Doctors from the Central Clinical Hospital in Warsaw have already performed 250 liver transplants this year. This is a record for the facility, thanks to which the hospital has become one of the largest liver transplant centers in Europe.
Mr. Rafał Krychniak received a new liver on Tuesday as patient number 249, and patient 250 was operated on a day later and these are not the last transplants this year.
– In my 15-year career in this clique, I never thought we would reach such a number. Thanks to this number, we have become the largest transplant center in Europe. I think it’s one of the largest in the world, says Krzysztof Zając, transplant coordinator at the Central Clinical Hospital in Warsaw.
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For comparison, last year at the Central Clinical Hospital in Warsaw, doctors transplanted 134 livers. It was already a very good result, but the head of the clinic had more ambitious plans. – I would like us to exceed, or at least come close to, 200 liver transplants in the clinic per year – said Prof. in December 2022. Michał Grąt, head of the Department of General Surgery, Transplantation and Liver at the Medical University of Warsaw.
As you can see, the plans and wishes came true brilliantly. – This is what we dreamed of, it is only a number, but this number represents those patients whom we could save – emphasizes Grąt.
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More challenges for the new year
However, new patients are constantly arriving and need help. Poltransplant data shows that in November alone, over 150 patients were waiting for a liver transplant in Poland. Among them was Mr. Tomasz Pyrczek, but the man received a new liver from a deceased donor a few days ago. – We are extremely grateful that someone like this happened and that the family agreed – says the patient.
Last year, we showed the first machine in Poland for keeping harvested livers alive. Good equipment, expanding indications for transplantation, people and modern methods – these are the keys to this success. – The introduction of the world’s most modern methods of reducing risk in the postoperative period, methods of minimally invasive preparation of patients for surgery – this has enabled us to significantly increase the number of transplantations – explains Prof. Grąt.
Another challenge for doctors from the Central Clinical Hospital in Warsaw is to increase the number of transplants from living donors for adults. In such a situation, only a fragment of the liver is collected from a living donor, preferably a relative
Main photo source: University Clinical Center of the Medical University of Warsaw