Israel: first successful kidney transplant following death due to cardiac arrest

Publié le 25 Août, 2014

According to the Jerusalem Post, for the first time in Israel, two patients have survived organ transplant surgery performed with the organs taken from a man who died from a cardiac arrest. The donor’s organs were placed in cold storage for two hours to preserve them whilst the necessary examinations were carried out and the family’s consent was obtained.

 

Transplantation following cardiac arrest is not a new concept – it dates back to the 1960s.  However, only low survival rates have been documented since the organs did not receive sufficient oxygen when the heart stopped beating.  This is why, “until recently, organs were taken from brain dead people whose hearts were still beating”. However, there is no consensus in Israel regarding the collection of organs from brain dead patients, especially as far as certain sectors of the Jewish population are concerned.

 

Professor Jonathan Cohen, an Intensive Care specialist in Beilinson (Israel) and medical advisor to the Israeli National Transplantion Centre, pioneered the operation. He introduced the technique of preserving organs collected from people who died from cardiac arrest, into Israel after completing four years of studies in Holland and Belgium.

According to Professor Jonathan Cohen, the technique could also be used for other organs such as the liver and lungs.

 

For Professor Rafael Beyar, Director of the Rambam Medical Centre, this transplantation “is an important step in promoting transplantation in Israel. It is important that the public know that the solution for the kidney shortage is within our grasp. Everyone, in accordance with ethics and religion, is invited to have a donor card and give his/her consent to donate an organ after death”. According to the Jerusalem Post, for the first time in Israel, two patients have survived organ transplant surgery performed with the organs taken from a man who died from a cardiac arrest. The donor’s organs were placed in cold storage for two hours to preserve them whilst the necessary examinations were carried out and the family’s consent was obtained.

 

Transplantation following cardiac arrest is not a new concept – it dates back to the 1960s.  However, only low survival rates have been documented since the organs did not receive sufficient oxygen when the heart stopped beating.  This is why, “until recently, organs were taken from brain dead people whose hearts were still beating”. However, there is no consensus in Israel regarding the collection of organs from brain dead patients, especially as far as certain sectors of the Jewish population are concerned.

 

Professor Jonathan Cohen, an Intensive Care specialist in Beilinson (Israel) and medical advisor to the Israeli National Transplantion Centre, pioneered the operation. He introduced the technique of preserving organs collected from people who died from cardiac arrest, into Israel after completing four years of studies in Holland and Belgium.

According to Professor Jonathan Cohen, the technique could also be used for other organs such as the liver and lungs.

 

For Professor Rafael Beyar, Director of the Rambam Medical Centre, this transplantation “is an important step in promoting transplantation in Israel. It is important that the public know that the solution for the kidney shortage is within our grasp. Everyone, in accordance with ethics and religion, is invited to have a donor card and give his/her consent to donate an organ after death”

The Jerusalem Post (Judy Siegel-Itzkovich) 25/08/2014

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