Department of Kidney and Liver Transplantation in Adults and Children - Memorial Bahcelievler Hospital Istanbul

About the Department of Kidney and Liver Transplantation in Adults and Children at Memorial Bahcelievler Hospital Istanbul

The Department of Kidney and Liver Transplantation in Adults and Children at the Memorial Bahсelievler Hospital Istanbul offers the full range of services in the areas of its specialization. In addition to kidney or liver transplantation, the department's medical team thoroughly prepares patients for the intervention, as well as provides professional care after the transplant surgery. The department's surgeons perform kidney and liver transplantation from both living and deceased donors, but due to organ deficiency, 80% of transplant procedures are performed from living donors. The department successfully uses innovative surgical techniques of bloodless liver transplantation. The highly qualified specialists of the medical facility perform more than 370 kidney transplant procedures and more than 260 liver transplant procedures every year. The department also has vast experience in the field of transplant surgery in children. The medical facility has an excellent reputation both in Turkey and abroad, and also has the status of the Training Center, where the transplant surgeons from Turkey, Europe and the United States regularly undergo training programs. The department is headed by Prof. Dr. med. Kamil Yalcın Polat.

The kidney transplantation is indicated for patients with end-stage chronic kidney disease. Prior to the operation, the patient must undergo a number of diagnostic tests, including various laboratory blood tests, electrocardiography, echocardiography, radiography, ultrasound scanning, comprehensive assessment of the function of the kidneys and liver, etc. In the case of satisfactory results of all diagnostic tests, the department's doctors decide on the operation and begin to search for a donor. The most important condition for the successful outcome of the kidney transplantation is the compatibility of the donor kidney with the recipient's tissues, since this fact excludes the risk of rejection of the transplanted organ. The best candidates for the role of donor are close relatives of the recipient. The required criteria for selecting a donor are HLA compatibility of the patient and the donor, the absence of transmissible infections in the donor (for example, HIV, hepatitis C and B), Rh factor and blood type match. It is also desirable that the weight, height and gender of the donor are identical to the recipient's parameters. The donor organ procurement and its transplantation are performed using the laparoscopic technique. This allows the patient to significantly reduce the period of postoperative recovery after kidney transplantation, as well as to exclude severe pain after the intervention. In addition, the cosmetic result after laparoscopic surgery is much better than after open interventions. After the kidney transplantation, the recipient will be under a thorough monitoring of nephrologists and other highly qualified specialists. After kidney transplantation, the patient has to take special drugs (immunosuppressants) for some time, as well as regularly undergo routine diagnostic examinations. The department's surgeons perform hundreds of kidney transplant procedures annually, so they have a wealth of clinical experience – the success rates of kidney transplantation in the department are not inferior to the treatment results of end-stage chronic kidney disease in Europe and the USA.

Another department's key focus is on liver transplantation. Such an operation is most often indicated for patients with chronic liver failure, cirrhosis, liver cancer, some severe metabolic disorders, etc. The liver transplantation is an extreme measure, which the department's specialists resort to only if all other possible therapeutic methods are ineffective. Since liver transplantation is a rather complicated procedure, the department's surgeons only perform it if the patient has a good chance of recovery. For example, the presence of a large tumor with metastases, HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis in the active stage greatly reduces the likelihood of a successful operation. The department specializes in liver transplant surgery from both living and deceased donors. As in the case of kidney transplant, a close relative is the best donor. The key requirements for the donor are the best possible tissue compatibility, good general health, similar bodily constitution and age up to 60 years. The liver transplantation is a rather lengthy process, during which the destroyed liver of the recipient is replaced with a donor organ or part of it. The duration of the operation is 13-16 hours. Most of the time is spent on the creation of multiple anastomoses (connections) between the vessels for the integration of the transplanted organ into the circulatory system. After the operation, the recipient will be under the monitoring of physicians. He will be prescribed an individual regimen of immunosuppressants. The patient needs to take drugs for life. They help prevent the process of rejection of the transplanted organ. The medical facility is distinguished by the outstanding success in liver transplantation not only in adults, but also in children. The department's surgeons are skilled in liver transplantation techniques, so the patients can be sure of a quality result.

The department's main clinical focuses include:

• Kidney transplantation
  • Preparation for kidney transplantation, including comprehensive diagnostics of the recipient and the donor
  • Laparoscopic organ procurement procedure
  • Living or deceased donor kidney transplantation
  • Follow-up patient care, including individual selection of immunosuppressants for the prevention of rejection of the transplanted organ
• Liver transplantation
  • Partial liver transplantation from a living related donor
  • Orthotopic liver transplantation (total organ transplantation)
  • Heterotopic liver transplantation (implantation of healthy tissues of the donor organ to the patient's liver)
• Other surgical services