「換肝之父」斯塔茲爾（Thomas Starzl）。（圖／達志影像／美聯社，下同）
國際中心／綜合報導
美國移植先驅、尊稱為「肝臟移植之父」的斯塔茲爾（Thomas Starzl）4日在匹茲堡的家中安詳辭世，享耆壽90歲。
斯塔茲爾1926年生於愛荷華州的勒馬斯，從小志願是想要當一位牧師，但直到1947年，他最愛的母親死於乳腺癌，於是他改變了志向，選擇當一位醫生。他在1963年進行全球首次的肝臟移植手術，但患者卻因血流不止而喪命，直到1967年終於順利完成了換肝手術，讓患者多存活了400多天。
他的研究不只有活體移植，還有「異種器官移植」（Xenotransplantation）與「大體移植」，畢竟人體內的免疫系統會辨識是否為自體組織並對外來物視為「異物」，必須經過有效的配對才能確保術後不會侵害自身。研究中，他首用雙胞胎肝臟移植，在當時擴大了有血緣關係的親屬即可做捐贈的可行性，之後他也開創了「屍腎移植」的大體移植技術，即是現在的「器官捐贈」。
斯塔茲爾除了擁有富有移植手術的技術，同時也致力研究「抗排斥藥物」環孢菌素 （cyclosporin），這是用於預防器官移植時產生排斥的「免疫抑制劑」，解決器官相斥的問題，成為多位器官衰竭患者的聖手。其醫療紀錄，顯示他多次幫患者在死神手中搶回生命，不過他本人卻在1992年出版的自傳中提及，其實自己不喜歡做手術，因為在準備時都會感到害怕，每一次的進行「都像在為解脫而奮鬥」。
他更說，醫生動手術拯救了病人，但病人卻也為我們的嘗試賦予了更多意義。最後，他在1990年退休前，再度幫一位「老患者」再動刀，因為這位具家族病史的女孩瓊斯（Stormie Jones）因心臟病發病兩次，8歲時已經動過換心和肝手術，14歲這年再次求助斯塔茲爾做最後一次換肝，順利延長了9個月的生命。匹茲堡大學斯塔茲爾移植研究所（Thomas E. Starzl Transplation Institute）的臨床主任胡馬爾說，「由於他能被尊稱為移植之父，是因為貢獻偉大到難以言喻。」
▼斯塔茲爾2012年獲頒Lasker-DeBakey 臨床醫學研究獎。
http://www.ettoday.net/news/20170306/878524.htm
NPR – 18 hours ago
Thomas Starzl, the doctor who pioneered liver transplant surgery, has died at the age of 90. In an announcement on its website, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center said Starzl died peacefully at his home on Saturday. "His work in neuroscience, …
New York Times – 11 hours ago
Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, a surgeon and researcher who performed the first successful liver transplant on a human patient in the 1960s and later helped advance the breakthrough drugs that made organ transplants markedly more survivable, died on Saturday at …
Fox News – 20 hours ago
PITTSBURGH – Dr. Thomas Starzl, the pioneer of liver transplantation and the driving force behind the world's first baboon-to-human liver transplants and research on anti-rejection drugs, has died. He was 90. The University of Pittsburgh, speaking on …
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – 13 hours ago
“Pittsburgh lost one of our finest innovators in Dr. Thomas Starzl. Not only did he save countless lives with his pioneer advancements in organ transplant surgery, Dr. Starzl personally trained and mentored generations of doctors who went on to cure …
Washington Post – 9 hours ago
Thomas Starzl, a transplant surgeon at the forefront of liver transplant surgery in the 1960s and who was a leading researcher into anti-rejection drugs, died March 4 at his home in Pittsburgh. He was 90. The University of Pittsburgh, where he had long …
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – 19 hours ago
Thomas E. Starzl, whose bold vision, boundless energy and unflagging self-confidence resulted in dramatic and pioneering advances in organ transplantation and anti-rejection medicines that saved thousands of lives, died in his sleep Saturday at his …
Telegraph.co.uk – 28 minutes ago
Beginning with kidney transplants at the University of Colorado in Denver, Starzl battled to overcome the problem of rejection by treating patients with azathioprine, a powerful immunosuppressant. In 1963 he attempted a liver transplant on a three year …
