Historic achievement by Turkish doctors: First living-donor organ transplant performed

Turkish surgeons have performed the country's first adult living-donor liver transplant at Leiden University Medical Center, one of the oldest and most prestigious hospitals in the Netherlands. 

General Surgery Specialist Prof. Dr. Hamdi Karakayalı and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tonguç Utku Yılmaz from the Acıbadem University Atakent Hospital Organ Transplant Center, along with General Surgery Specialist Prof. Dr. Yaman Tokat, carried out the first living-donor liver transplant ever performed in the Netherlands.  

THEY VISITED TURKEY LAST YEAR 

While Turkey ranks among the lowest in the world for deceased-donor transplants, it holds the top spot for living-donor organ transplants. Turkish physicians, who have reached a level where they can now share their knowledge and experience in this field with their foreign colleagues, continue to achieve significant successes. Prof. Dr. Hamdi Karakayalı spoke as follows regarding the living-donor liver transplant they recently performed at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands:

“Last year, Leiden's transplant team (surgeons, gastroenterologists, radiologists, pathologists, anesthesia and intensive care specialists, and operating room nurses) visited us at our Acıbadem University Atakent Hospital Organ Transplant Center, where they spent a week with us and observed three of our liver transplant surgeries. After they returned to their country, the recipient and donor were finally prepared for the first case; we decided they were suitable during an online council meeting and scheduled the surgery date. We transplanted the liver from a 29-year-old donor to her 45-year-old Dutch aunt and successfully completed the 13-hour surgery. Meanwhile, the donor surgery was performed robotically with the contribution of a surgeon who joined the team from Taiwan. We are proud on behalf of our country to have provided such support to a prestigious institution known worldwide, such as the Leiden University Medical Center.”

TURKEY RANKS 1ST IN THE WORLD IN LIVING-DONOR TRANSPLANT SUCCESS 

Emphasizing that according to current official data, the majority of the nearly 35 thousand patients registered on the Ministry of Health's Organ Transplant Waiting List are in urgent need of an organ transplant, Prof. Dr. Karakayalı said, “Organ donation is not enough to meet the need, and unfortunately, most patients lose their lives while waiting, during which time new patients are constantly added to the list. However, when looking at the numbers of living-donor liver transplants that allow patients who find donors to be treated, our country ranks 1st. Yet, the ideal is to have a high rate of deceased-donor donations. Therefore, we must absolutely increase deceased-donor transplants in our country.” Prof. Dr. Karakayalı also stated that according to the new regulation recently published by the Ministry of Health, organ donation declarations can now be made via E-Devlet and E-Nabız, noting that this is a promising development for increasing deceased-donor donations. 

News Source: 12punto