Fifty years of the first transplant in Brazil

Abstract

The first organ transplantation in Brazil occurred in 1964, in Rio de Janeiro. It was a kidney transplantation - the recipient was an 18-years-old adult and the donor was a 9-month-old child, with hydrocephalus, who had undergone nephrectomy followed by ventriculovesical shunt (free kidney). However, after more than 50 years, this is still a matter of debate. At that time, the procedure was not reported in scientific journal, only reports in lay newspapers, and the fact remained little known in the medical society for years. This brief article aims, after reviewing medical and historical records, to describe and report this transplantation.