before services were to begin at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, Jason Stechschulte read a notice that would soon transform his life – and save the life of a fellow parishioner. As soon as he read Carole Motycka, a 44-year-old mother of four boys in the western Ohio town of Van … Read More
Feeling Thankful: Businessman Celebrates New Heart with the Cardiologists Who Helped Save His Life
For Thanksgiving dinner 2018, Christian Bernadotte sat in the same exact seat as Thanksgiving dinner 2017, at the home of his friend, Gosta Pettersson, M.D., Ph.D. Only this year, he didn’t slump over, unconscious, in the lap of Tina, the wife of another fellow Swede, Per Wierup, M.D., Ph.D. The implanted cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) in … Read More
Mother Names Baby After Cancer Doctor Who Saved Her Life
For years, Mikkael Sekeres, M.D., has jokingly suggested to his patients who are pregnant they name their baby after him. He doesn’t recall if he dropped that line on Athena Mericsko, whom he successfully treated for acute promyelocytic leukemia, a cancer of the blood and blood plasma. However, she and partner Melissa Zagata clearly got … Read More
Patient’s Sleep Transformed After Using Alternative CPAP Device
I hate that mask! That’s a typical, frustrated reaction for 40 percent of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients who are uncomfortable with the gold standard treatment for the sleep disorder — continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). CPAP requires use of a nose- or mouth-covering mask that delivers the patient constant, steady air pressure to limit … Read More
Strangers No More: Living Donor and Liver Transplant Recipient Climb Mountain Side-by-Side
The earliest snowstorm in years dumped 18 inches of white powder on Grand Teton in late August. That forced many disappointed mountaineers striving to ascend the 13,775-foot Wyoming peak to abandon their trip to the iconic summit. However, Mark Henderson and his friend, David Landes, had a much more symbolic reason for making the trek. … Read More
Breast Cancer Patient Receives Unexpected Benefit from Heart-Sparing Radiation Treatment
If Joyce McCain hadn’t chosen to receive an innovative form of radiation to treat her breast cancer, she and her doctors might not have discovered – until it was too late – she also had kidney cancer. “They say everything happens for a reason,” mused Joyce, 65, of Brooklyn, Ohio. “I’m blessed that the doctors … Read More