The Cardarelli Hospital in Naples confirms its excellence in liver transplants, reaching a significant milestone in 2024. With 44 operations performed since the beginning of the year, the Neapolitan hospital has established itself as one of the most important referral centers nationwide for this delicate procedure.
The average of one transplant per week testifies to the constant commitment of the medical teams and their ability to successfully manage even complex and urgent cases. In the last seven days, four patients have received a new liver, demonstrating the readiness and efficiency of the organizational system.
A particularly significant finding is the high number of donations from Cardarelli : in 2023, 24 of the 48 donors from Campania chose to donate their organs at the Neapolitan hospital. This achievement is the fruit of a fruitful collaboration with the donors' families and ongoing awareness-raising efforts about organ donation.
Thanks to these numbers, the Cardarelli not only offers life hope to numerous patients affected by serious liver diseases, but also contributes to reducing waiting lists for transplants at regional and national level.
“We need to increasingly raise awareness among young people about the importance of donating, making them understand that every donor can save up to seven lives,” said Antonio D'Amore , general director of Cardarelli.
Soon at Cardarelli we will activate new transplant lines and we are also studying very seriously the procedure of living transplant. Our hospital is equipped to be able to deal with large numbers, it has all the facilities required for emergencies and for the planning of such delicate interventions, with departments ready for any eventuality”.
"Since 2019, Cardarelli has performed 252 liver transplants, with 80 patients waiting, making us the third-largest center in Italy. In recent years, after Covid, there has been an increase in transplants. The goal," explained Giovanni Vennarecci , director of the Hepatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation Unit, "is to exceed 50 procedures per year, but it depends greatly on the number of donors."
“Almost 50 percent of patients have hepatocellular carcinoma, and we work tirelessly on them every day to contain the growth of this tumor and arrive at surgery in conditions that will achieve good health outcomes not only immediately but also in the long term ,” he added.
This work has allowed Cardarelli to regain the trust of Campania's patients and curb passive healthcare migration for liver transplants, which has now decreased by 25 percent compared to the past.
"It's not a question of education, but of culture, in the sense that it doesn't depend on education but on knowledge of the subject and, often, on communication between the doctor and the family. Donation," said Elio Bonagura , head of the UOSD for the Coordination of Organ and Tissue Procurement Activities , "is the greatest gesture of trust a citizen makes towards the State, in which he entrusts himself completely.
In Intensive Care we have adopted a specific communication approach that has allowed us to increase the availability to donate, with one of the lowest opposition rates in Italy. It is an awareness-raising effort that requires commitment and puts the person at the center”.
cardarelli is an excellent hospital for liver transplants, but citizens should be better informed, so as to increase donations. the waiting system is also important, because many people need these interventions.