Tracheal Allotransplantation to Deliver Growing Airway Implants for Infants and Children

The first successful organ transplantation was performed by Dr. Joseph Murray at The Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in 1954 [1]. After the transplantation of a kidney between two identical twin brothers, the recipient survived eight years without immunosuppression. By the early 60s, allotransplantation involving non-perfect matchesfinally proved successful by leveraging pharmacologic immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide and methotrexate [1]. In the following decades, more organs began to be successfully transplanted, including the heart in 1967, the heart/lung block in 1981 and the lungs in 1983 [1].