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William M. Moncrieff received two lungs during a six-hour operation after suffering from years of asthma, emphysema and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

By Katie Riley, AHSC Office of Public Affairs
June 9, 2009

A 64-year-old man from Surprise, Ariz., is recovering at University Medical Center after surgeons at The University of Arizona department of surgery performed the hospital's 100th double-lung transplant on May 28.

The milestone double-lung transplant was performed by Dr. Michael Moulton, a UA associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery and a University Physicians Healthcare provider. UA cardiothoracic chief Dr. Jack Copeland performed the hospital's first double-lung transplant in 1993; that patient's lungs functioned for more than 10 years.

William M. Moncrieff received two lungs from a deceased organ donor during a six-hour operation after suffering from years of asthma, emphysema and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. He had been hospitalized twice in Phoenix in the past several years after minor respiratory problems turned serious.

"I knew I needed a transplant when my doctors told me I was one cold away from death," he said. "I was living on borrowed time."

He sought out UMC's lung transplantation program, the oldest and most experienced in the state, and was placed on the wait list for an organ in January 2009.

"I got the call at home that there was a potential match, and eight hours later I was in surgery at UMC for my new lungs," Moncrieff said.

He noticed an improvement the moment he awoke from surgery. His first breaths felt cold and fresh after years of breathing oxygen through a nasal cannula.

Moncrieff is looking forward to playing golf and other physical activities that were impossible for him for years.

"The success of this and the preceding lung transplants at the UA is ultimately due to a strong team effort, providing exhaustive, comprehensive care for all our transplant recipients before and after transplant," Dr. Moulton said. "The team of doctors, nurses, transplant coordinators, social workers, psychologists and hospital administrators work cohesively to maximize our patients' successful outcomes."

"The department of surgery's Heart and Lung Transplant Program has established itself as the most outstanding clinical and academic research program of its kind in the Southwest," said UA Surgery Chairman Dr. Rainer Gruessner. "We will continue to offer patients improvements to their health and quality of life that can only be achieved with an organ transplant."

In addition to the 100th double-lung transplants, UMC has performed 55 heart-lung transplants and 51 single-lung transplants. Pulmonologist Dr. Steven Knoper, an associate professor and research scientist in the UA College of Medicine, is medical director for UMC's lung transplant program.