Medipol University Hospital: Organ Transplant Department

The Department of Transplantation at the Medipol University Hospital specializes in liver and kidney transplantations. The hospital’s specialists have performed hundreds of operations and have experience in Europe and the United States.

Organ transplants are performed from related and non-related, living and cadaveric donors. In organ transplantation, living donors can be relatives up to the 4th degree. For unrelated organ transplantation, recipients and donors are evaluated by ethical committees set up under the Provincial Health Authority.

At the Medipol clinic, doctors carry out cross-transplantation according to the «domino» principle. What is the essence of such operations? Although some patients have a donor, the surgery cannot be performed due to incompatibility. Between two such donor-recipient pairs, specialists carry out transplantation from the donor of one pair to the recipient of the other. In a cross-transplant, both donor operations are started at the same time.

The main advantages of the Organ Transplantation Department of the Medipol University Hospital

Foreign patients choose the clinic for the following reasons:

• Medipol University Hospital is the first clinic in Turkey that has passed the JCI test according to the Academic Medical Center Standards and has been accredited. It ranks 32nd in the world hospital ranking.
• The transplant team includes top-class specialists with extensive experience in the field of liver and kidney transplantation.
• The hospital can simultaneously perform interventions in 25 operating rooms equipped with new generation technologies.
• The Transplantation Department welcomes patients and their families with traditional Turkish hospitality in the comfort of a 5-star hotel.

Kidney transplantation

During the 18 years of operation of the Department of Transplantation, doctors have performed about 2 000 kidney transplantations. The success rate for 400 kidney transplantations performed in the last 3 years is 99%.

Diseases that lead to kidney failure and are indications for a transplantation:

• Chronic glomerulonephritis and pyelonephritis;
• Severe arterial hypertension;
• Nephroangiosclerosis;
• Polycystic kidney disease;
• Alport syndrome;
• Wegener’s disease;
• Wilms tumor or other tumors requiring removal of the kidney;
• Renal vein thrombosis;
• Multiple myeloma.

Who can be a living donor in a kidney transplantation?

The donor matching criteria in the Transplantation Department of the Medipol Clinic include:

• Persons over the age of 18;
• Absence of any systemic diseases (cancer, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular pathology);
• The conclusion of a psychiatrist on complete sanity;
• Having both healthy kidneys;
• The person’s voluntary consent to organ donation;
• In the case of a couple of spouses, the written consent of the second spouse for the donation.

Liver transplantation

Liver transplantation is the most effective treatment for liver failure known today.

Liver diseases that are indications for a transplantation:

• Cirrhosis;
• Tumors that have not spread outside the liver;
• Some tumors that metastasize;
• Sudden onset of liver failure;
• Some parasitic diseases (for example, alveolar echinococcosis);
• Congenital metabolic diseases and hematological diseases;
• Serious post-traumatic liver injury.

Who can be a living donor in a liver transplantation?

Donor eligibility criteria at Medipol clinic:

• Persons over the age of 18;
• The upper age limit for donors is 65 years, but the main selection criterion is general health and the absence of systemic diseases;
• Recognized as mentally healthy (sane);
• Voluntary consent of the donor to donate part of their liver;
• If the donor is married, the written consent of the second spouse for donation;
• Compatibility of donor and recipient blood groups;
• Normal structure and function of the donor liver;
• Sufficient liver size for both the recipient and the donor;
• Absence of any systemic diseases (cancer, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular pathology).

In recent years, new drugs have been developed that suppress the immune system, and new surgical methods have been provided. Thanks to this, as well as the knowledge and experience of the doctors of the Medipol clinic, the rate of functioning of the transplanted organ reached 98% for transplantation from a living donor and 95% from a cadaveric one. The organ rejection rate has dropped to about 6% thanks to potent drugs.