Inspectors Review Liver Transplants at Thomas Jefferson

A team of inspectors from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday began an unannounced review of the liver-transplant program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.

The survey, aimed at evaluating the quality of care and compliance with state and federal regulations, was prompted by a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer about deaths during or immediately after liver transplants at Jefferson, according to Jennifer Olsen, a spokeswoman for the federal agency.

During a 20-month period between October 2001 and last month, eight of 52 liver-transplant patients at Jefferson died in the operating room and a ninth died within hours of surgery -- a death rate during or immediately after surgery of about 17 percent (see earlier Transplant Week story).

This compares to fewer than 2 percent of liver-transplant patients who died during surgery or within 24 hours of their operations nationally over the past three years, according to the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.

Thomas Jefferson officials have said that they looked carefully at each of the transplant deaths and found no problems.

Olsen said she did not know when the state and federal inspectors would finish their review.

Other Sources: Philadelphia Inquirer, DHHS