Pioneering New Treatments

Our hospital has a history of being at the forefront of cutting-edge healthcare for children. Below are just a few of our historic "firsts" in care for children.

Timeline for Historic Firsts

1967	The first kidney transplant is performed on December 14 (873 have been performed since).
1977	The first child discharged on home mechanical ventilation on November 29 (this patient is still being followed here) (400 children have been discharged under this type of care since then); the hospital has the largest Pediatric Home Mechanical Ventilation Program in the world.
1980	The first diaphragm pacers are implanted in a child with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (this patient is still being followed by our hospital) (24 patients have received this procedure since then, making the hospital the third-largest diaphragm pacing program in the world).
1983	The first bone marrow transplant is performed on December 12th (968 have been performed since and the hospital is now responsible for nearly 50% of the pediatric bone marrow transplants in Los Angeles County).
1993	The first heart transplant is performed on March 4 (57 have been performed since)
1993	The first lung transplant is performed on May 13 (39 cadaveric transplants have been performed since)
1993	The first living donor lobar lung transplant is performed on May 13 (54 living donor lobar lung transplants have been performed since)
1997	The first diaphragm pacers implanted in a patient thoracoscopically (15 patients have received diaphragm pacers using this methodology since then). Our hospital has the only program in the world to successfully perform this procedure on multiple patients.
1998	The first liver transplant is performed on May 13 (103 liver transplants have been performed since)
1998	The first living donor liver transplant is performed on September 30 (50 living donor liver transplants have been performed since)
2001	The first 'bloodless" liver transplant is performed on February 7 (2 have been performed since)
2002	The first implantation of an artificial cornea in a pediatric patient.
2004	The first isolated small bowel transplant is performed on July 11 (7 have been performed since)
2008	The first use of an endoscope coupled with a portable, bedside spectral domain optical coherenece tomograph (SDOCT) to detect and treat retinal detachment from retinopathy of prematurity.