200 hearts in 4 years. The youngest patient was 19, the oldest - 72

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A center that not only treats, but sets standards

The University Clinical Hospital in Wrocław is the largest hospital in the region. Since 2021, the local team of surgeons and specialists from the Institute of Heart Diseases, in cooperation with cardioanesthesiologists from the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, has been performing heart transplants.

In 4 years, doctors performed 200 transplants here. In 2024, they performed 49 such operations, which, according to USK data, places this center in first place in Poland in terms of the number of heart transplants performed.

- Our goal from the very beginning was to create a center that not only treats, but also sets standards and gives patients real hope - regardless of their age, place of residence or the stage of the disease - said the rector of the Medical University of Wrocław and director of the Institute of Heart Diseases of the USK, Prof. Piotr Ponikowski.

The majority of transplants performed in Wrocław involved patients in life-threatening conditions. Patients from all over the country are operated on here, including those who were previously disqualified in other facilities due to their health condition, the Wrocław hospital reported.

Head of the Cardiac Surgery Department , Dr. Roman Przybylski, who has performed over 500 transplants to date , emphasized that more and more older recipients are qualifying for transplantation.

- We also take organs from older patients, as long as their organs are in good condition. Recently, the donor in our clinic was a seventy-something patient whose kidneys were transplanted to a patient of a similar age. There are also more and more operations where several organs are transplanted at the same time, e.g. a heart with a liver, a heart with a pancreas or a heart with a kidney - said the doctor.

In turn, Dr. Ewa Mroczek from the USK Cardiology Clinic emphasized that people with congenital heart defects require special attention, as they are those who, after pediatric care, go to doctors who treat adult patients.

- In many patients, the deterioration of their health occurs gradually. When we notice such a trend, we qualify them for transplantation. I work with young patients who have already undergone numerous surgeries, but despite this, their quality of life decreases. They are increasingly excluded from everyday functioning. In many cases, the only chance to improve their health is a heart transplant - said Dr. Mroczek.

Currently, there are about 40 patients waiting for a heart transplant at the University Clinical Hospital , and according to Poltransplant data from 2024, there will be about 400 patients in the whole of Poland. In Lower Silesia, the number of donors has increased from 7.95 per million inhabitants to over 17.

- This is the result of intensive work by the Transplantation Coordination Office and better cooperation with hospitals in the region. Many facilities that previously did not register donors now do so regularly - emphasized Mateusz Rakowski, Head of the Transplantation and Donation Office at the University Clinical Hospital.

According to the regional transplant coordinator, numerous social campaigns are also effective , thanks to which it has recently become easier to talk to loved ones of the deceased. Social awareness is growing and it turns out that families are increasingly talking about this topic and more and more people know what the deceased's will was.

The youngest patient to receive a heart at the USK was 19 years old, the oldest – 72. The average age of recipients and donors is 50.

On Wednesday, USK representatives also announced that the Institute of Heart Diseases plans to develop a comprehensive pediatric cardiology and cardiac surgery center, which will also allow for heart transplants in children.

"The construction of a pediatric cardiac surgery center and the development of a transplant program for the youngest is not only a strategic decision, but above all an expression of our responsibility for the future of these children and their families," emphasized Prof. Ponikowski.

The team also plans to fully implement robotic surgery in cardiac surgery and further improve the systemic model for treating cardiogenic shock - a critical condition that requires immediate and multi-stage intervention.