Prague, Dec 3 (CTK) – A total of 5,000 patients received a new kidney at the prestigious Czech Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKEM) within its transplantation programme in the past 49 years, IKEM director Ales Herman told journalists Thursday.
In all, the patients have received 5,681 kidneys, Herman said.
The oldest systematic Czech transplantation programme helps on average five patients a week.
“The IKEM transplant centre has reached another milestone as it transplanted the 5,000th kidney on November 14,” Herman said.
“Since 1966, doctors have helped in this way 1,828 women and 3,172 men,” he added.
Thanks to medical progress, a new kidney can be transplanted to almost all patients.
The Prague-based IKEM does over one-half of all kidney transplants in the Czech Republic. Last year, its doctors transplanted 265 kidneys out of the total 507.
Jiri Fronek, director of the Transplant Surgery Department, said the development of the programme of kidney transplants from living donors had brought about a tremendous growth in this sphere.
“Most kidneys from living donors work better and longer,” Fronek said.
“Although we have managed to multiply the numbers, this is still too little, less than one-fifth of all kidney transplants,” he added.
“Compared with western Europe, we still must close the gap as there the kidney transplants from living donors make up almost one half,” Fronek said.
Chronic renal failure has afflicted 11,000 people in the Czech Republic.
“It is alarming that 45 percent of patients had to be treated by dialysis without having known that their kidneys were damaged,” Ondrej Viklicky, head of the IKEM Nephrology Department, said.
In the Czech Republic, there are 4,526 people living with a functional transplanted kidney, while the rest are treated by dialysis.
The kidney transplants also mean a financial contribution, deputy director of the VZP health insurance company, Petr Honek, said.
“In the year before a transplant when the patients have to undergo dialysis, the costs per patient is on average 773,000 crowns. In the year after it, this is 474,000 crowns less,” he added.
At present, IKEM performs 50-60 such surgeries annually.
“For the patients with kidney insufficiency, this means considerably better long-term results,” Fronek said.
