Geisinger launches northeast PA region?s first organ transplant program

Kidney transplant services introduced in Wilkes-Barre

April 4, Wilkes-Barre — Geisinger Wyoming Valley announces northeastern Pennsylvania’s first kidney transplant program. Board-certified transplant surgeon Santosh Potdar, MD, Director of Transplantation at Geisinger, will lead the team in Wilkes-Barre.

Kidney transplantation is recommended for individuals with renal failure, which is often associated with hypertension, diabetes, or infections of the kidney or urinary tract.

Last year, only 13,800 kidney transplant procedures were performed in the United States. “We are pleased to bring this highly-specialized kidney transplant service to our patients in this region,” said Eric Bieber, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Geisinger Wyoming Valley. “Patients can now undergo the most advanced cutting edge procedures without having to travel far from home.”

Since 2003, Dr. Potdar and his transplant team at Geisinger have performed more than 100 kidney and kidney/pancreas transplants with a 93 percent success rate. Under his direction, Geisinger’s transplantation program is one of a select few in the nation to use tolerogenic immunosuppression — a unique approach that limits the amount of steroid medications a patient needs to take following transplant surgery.

Since transplant recipients remain on these drugs for life, Dr. Potdar’s approach saves recipients thousands of dollars and limits the potentially harmful effects of these infection-fighting drugs.

“Geisinger’s transplant program continues to grow as more and more patients seek out the latest advances in organ transplantation,” said Potdar. “We are excited to start a full- service kidney transplant program in Wilkes-Barre.”

Dr. Potdar joined Geisinger from the Thomas E. Starlz (TES) Transplantation Institute, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where he was Director of Pancreas Transplant and Islet Cell Transplant for the Division of Transplant Surgery. Dr. Potdar completed a fellowship in liver, pancreas and kidney transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Dr. Potdar earned his medical degree from Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, Indore (M.P.) India, where he also completed his internship and residency in general surgery. He completed a subsequent internship and residency in general surgery at Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh.

He is a member of various professional and scientific societies, including the American Society of Transplantation, International Liver Transplant Society, American Association of Liver Disease, and the International Pancreas Transplant Association.

For more information, or to list with Geisinger’s kidney transplant program, call 819-5590.

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