After receiving approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing to be the first hospital in the United States to perform HIV-positive to HIV-positive organ transplants, Johns Hopkins did just that, becoming the first in the world to execute an HIV-positive to HIV-positive liver transplant and the first in the United States to do an HIV-positive to HIV-positive kidney transplant.

A multidisciplinary team from Johns Hopkins Medicine jumped at the opportunity to perform the surgeries as soon as suitable organs and recipients became available. There are approximately 122,000 people on the transplant waiting list in the United States at any given time. Thousands die each year, many of whom might have lived had they gotten the organ they needed. With the passage of the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act of 2013 and the recent approval from the United Network for Organ Sharing, HIV-positive patients could have a second chance at life.

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National Coverage

• NPR:
  New Source Of Transplant Organs For Patients With HIV: Others With HIV
• CNN:
  In a first, HIV-positive donor's kidney, liver given to HIV-positive patients
• Los Angeles Times
  In a first, liver and kidney from HIV-infected donor are transplanted into HIV-positive patients
• ABC News
  First Liver Transplant Between HIV-Positive Donor and Recipient Marks Milestone for HIV Patients
• TIME
  First Transplant from HIV-Positive Donor Performed in U.S.
• STAT
  World's first transplant of HIV-positive liver a success, doctors say
• Baltimore Sun
  Johns Hopkins performs first transplants between donors recipients infected with HIV
• Daily Mail
  World's first ever HIV-positive to HIV-positive liver transplant has taken place in US, surgeons reveal
• CBC News
  HIV-positive organ transplanted in U.S.

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