Lurie Children’s (formerly Children’s Memorial Hospital) performed its first transplant in 1964 and has since become one of only 11 children’s hospitals nationwide to have performed more than 1,000 organ transplants. The hospital’s Siragusa Transplantation Center ranks among the top pediatric transplant centers in the country, not just in volume, but in patient survival rates. Each of our transplant programs has high rates of graft (transplant) success and patient survival three years after surgery, which are much better than national averages.
The center is home to five outstanding transplant programs for children of all ages and for young adults with childhood diseases. These programs include:
Learn moreEach year, the center performs 50 stem cell transplants and 50 solid organ transplants on average, which is the largest number of pediatric organ transplants at a single center in Illinois. Our highly experienced transplant surgeons also use innovative surgical techniques that spare patients the need for a transplant when possible.
The Siragusa Transplantation Center uses a collaborative approach that brings together the best medical and surgical transplant care. A pediatric transplant surgeon, Riccardo Superina, MD, provides surgical direction for the center. He has pioneered procedures now used around the world. Estella Alonso, MD, is the medical director for the center.
All of our doctors and nurse practitioners have advanced training in pediatrics or adolescent medicine, allowing them to meet the unique needs of children and teens. Our entire staff is committed to giving your child the best possible care.
Learn more about our specialists
We specialize in family-centered care, which means we provide emotional and social support to the whole family along with the patient.
Our care is also uniquely long-term. The center’s staff provides follow-up care into patients’ teenage years or young adulthood, checking their development to make sure they flourish. A joint program with Northwestern Memorial Hospital, a leader in adult transplantation, lets us offer lifelong follow-up care for transplant recipients. This partnership also lets eligible adult relatives donate certain organs and tissues to children as living donors.
Our transplant program pioneered the use of support services for children receiving a transplant and for their families. We address the medical, behavioral and emotional concerns of children and families through support programs, including:
Our pediatric specialists treat children for all conditions that may need a transplant. They include:
If you’d like to request an appointment with one of our specialists, call 1.800.543.7362 (1.800.KIDS DOC®).
The Siragusa Transplantation Center is a national leader in pediatric transplant research. Our physician-researchers have pioneered influential new methods of studying pediatric diseases and transplantation. Through many clinical and laboratory studies, we are committed to research directly related to improving your child’s health.
Your support is vitual in helping us fund our support services and creating future patient-focused programs such as a transplant camp. Your gifts to the center also help us train tomorrow’s specialists and conduct vital research to track and improve outcomes.
To learn more, please e-mail the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Foundation at foundation@luriechildrens.org or call 312.227.7500.
