At the Policlinico Federico II in Naples, a kidney transplant was performed – for the first time in Southern Italy, according to sources at the facility – with the kidney removed the day before and preserved thanks to the continuous perfusion machine (machine perfusion) while waiting for the recipient to be prepared for the transplant.
The first patient operated on is a young woman from Campania, returned from France in Naples. The girl, who had moved to France for work reasons, was now resigned to the idea of having to undergo dialysis for the rest of her days: for her, the kidney donation and subsequent transplant meant being able to live again.
“Machine perfusion” It is the name of the machine that allows the continuous perfusion of the organs, and it is the latest, in chronological order, among the technological acquisitions of the Policlinico Federico II of Napoli. In addition to having allocated 10 million euros for the purchase of technologies at the service of health, thanks to a regional allocation, the general management of the Policlinico Federiciano intends to relaunch the kidney transplant activity.
The purchase and use of machine perfusion is directed in this direction, which allows the organ to be preserved while awaiting transplantation and also to evaluate its functionality. It is thanks to this technology that in recent days at the Policlinico Federico II in Naples a kidney transplant was performed - for the first time in Southern Italy - removed the day before and preserved thanks to the continuous cold perfusion machine.
“Paraphrasing the title of a famous film we could say that the Transplant Center “starts again from Three” – emphasizes the professor Roberto Ivan Troisi, head of the transplant program at Federico II in Naples- I am referring to the control of the quality of the transplant through intraoperative evaluation of the anastomotic flows of the organ, to the machine perfusion to expand the use of the organs currently available in Campania and, last but not least, to the offer of the robotic approach to the living kidney donor”.
Precisely with respect to living kidney transplantation, “thanks to the determination of the general manager Anna Iervolino – sas is underlined in a note – the Policlinico Federico II has made important steps in recent years. The transplant program has been revolutionized, resulting in improvements not only in logistics and company organization but also facilitated thanks to the integration of multidisciplinary skills, the cornerstone of a high-standard transplant program”.
In just 10 months, 33 transplants have already been performed, 5 of which from living donors, making the Policlinico Federico II in Naples a regional reference center of the highest technological and professional level. With the use of machine perfusion, a greater number of organs will be made suitable for transplantation than the current offers in the region.
“Our general management – concludes Troisi – has enabled us to overcome many previously insurmountable obstacles, significantly increasing our ability to provide excellent services and to be attractive to patients from other regions, even during the pandemic emergency”.
In the case of living kidney transplants, social costs, damage and suffering from dialysis are significantly reduced, allowing the recipient to have an organ that guarantees better functioning, in the short and long term. Furthermore, the risks for donors are truly minimal. In fact, also thanks to constant monitoring and greater attention to lifestyle, living kidney donors have a long-term survival equal to or greater than that of the general population.
Article published on May 13, 2022 - 11:19 pm
