Clinical highlights

A sampling of recent major achievements and developments from UC Davis Health and the UC Davis School of Medicine. For more listings and news, please visit our newsroom and follow us on social media.

Clinical milestones

Another record-breaking year for Transplant Center

2024 was a record-breaking year for the nationally-recognized UC Davis Health Transplant Center, which gave new life to hundreds of patients in Northern California needing the gift of an organ — often from a stranger.

The kidney transplant program performed 310 kidney transplants in 2024, including 90 from living donors, a UC Davis Health record. The pediatric kidney transplant program set high marks with 12 transplants, also a record.

In the first full calendar year of the liver transplant program, its team performed 44 adult liver transplants — far surpassing its initial year goal of 12 to 14 transplants. The team had a perfect 100% patient survival rate and a graft survival rate of 100%. Both rates are well above the national average of 83%, according to the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS).

Hospital leaders said the success results in part from increased communication and collaboration with community partners, such as Sierra Donor Services, as well as international leaders in transplant care who improved patient processes and education.

The liver transplant program’s success during its first year can also be attributed in part to the use of a novel technology called liver perfusion. Approved by the FDA, the process circulates fluid and oxygen through a liver that’s already been removed from a donor but not yet transplanted. The process preserves the liver’s function and potentially enhances the recovery process for patients.

“The perfusion process allows the liver to spend much less time on ice without blood flow, which is better for the organ,” said Lea K. Matsuoka, M.D., section chief for liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery at the Transplant Center. “Additionally, during the procedure, we are able to better assess the quality and function of the liver before it is transplanted — improving the likelihood of a successful transplant.”

The UC Davis Transplant Center has been a leader in organ transplantation since its inception in 1985. The program serves patients in the 33 counties UC Davis Health covers, which includes a 65,000-square-mile area north to the Oregon border and east to Nevada. It is the only organ transplant program in California north of San Francisco.

“These accomplishments are a testament to our dedicated team members who have helped us develop innovative ways to help patients achieve a transplant,” said Sophoclis Pantelis Alexopoulos, M.D., medical director for the Transplant Center.

UC Davis Health researchers also continue investigating ways to expand the supply of donor kidneys, such as recent studies about optimizing organ assessment and preservation in ex vivo normothermic perfusion and the safety of transplanting from toxoplasma antibody positive donors (TPDs).

Clinical milestones

200th TCAR for Center of Excellence

UC Davis Health has reached over 200 transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) procedures performed since 2019, likely the most of any hospital in the Sacramento region. The minimally invasive procedure is used to treat carotid artery disease, a buildup of plaque in the main neck arteries that can lead to stroke. During the procedure, a tube is inserted through a small incision in the neck and into the carotid artery to clear the plaque.

Before TCAR, the main treatment option for carotid artery disease was an open surgical procedure, which leaves a visible scar the length of the neck and carries risk of surgical complications. TCAR takes less than half the time of a carotid endarterectomy, limiting stress on the heart and significantly reducing risk of stroke or heart attack during the procedure.

UC Davis Health has been named a TCAR Center of Excellence for the high quality of its care team and patient outcomes.

Designated a Wilson Disease Center of Excellence, one of 11 worldwide

UC Davis Health has been designated a Center of Excellence by the Wilson Disease Association. The award recognizes care teams that provide the highest quality care to patients with Wilson disease, a condition that causes the body to retain excess copper. This causes a wide range of health problems, including liver, neurological and psychiatric issues.

UC Davis Health is one of eight health systems in the United States (and the second in California) and only the 11th in the world to be named a Center of Excellence. The center’s director is Valentina Medici, M.D., M.A.S., F.A.A.S.L.D., a professor of gastroenterology and hepatology and vice chair for research in Internal Medicine.

Centers of Excellence provide and guarantee certain levels of physician training, laboratory activity, basic research, clinical trials access, and education. The center also collaborates with other centers of expertise such as UC Davis Health’s Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence.

Clinical programs

Stem cell/bone marrow transplant program revitalized

The UC Davis pediatric stem cell transplant (also known as a bone marrow transplant) program — the only provider of this specialized service for children in the Sacramento area — has recently been revitalized.

The program is led by Lisa Madden, M.D., a pediatric hematologist and oncologist at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, who has expertise in the fields of stem cell transplant and cellular therapies. Some diseases and conditions that can be cured by stem cell transplant include high-risk leukemia, certain lymphomas, sickle cell disease, bone marrow failure disorders, metabolic disorders and immune disorders.

