PRESS RELEASE
Organ donation and transplantation activity in 2021 in Hungary
Budapest, January 20, 2022 – Organ donation from deceased and from living persons and all life-saving organ transplantation programs are continuously operated in Hungary in compliance with strict epidemiological rules. The international exchange of donor organs takes place within the framework of the cooperation agreement with EUROTRANSPLANT. Reporting of potential donors has always been important, but the identification and referral of all potential organ donors has a more significant relevance to the life expectancy of patients awaiting organ transplantation.
In 2021, the background institute of the Ministry of Human Resources, HNBTS, received 151 potential donor reports from 35 hospitals, and finally there were 102 actual deceased organ donors in 30 hospitals. 299 organs transplanted from deceased and 34 organs from living donors.
According to international data, a deceased organ donor gives an average of 30.8 years of life for the transplanted patients, so last year's 102 deceased organ donors provided the possibility of 3142 new life years for transplanted patients through organ donation.
An average of 4.31 donor reports were received from the active hospitals. The most active hospital reported 13 donors and 8 organ donations were performed in. The most active donor reporting physician reported 7 potential donors. Last year, in cooperation with Eurotransplant, 70 foreign donor organs were transplanted in Hungary, including 35 kidneys, 1 pancreas, 15 livers, 17 hearts and 2 lungs. 26% of Hungarian organ transplants were performed with a foreign organ.
In 2021, a total of 307 organ transplants were performed in seven organ transplantation centers in Hungary, in 273 cases from deceased and 34 cases from living donors.
162 deceased donor and 34 living donor kidney transplants so in total of 196 kidney transplants were performed at the four kidney transplant centers in Hungary. Most kidney transplants were performed at the Department of Surgery, Transplantation and Gastroenterology, Semmelweis University, with 99 cases from a deceased donor and a further 26 from a living donor. University of Pécs, Department of Surgery performed 20 transplantations from deceased and 5 from living donors, the University of Debrecen, Department of Surgery performed 27 transplantations from deceased donors and 1 from living donor, University of Szeged, Department of Surgery performed 16 transplantations from deceased donor and 2 from living donors. 59 liver transplants were performed at the Department of Surgery, Transplantation and Gastroenterology, Semmelweis University.
34 heart transplants were performed in the two Hungarian heart transplant centers, of which 24 surgeries were performed at the Semmelweis University, Heart and Vascular Center and 10 at the György Gottsegen National Cardiovascular Institute.
14 lung transplants were performed at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Semmelweis University, at the base of the National Institute of Oncology.
There were 4 simultaneous kidney and pancreas transplantations at the Department of Surgery, Transplantation and Gastroenterology, Semmelweis University.
A total of 1774 patients were on the transplant waiting list in 2021, 413 new patients were registered on the waiting list, and 1,313 patients were waiting for a life-saving organ transplant at the end of the year. The waiting time for transplant patients in lung transplantation was the shortest, 0.41 years. Heart and liver transplant candidates waited an average of 0.67 and 1.06 years. The waiting time was 3.52 years for combined kidney-pancreas transplantation and 4.08 years for kidney transplantation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, multidisciplinary cooperation with professionals is essential to maintain organ donation activity and the quality and safety of care for patients in need of organ transplantation. Numerous online professional forums were held to exchange experiences of both transplant and intensive care professionals, helping to maximize organ donation and transplantation.
Further information: www.ovsz.hu/szervdonacio
Hungarian National Blood Transfusion Service (HNBTS), Transplantation Directorate
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2022. 01. 20.
