Chief of Transplant Surgery at The University Hosp

Chief of Transplant Surgery at The University Hospital and University of Cincinnati Becomes Transplant Recipient

Cincinnati--E. Steve Woodle, M.D., transplant surgeon and director of transplantation at The University Hospital, received his own "gift of life" recently when he received a donated liver. Dr. Woodle received a liver transplant by his own transplant team of UC surgeons on October 13, 2003 at The University Hospital. Woodle is now publicly sharing his own personal story. "I was fortunate to be able to have a liver transplant here at home by leading professionals in the field of liver disease and transplantation and with some of the very best surgeons in the country," says Woodle. "I am extremely blessed to have received this gift of life and will always be indebted to the donor's family." Woodle, chief of the University of Cincinnati transplant division, has directed the transplant programs at The University Hospital and The Christ Hospital since 1999. The University Hospital transplant program includes organ transplants of liver, kidney, kidney/pancreas, islet cell and heart. Woodle also directs the kidney transplant program at The Christ Hospital. Dr. Woodle came to The University Hospital in 1999 from the University of Chicago, where he was a transplant surgeon. He was first diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma in the summer of 1999, when a tumor was found during a laparoscopic hernia repair. Two weeks later, he had two-thirds of his liver removed to treat cancer. Six weeks after the operation, Woodle moved to Cincinnati to become chief of the transplant division in the UC Department of Surgery, and director of the division of transplant surgery at The University Hospital and the UC College of Medicine. Woodle is also a professor of surgery at the UC College of Medicine. In July 2003, a CT scan showed two new liver tumors. Woodle underwent surgery to treat the new tumors, and was immediately placed on the transplant waiting list due to his life-threatening condition. It was also clear that his liver was susceptible to the growth of more tumors and needed to be replaced promptly if he were to have any chance of long-term survival. He was evaluated by The University Hospital's liver specialist, Frederick Weber, M.D.; Steve Rudich, M.D., medical director of liver transplant; and Joseph Buell, M.D., a transplant cancer surgery specialist. While the transplant itself went well, a very serious complication followed in the form of a blood clot passing to his lungs, which required immediate surgical intervention by a team of vascular surgeons led by John Edwards, M.D., chief of vascular surgery, UC Department of Surgery at The University Hospital. Since the transplant, Dr. Woodle is doing very well in his recovery and has returned to work. The University Hospital will soon celebrate its 500th successful liver transplant since initiating the program in 1986 when it was co-founded by J. Wesley Alexander, M.D. and the late Israel Penn, M.D. The first liver transplant at University Hospital was performed April 23, 1986. By 2003, the University Hospital liver transplant program was listed as the eighth largest program in the United States. "By publicly sharing my experience, I hope to increase organ donation awareness," says Woodle. "Through the LifeCenter, our organ procurement organization here in Cincinnati, I hope to get the word out to the public about the importance of organ donation." The University Hospital is part of the Health Alliance, an integrated health care delivery system that also includes The Christ Hospital, The St. Luke Hospitals, The Jewish Hospital, The Fort Hamilton Hospital and the physicians of Alliance Primary Care. To view other Health Alliance news releases, go to www.health-alliance.com/pressroom.