So far, liver, kidney, pancreas and bone marrow transplants have been performed at UCC MUW. Now there will also be heart and lung transplants.
- We hope that there will be transplants not only of single organs, but also multi-organ transplants: heart with liver, heart with kidney, and in the future heart and lung. The program will also start at the Children's Clinical Hospital UCC MUW, where we will transplant hearts and lungs in children. We are also launching a mechanical circulatory support program for adults and children. The idea is to implant special pumps designed for patients who are ineligible for heart transplants or are waiting for a donor - says Prof. Mariusz Kuśmierczyk. Our specialists hope to be able to transplant 40 hearts and 40 lungs a year. Bartosz Kubisa, MD, PhD, from the Department of Cardiac Surgery UCC MUW, stresses that the demand for lung transplantation was calculated at 200 per year in Poland before the COVID-19 era. The primary indications for such transplantation are cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension. Now there is a new indication - distant complications after COVID-19.
Lung transplants in people under the age of 18 are procedures that are rarely performed in Poland and only in teenagers. Until now, no one has done this in small patients less than 140 cm tall. Our specialists want to undertake it.
- In children we want to perform lung transplants from live donors. During such a procedure, one lower lobe of a lung each is taken from the father and mother and implanted in place of whole lungs in the child. Before such a procedure, we have the opportunity to perfectly examine donors and recipients, as well as choose the best time for transplantation. The ischemia time of the transplanted organ is also reduced to a minimum. All this reduces the risk of complications, and the results of the procedure are better than in the case of organ donation from a deceased donor - explains Bartosz Kubisa, MD, PhD.
A major challenge for specialists at the Department of Cardiac Surgery UCC MUW will be multi-organ transplants.
- In chronic heart failure especially in right ventricular failure, venous blood stasis occurs, so organs such as the liver and kidneys are congested and damage occurs despite the best conservative treatment. Then heart transplantation alone will not restore the patient's health. It is necessary to transplant the organs together, i.e. heart and liver, heart and kidneys - explains Prof. Mariusz Kuśmierczyk.
Multi-organ heart and lung transplantation is also an extremely complex procedure. The indication for such a transplantation is a severe heart condition that has already been operated on several times and with which there is not only heart failure, but also obstruction of lung flow. So far in Poland, such a procedure has been successful only once.
When will the first transplant be performed at the Department of Cardiac Surgery? Exactly when is not known, as UCC MUW is still waiting for a decision from the National Health Fund on funding for the procedures.
