The nation’s number one transplant center by volume achieves a breakthrough milestone in bloodless transplant care, expanding access to medically complex transplant surgeries for patients unable to receive blood products.
TAMPA, Fla., July 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Transplant surgeons at Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and USF Health have successfully performed the world’s first recorded bloodless heart-liver transplant. The groundbreaking procedure was led by Dr. Kiran Dhanireddy, vice president and chief of the TGH Transplant Institute and associate professor of surgery with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, and Dr. Gundars Katlaps, surgical director of the lung transplant program and an associate professor of Surgery in the Morsani College of Medicine.
“As a true academic health system, our transplant team has access to cutting-edge technologies, innovative techniques and the latest research available,” explained John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital. “That academic difference, combined with Tampa General’s world-class team members and providers, is what positions our Transplant Institute as a national leader and the number one transplant center by volume. It’s why patients come to us to find possibility in seemingly impossible circumstances.”
Finding new ways to tackle complex medical issues is what makes academic medical centers such a valuable resource for patients, said Dr. Charles J. Lockwood, executive vice president of USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine.
“Our physicians have the expertise to provide complex care for patients who have no other options,” Dr. Lockwood said. “This kind of innovative problem-solving and multidisciplinary care is why patients at academic medical centers have been shown to have better health outcomes. I’m tremendously proud of our physicians for their leadership in this arena.” Dr. Lockwood also serves as executive vice president and chief academic officer at Tampa General.
The patient, who was diagnosed with both coronary artery disease and fatty liver disease, conditions associated with metabolic syndrome, waited more than 18 months for a transplant procedure that needed to be performed without the use of blood products, requiring the transplant team to perform the dual-organ transplant as a bloodless surgery — a rare and highly complex endeavor.
“The success of this first-of-its-kind procedure is a true testament to the power of academic medicine, which enabled us to assemble a team with unmatched clinical expertise. Meticulous surgical technique and coordinated multidisciplinary perioperative care allow us to deliver the best possible outcomes for our patients,” said Dhanireddy. “Unfortunately, far too many patients do not have access to these resources in their local communities. Often, they need to travel considerable distances and face delays in care. At the TGH Transplant Institute, we focus on providing equitable care for patients in the Tampa Bay area, across the state of Florida, and even from other parts of the country.”
While the first bloodless single-organ transplant was performed in 1986, the discipline of bloodless transplant surgery is still not commonly available in most health systems. The field is continuously evolving, with the first recorded bloodless heart-kidney transplant having only been performed earlier this year. As the volume of bloodless transplant surgeries has increased, overall success and survival rates have followed suit.
In addition to expanding access to transplant care for patients who are unable to receive blood products due to medical contraindications or religious beliefs, research has shown significant benefits to avoiding or reducing the use of blood products, including faster recovery time and reduced risk of infections, which has prompted patient blood management programs to advocate for approaches that optimize the use of a patient’s own blood and minimize the need for blood transfusions when medically possible.
“The patients we see already face several obstacles throughout their care journeys, including delays or inequities in the organ allocation process and lack of access to specialized expertise where they live. A patient’s inability to receive blood products — whatever the reason — should not be one of them,” said Katlaps. “Our team is incredibly proud to have not only made history with this important procedure, but to have provided lifesaving care that our patient wouldn’t have been able to receive anywhere else in the world.”
The success of this procedure marks the latest milestone achievement for the TGH Transplant Institute, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Most recently, the Institute was ranked first in the nation for transplants, completing the most procedures of any transplant center in the United States during 2024. Having completed 889 transplants between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2024, Tampa General set a new national record for transplant procedures in a single year.
More information about the TGH Transplant Institute is available here.
ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL
Tampa General Hospital, a 1,529-bed, not-for-profit academic health system, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the Tampa Bay region’s only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. The system’s hospitals include Tampa General Hospital, Tampa General Rehabilitation Hospital, Tampa General Behavioral Health Hospital, all in Tampa; Tampa General Brooksville, Tampa General Spring Hill and Tampa General Crystal River. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in Tampa Bay in U.S. News & World Report’s 2024-2025 Best Hospitals, with two medical specialties ranking among the top 20 in the nation and eight medical specialties listed among the top 50 best hospital programs in the United States. As the first hospital in Florida to open a clinical command center for real-time situational awareness, Tampa General has elevated its digital care coordination center to the next level by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and its analytics platform across inpatient and outpatient care to ensure patients receive leading-edge care as quickly and safely as possible. The academic health system’s commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by three prestigious Forbes magazine rankings — in the 2025 America’s Best Large Employers, the top 50 in Florida in the 2024 America’s Best Employers by State and the 2023 America’s Best Employers for Women.
Tampa General is the safety-net hospital for the region, caring for anyone regardless of ability to pay; in fiscal year 2023, Tampa General provided a net community benefit of approximately $301.8 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It was the nation’s No. 1 adult solid organ transplant center in 2024 and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care their conditions require. Tampa General is home to a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience, Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It is home to the Muma Children’s Hospital at TGH, the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General’s footprint includes TGH North, which consists of three hospitals and several outpatient locations in Citrus and Hernando counties; 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices; TGH Family Care Center Kennedy; two TGH outpatient centers; TGH Virtual Health; and 19 TGH Imaging outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care, powered by the Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). For more information, go to www.tgh.org.
ABOUT USF HEALTH
USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the Taneja College of Pharmacy, the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, the Biomedical Sciences Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs, and USF Health’s multispecialty physicians’ group. The University of South Florida is a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success. Over the past 10 years, no other public university in the country has risen faster in U.S. News & World Report’s national university rankings than USF. For more information, visit health.usf.edu.
Media Contact: Beth Hardy, APR
Assistant Manager
Publications & Physician Communications
(727) 510-6363 (cell)
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SOURCE Tampa General Hospital
