Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

 With over 650 physicians and 4750 staff support and volunteers, Packard Children's Hospital is a world-class, non-profit hospital devoted entirely to the care of babies, children, adolescents and expectant mothers.

The LPCH Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program has achieved one of the highest success rates in the United States and the world. For example, every single one of the 50 children who received a living-donor transplant at LPCH between January 1, 2001, and June 30, 2003, had a functioning kidney three years later. For comparison’s sake, the average three-year transplant-survival rate in the United States is 88 percent.

Where Care Meets Science
Steroid-free suppression of organ rejection
Used for over 40 years to suppress the immune system and help prevent the body from rejecting transplanted organs, steroids have severe side effects. They can cause high blood pressure, abnormally high blood fat levels, acne, mood swings, diabetes, slow wound healing, soft bones, decreased growth and a puffy appearance. The side effects are particularly significant for infants and small children, in whom the growth-suppressing effects of hormones are often dramatic, and among teenagers, who sometimes skip their medications to avoid side effects like acne and abnormal hair growth and set the stage for chronic organ rejection.
To avoid steroid effects, the Kidney Transplant Program developed a drug program that prevents rejection without steroids. The program has been highly successful, achieving survival rates as high as the standard steroid-based protocol.