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U.Va. Performs State's First Double-Lung Transplant from Living Donors

On January 14, 1998, Robert Jackson, 14, became the recipient of Virginia's first lung-lobe transplant from a living donor. He is the son of Larry and Tina Jackson of Stuart, Va.

Robert has cystic fibrosis (CF), a disease that causes the body to produce an abnormally thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs, leading to chronic lung infections, and obstructs the pancreas, preventing enzymes from reaching the intestines to digest food. CF is the most common fatal genetic disease in the United States today, affecting more than 30,000 Americans. Currently, there is no cure.

Many patients with CF require frequent hospitalizations and continuous use of antibiotics, enzyme supplements and other medications. The disease develops more rapidly in some patients than in others. When lung disease is very advanced, a lung transplant is the only option for extending a patient's life.

Randy Crawford and John Poe each donated a lobe of their lungs to Robert. They attend Faith Baptist Church in Bassett, Va., along with the Jackson family and learned of Robert's need for an organ donation through church members. Their lung lobes are the right size for Robert and will expand into normal-size lungs as Robert grows.

More than 30 physicians and staff from the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center participated in a team meeting to plan the details of the operations. The U.Va. physician team included: Ben Gaston, assistant professor of pediatrics and Robert's attending physician; Irving Kron, professor and chief of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery; Curtis Tribble, professor of surgery; and Mark Robbins, assistant professor of medicine and director of U.Va.'s Lung Transplant Program.

April 22, 1998