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After waiting more than two years, Colin Tucker received a new heart thanks to UAB’s new organ transplant program that uses hepatitis C positive organs.
After waiting more than two years, Colin Tucker received a new heart thanks to UAB’s new organ transplant program that uses hepatitis C positive organs.
(Photography: Colin Tucker)On the afternoon of April 25, 2018, Colin Tucker felt like a railroad spike was stuck in his chest.
Tucker was taken to his local hospital, where doctors found four blockages in his heart. He was having a heart attack and 99% of the main artery that supplies most of his heart with blood was blocked. After months of unsuccessful treatments, procedures, and medication, Tucker was sent to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he was put on the transplant list and received a ventricular assist device to pump blood from the chambers of his heart to the rest of his body.
A little over two years later, Tucker became the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute’s first heart transplant recipient from a donor positive for hepatitis C. He is part of a new organ transplant program available at UAB where doctors safely transplant organs from hepatitis C positive donors to uninfected recipients and cure hepatitis C with antiviral therapy. The program originally started with liver and kidney transplants, but has now expanded to include heart and lung transplants.
“With so many people in need of organ transplants, this program allows us to use perfectly functioning organs to provide our patients with a better quality of life,” said Jose tallaj, MD, UAB Medical Director Heart transplant program. “Now that treatment for hepatitis C is simple, extremely effective, and only needed for a short time, organs from donors with hepatitis C are a great option for patients like Mr. Tucker, who have been waiting for long to get an organ. ”
The size of the organs, the location of the donor and the medical urgency are some of the factors considered by UNOS in determining the cardiac allocation. Tucker, who is 6ft 6in, performed well with the WHAT and was able to participate in a 10K and a 12K on the device. Tucker’s size and excellent performance on the device resulted in a 28-month wait period for a heart.
“When I got VAD I had to make a personal choice not to let it stop me from living my life,” Tucker said. “I live in a coastal town and had to give up some of the hobbies I loved, like fishing, swimming, boating, and even some travel, because of VAD. It was hard ; but I didn’t know when a heart would become available, so I adjusted to this new way of life as best I could.
Tucker’s wait was finally over when he received a call from the UAB on October 28, 2020, and was asked if he would be ready to receive an organ from a hepatitis C positive donor. He agreed and received his new heart the next day.
Tucker became the UAB Comprehensive Transplant Institute’s first heart transplant recipient of an organ from a donor positive for hepatitis C.
(Photography: Colin Tucker)“When I got the call about the heart, they told me it was from a hepatitis C donor and explained to me how extremely low my risk of getting hepatitis C was.” , Tucker said. “It was no longer a question of whether it was safe or not; it was a matter of how long I could get it. It was the only call I had received about a donor heart in two years, and here I am now, almost a year later, and I’m doing great.
Patients who agree to receive a hepatitis C positive organ start their antiviral medication on the day of their transplant surgery and continue to take this medication for eight to 12 weeks. Once the treatment is complete, they will attend routine check-ups.
Every UAB transplant patient has responded to treatment since the start of the program in 2019.
“Hepatitis C is a curable disease, and antiviral therapy has been shown to be over 95% effective in preventing potential infection,” Tallaj said. “This program is safe, it is effective and it could reduce a person’s wait time because it opens up the donor pool to more people. We want to make sure that all of our patients have a good quality of life, and this program is one way to do that. ”
From high blood pressure to heart transplants, the UAB Cardiovascular Institute offers a full range of patient services. Learn more by visiting uabmedicine.org/heart.
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