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Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
January 17, 2008 Thursday
Transplant patience pays off
by Jeff Raymond, The Oklahoman
Jan. 17--Cutting months from the wait to receive a liver and having a
longtime acquaintance in the operating room convinced a California
surgeon to bring his father to Oklahoma City for a liver transplant.
Dr. Avo Artinyan trained as a surgeon under Dr. Nicolas Jabbour, who
now oversees the Integris Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute. Jabbour
operated Jan. 9 on 66-year-old Ludvik Artinyan, a Los Angeles family
practice doctor from Armenia.
Avo Artinyan, who is halfway through a surgical oncology fellowship
in Los Angeles, estimated his father would have waited at least
another six months to have a transplant, had he stayed in California.
Transplant patients in Oklahoma typically spend less time waiting for
livers than the national average. Because patients may be listed on
multiple organ waiting lists, Ludvik Artinyan's chances of receiving
a liver were better if he came to Oklahoma.
Half of the patients placed on the liver waiting list in the state
receive a transplant within approximately eight months of being
listed; nationally, it is double that time.
Joel Newman, a spokesman for the United Network for Organ Sharing,
said the organization's policies allowed patients to list at more
than one transplant site.
However, he said, "It's very uncommon that people list at more than
two."
To qualify, patients must meet the sometimes-differing criteria of
individual transplant centers.
Although listing at two centers served by the same organ procurement
organization such as Oklahoma's LifeShare Transplant Donor Services
won't improve a patient's transplant chances, odds can improve by
registering elsewhere because organs may become available sooner.
A growing tumor on Ludvik Artinyan's liver made waiting ill-advised;
had the tumor grown more, he would have been ineligible for a
transplant.
His MELD (model for end-stage liver disease) score, a way of ranking
transplant candidates according to the severity of their illnesses,
wasn't high enough to be at the top of the list in Los Angeles.
Organs are in greater demand there because of a dense population that
is more prone to liver disease because of its ethnic makeup.
Artinyan knew he wanted to bring his father to the Oklahoma-Texas
area, and asked colleagues about where to go.
They suggested Jabbour.
Doctor is a big factor
Artinyan said the greatest compliment one surgeon can pay another is
to have him or her operate on a loved one.
"He's one of only a few people I would have let operate on my dad,"
Avo Artinyan said.
He called Jabbour "gifted," a surgeon who operates quickly but
precisely and a challenging teacher while at the University of
Southern California.
"I would definitely recommend other people come out here," Avo
Artinyan said, calling the transplant center "a little hidden jewel."
The center's success rate, and its dedicated post-transplant ICU and
organ-harvesting team -- most transplant centers have different teams
for different organs -- helped sway Avo Artinyan. Time is of the
essence when harvesting organs, and different teams often have
competing interests in getting their organs out first, he said.
Ludvik Artinyan has been in Oklahoma City since Nov. 27 waiting for a
new liver. He likely will leave the hospital today. He will remain in
the city for a week or two and then return to California.
Trusting his son
As for coming to Oklahoma, he said he trusted his son and had heard
of Jabbour through colleagues.
"They said he has excellent technique, very honest, good man," Ludvik
Artinyan said.
Jabbour said the center's organ-harvesting team impressed a review
team recently. He said having his former student choose his hospital
was both a personal choice and "an educated guess."
"Educated people will find out about our program and will seek us
out," he predicted, adding that he currently has patients from
California and Alabama who await transplants.
Although the nation's pre-eminent transplant centers doubtless
provide good care, they're not the only ones.
"This can be done locally by some of the best physicians," Jabbour
said.
Baptist surgeons perform about 60 liver transplants a year.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
January 17, 2008 Thursday
Transplant patience pays off
by Jeff Raymond, The Oklahoman
Jan. 17--Cutting months from the wait to receive a liver and having a
longtime acquaintance in the operating room convinced a California
surgeon to bring his father to Oklahoma City for a liver transplant.
Dr. Avo Artinyan trained as a surgeon under Dr. Nicolas Jabbour, who
now oversees the Integris Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute. Jabbour
operated Jan. 9 on 66-year-old Ludvik Artinyan, a Los Angeles family
practice doctor from Armenia.
Avo Artinyan, who is halfway through a surgical oncology fellowship
in Los Angeles, estimated his father would have waited at least
another six months to have a transplant, had he stayed in California.
Transplant patients in Oklahoma typically spend less time waiting for
livers than the national average. Because patients may be listed on
multiple organ waiting lists, Ludvik Artinyan's chances of receiving
a liver were better if he came to Oklahoma.
Half of the patients placed on the liver waiting list in the state
receive a transplant within approximately eight months of being
listed; nationally, it is double that time.
Joel Newman, a spokesman for the United Network for Organ Sharing,
said the organization's policies allowed patients to list at more
than one transplant site.
However, he said, "It's very uncommon that people list at more than
two."
To qualify, patients must meet the sometimes-differing criteria of
individual transplant centers.
Although listing at two centers served by the same organ procurement
organization such as Oklahoma's LifeShare Transplant Donor Services
won't improve a patient's transplant chances, odds can improve by
registering elsewhere because organs may become available sooner.
A growing tumor on Ludvik Artinyan's liver made waiting ill-advised;
had the tumor grown more, he would have been ineligible for a
transplant.
His MELD (model for end-stage liver disease) score, a way of ranking
transplant candidates according to the severity of their illnesses,
wasn't high enough to be at the top of the list in Los Angeles.
Organs are in greater demand there because of a dense population that
is more prone to liver disease because of its ethnic makeup.
Artinyan knew he wanted to bring his father to the Oklahoma-Texas
area, and asked colleagues about where to go.
They suggested Jabbour.
Doctor is a big factor
Artinyan said the greatest compliment one surgeon can pay another is
to have him or her operate on a loved one.
"He's one of only a few people I would have let operate on my dad,"
Avo Artinyan said.
He called Jabbour "gifted," a surgeon who operates quickly but
precisely and a challenging teacher while at the University of
Southern California.
"I would definitely recommend other people come out here," Avo
Artinyan said, calling the transplant center "a little hidden jewel."
The center's success rate, and its dedicated post-transplant ICU and
organ-harvesting team -- most transplant centers have different teams
for different organs -- helped sway Avo Artinyan. Time is of the
essence when harvesting organs, and different teams often have
competing interests in getting their organs out first, he said.
Ludvik Artinyan has been in Oklahoma City since Nov. 27 waiting for a
new liver. He likely will leave the hospital today. He will remain in
the city for a week or two and then return to California.
Trusting his son
As for coming to Oklahoma, he said he trusted his son and had heard
of Jabbour through colleagues.
"They said he has excellent technique, very honest, good man," Ludvik
Artinyan said.
Jabbour said the center's organ-harvesting team impressed a review
team recently. He said having his former student choose his hospital
was both a personal choice and "an educated guess."
"Educated people will find out about our program and will seek us
out," he predicted, adding that he currently has patients from
California and Alabama who await transplants.
Although the nation's pre-eminent transplant centers doubtless
provide good care, they're not the only ones.
"This can be done locally by some of the best physicians," Jabbour
said.
Baptist surgeons perform about 60 liver transplants a year.