Chief of pediatric hematology-oncology Marcio Malogolowkin, M.D., noted the pediatric program benefits from the expertise and resources developed by colleagues at UC Davis Health’s adult stem cell transplant program and Institute for Regenerative Cures, and will soon enable them to bring cell and gene therapies to children in the region.
Surgeons establish Medical Extended Reality (MXR) Research Group

Surgeons within the Departments of Otolaryngology, Neurological Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery have established the UC Davis Medical Extended Reality (MXR) Research Group, part of the 3D Printing and Visualization Lab at UC Davis Health. They are the first to use extended reality during surgery within the health system, and are collaborating with outside companies, including Xironetic, to be the first in the world to apply augmented reality overlays to a range of complex surgical procedures.

To do this, surgeons wear augmented reality goggles which project 3D computed tomography (CT) and MRI scans that overlay critical information directly onto the surgeon’s field of view. The goggles help the surgeon plan the surgical approach, visualize hidden vascular and bone structures, localize instrumentation and implants, and project drilling and cutting guides.

The goggles help to transition virtual surgical plans to the operating room, said E. Bradley Strong, M.D., professor and vice chair of otolaryngology, allowing for better operative field views and visualization of difficult-to-see objects.

The new technology will also have a home in Aggie Square, the leading-edge research and innovation hub opening on the UC Davis Health Sacramento campus.

The 3D Printing and Visualization Lab, MXR Research Group, and undergraduate campus TEAM lab (UC Davis Biomedical Engineering) are teaming up to form the leading Visualization and 3D Printing lab/research group in Northern California.

UC Davis Health surgeons are leaders in using augmented reality goggles, which can vastly improve procedures. The MXR group is now using extended reality to better educate patients before surgery as well, providing an immersive and interactive experience to make complex medical procedures more understandable.

And due to its flexibility in integrating physical and virtual environments, UC Davis Health has started to use extended reality in educating fellows, residents and medical students. Trainees now able to see a 3D object in the room that they can manipulate and visualize, versus a picture in a book.
New Head and Neck Malignancies Innovation Group

A new multidisciplinary team of more than 30 biomedical engineers, scientists, oncologists and veterinarians has formed at UC Davis Health to find treatment options for complex and debilitating types of cancer from every angle.

The group, called the Head and Neck Malignancies Innovation Group, is led by head and neck oncology surgeon Andrew Birkeland, M.D., and Randy Carney, Ph.D., a UC Davis professor of biomedical engineering. Team members will work to develop breakthroughs they can move from the laboratory to clinical trials and then patient bedsides.

The group’s leaders also include internationally renowned head and neck cancer researcher Xiao-Jing Wang, M.D., Ph.D., who brought with her the first ever Specialized Programs of Research Excellence grant from the National Cancer Institute. The prestigious five-year $9.8 million federal grant is intended to translate cancer research into clinical interventions.
Improving regional access to CAR T cancer therapies

UC Davis Health’s Stem Cell Program received a $500,000 grant from California health insurer Health Net this winter to improve cancer patients’ access to life-saving CAR T-cell therapies and clinical trials, with the funding helping to promote local production of the immunotherapy.

CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapy reprograms immune cells to better target diseases such as cancer. The grant will support clinical trials and development of improved CAR T-cell products at the UC Davis Stem Cell Program’s Alpha Clinic. It will also support therapies that may treat more patients, especially those underinsured and underserved, and aims to reduce costs, boost accessibility and facilitate trials participation. The grant is linked to an ongoing clinical trial for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

The UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Malignant Hematology, Cellular Therapy and Transplantation Program is the first in the region to manufacture CAR T-cells on-site. The UC Davis team has worked to improve the therapy, decreasing its toxicity and side effects. Researchers also optimized the manufacturing process, reducing the time required from 12 to 8 days and validating the use of fresh rather than frozen products. This achievement enables rapid delivery of fresh CAR T products to patients.

UC Davis has also lowered therapy costs to benefit both patients and the health system, and patients throughout Northern and Central California and the Bay Area can have the opportunity to obtain it at a fraction of current industry costs. The UC Davis program makes treatment affordable and accessible to patients in 33 nearby counties and the Bay Area, said Jan Nolta, Ph.D., who directs the Stem Cell Program.

Clinical technology

Region’s first authorized for minimally invasive TAMBE aneurysm procedure

UC Davis Medical Center has become the first hospital in the Sacramento region authorized to perform a lifesaving minimally invasive procedure to treat thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms (TAAA), a bulging or ballooning of the aorta that extends from chest to abdomen. The new procedure, known as a thoracoabdominal branch endoprosthesis or TAMBE, provides a less-invasive alternative to surgery, offering fewer complications and quicker recovery.

TAMBE is a branched endograft device implanted and deployed by surgeons using fluoroscopy. In 2024 UC Davis Health received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization to use the procedure for TAAA, which is often one of the most complex aneurysms to treat due to the complexity of its location.

