Memorial Hospitals Group - Organ Transplantation Center

Organ Transplantation in Turkey

Due to a continuous shortage of donor livers and the high incidence of liver disease, the waiting time is increasing every year. Hundreds of people die each year while waiting for a liver to be offered.

Memorial Hospital Organ Transplantation Unit is the first and the only private healthcare institution approved and licensed by the Health Department for organ (liver and kidney) transplantation and related laboratory services....

Liver and kidney transplantation are being successfully performed at Memorial Hospital Organ Transplantation Unit.

Liver Transplantation

When considering organ transplantation in Turkey, you need to keep in mind there are some laws, applied by the Turkish Ministry of Heath, regulating the conduct of organ transplantation procedures. Organ transplantation procedures can only be performed from an organ donor who is the patient’s relative of the first or forth degree. International patients coming to Turkey for organ transplantation are strongly advised to provide documents from their local authorities to officially state the relationship between the patient and the donor.

Blood group of the recipient and donor should be compatible. Donor livers can be provided by a family member or a friend who is willing to donate a portion of his/her liver to the recipient. Blood type compatibility and the donor's liver size are deciding factors for liver transplant success. The bigger the size of the donor’s liver; the better the recipient’s chances of having a successful liver transplant operation. Organ donation is an altruistic, selfless deed; however the donor must be in good health and has a charitable desire of donation. The liver donor must be 18-60 of age to undergo organ donation.

As far as live donation is concerned, the donor must undergo medical examination to ensure that he/she is physically fit. CT scans or MRI s are often conducted to image the liver. After the donor is tested, transplant doctors can make an educated decision whether the donation can be performed. Living donor transplant is the most frequent option for children. In some rare emergency cases, liver transplant can be performed with incompatible blood types to save the person’s life.   

Kidney Transplantation

Kidney transplant is the best treatment for patients suffering of chronic kidney failure at the terminal stage.

Patients who lost at least 80% of their kidney functions need hemodialysis or periton dialysis to survive. Dialysis provides life support for many patients however it might cause many other problems. The damage it causes on the circulation system might have a negative effect on the patient’s social life.

Therefore kidney transplant is the best solution. Kidney transplant improves the quality of life of the patient by ensuring the kidneys to function properly. However kidney transplant could not be performed on every patient with kidney failure. Several examinations and tests are performed to decide whether the patient is a candidate for kidney transplant.

There are different sources of donor kidneys:

• Living donor ( from a family member)
• Cadaveric donor (a person diagnosed as brain dead but whose other organs and systems are functioning properly.

It is best to divide donor and recipient matching into 3 distinct areas: blood type matching, tissue type matching, and cross-matching. Each of these is a distinct and important aspect of donor and recipient matching.

Organ Transplantation in Memorial

• Liver, kidney and pancreas transplants are successfully performed in Memorial Health Group. Memorial’s success rates in kidney transplantation and in liver transplantation are 99% and 93.5% respectively

• 7 kg baby received both liver and kidney transplantation at the same time at Sisli Memorial Hospital Organ Transplantation Center for the first time in the world

• Surgery success rates are above international standards

• The first private hospital to obtain  license from Ministry of Health for organ transplantation

• The first private hospital to carry out kidney and liver transplantation

• The first blood-type incompatible pediatric liver transplantation

For Arabic-speaking patients, Ziraat Aada is a dedicated portal designed to provide valuable information regarding organ transplants Turkey-- in Arabic.