More traditional open-chest and abdomen surgery to repair the aorta requires lengthy hospitalization and extended recovery. TAMBE can be performed with potentially lower rates of surgical complications, blood loss and death, said Melissa R. Keller, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of vascular surgery.
First in Western U.S. to use pVAD, designed to improve high-risk stenting

UC Davis Health cardiologists are among the first in the country to use a novel, low-profile percutaneous ventricular assist device (pVAD) to improve blood flow for cardiovascular patients undergoing high-risk and complex heart artery stenting procedures. The move is part of an early feasibility study through the UC Davis Clinical Cardiovascular Research Unit.

Cardiologists use pVADs during procedures to support blood flow for high-risk patients and treat cardiogenic shock. The new system is smaller than current devices and includes multiple sensors to collect real-time aortic and ventricular pressures and help guide clinical management.

UC Davis Medical Center is one of four sites nationwide to have early investigational access to the new system, and the first hospital in the Western United States to utilize it. Study results will be part of a submission to the FDA for a pivotal investigational device exemption study.
World’s first to implant a dual chamber leadless pacemaker into a child

UC Davis Director of Pediatric Electrophysiology Dan Cortez, M.D., Ph.D., has set another world record: He is the first to implant a dual chamber leadless pacemaker in a child. His case report was published in December in the journal PACE: Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology.

In this minimally invasive procedure in the UC Davis Electrophysiology Lab, the pacemaker was implanted via the right internal jugular vein (instead of the femoral vein), so the patient could move easily and resume exercise and sports sooner. The device, called the AVEIR dual chamber leadless pacemaker, is different from traditional pacemakers in part because it has no leads or cords and is absorbed by the heart. It is also 10 times smaller than a traditional pacemaker and has been implanted in adults across the country since it received FDA approval in 2023.

Pacemakers are typically placed in children with congenital complete heart block, a rare condition that can lead to sudden death.
A regional first endovascular arch replacement

UC Davis Health cardiovascular specialists recently used a novel procedure — an aortic arch repair with dual branched device deployment — to successfully treat a car accident patient whose injuries included a tear in her ascending aorta and aortic arch. For the procedure, the stent graft bridges the gap from the tear in the aortic arch. It has only been done a handful of times and had never been done in Northern California.

The repair involved incisions smaller than the width of a finger and took just under two hours. Surgeons accessed the artery at the top of the legs and delivered branch stents through upper extremity artery access to circulate blood to the brain and arms. An angiogram showed successful repair of the severe blunt aortic injury, said Andrew Barleben, M.D., M.P.H., vascular surgeon and the new director of the UC Davis Aortic Center.
Nonsurgical alternatives available for thyroid nodules

UC Davis Health has the ability to treat some thyroid nodules through radiofrequency ablation (RFA), a minimally invasive, outpatient alternative to surgery that’s not yet widely offered for the condition in the U.S.

Endocrinological surgeon Claire Graves, M.D., F.A.C.S., learned the procedure under one of the first surgeons in the country to perform it, and teamed up with UC Davis Health radiologist Sima Naderi, M.D., to form the UC Davis Center for Interventional Thyroidology, where RFA procedures are offered. Patients typically spend 45 minutes under local anesthesia, and growths decrease by as much as 50–80% after a year.

For patients who don’t qualify for RFA because they have a completely fluid-filled or “cystic” nodule, UC Davis Health specialists also offer ethanol ablation as an alternative. In that procedure, the surgeon injects a needle into the cystic nodule, sucks out the liquid and refills it with alcohol.

Newer surgery, designation provide hope for lymphedema patients

Lymphedema patients are finding relief thanks to a new surgery being offered at the UC Davis Health Center for Lymphatic Disease, which was recently designated as a Lymphatic Education and Research Network (LE&RN) Surgery Center of Excellence.

In the past two years, many UC Davis patients have undergone lymphovenous bypass (LVB), a minimally invasive procedure that involves identifying lymphatic channels and connecting them to nearby veins to allow for fluid to bypass blockages. Because vessels are often less than 1mm in diameter, the entire surgery is performed under a high-powered microscope.

Ara Salibian, M.D., a plastic and reconstructive microsurgeon and executive director of the lymphatic center, performed the first LVB on the West Coast utilizing ultra-high frequency ultrasound (UHFUS) mapping; this allows surgeons to visualize tiny lymphatic vessels in real time for more precise, efficient bypasses. The procedure provides new options for improving quality of life in post-cancer survivorship.
New cardiovascular CT with AI-enhanced imaging

UC Davis Health’s imaging capabilities have taken a significant step forward with the addition of a new cardiovascular CT scanner equipped with AI-enhanced image technology, providing superior resolution that can lead to more confident diagnoses. Additional benefits include reduced radiation exposure, faster scans, and a non-invasive diagnostic alternative to testing. The medical center is the first in California to use the Canon Aquilion ONE / INSIGHT Edition CT scanner, and the first in the United States with a commercial system installed for advanced cardiovascular CT scans.