Surprise, sadness and anger in much of the medical world have been caused by the defense lawyer’s characterization of the Director of the Children’s Intensive Care Unit of the University Hospital of Patras as an organ smuggler for transplants abroad. Andreas Iliadis, whose division has recently made significant contributions to the field of transplantology. “And it’s not just this particular unit that offers. These are also Attikon, Papanikolaou, Papageorgiou, the University of Ioannina and others.” told “K” the head of the Greek transplant organization.. Everyone is afraid that at a time when efforts are being made to pull our country out of the transplant morass that has dragged on for decades, introversion will again take over with suspicious citizens and doctors who will be afraid to promote transplantation. transplants not to be accused of “Organ trade“.

An attack received by a resuscitator at the University Hospital of Patras, and which was condemned, among other things, Ministry of Health, EOM And Greek Society of Intensive Carefound Greece with a dynamic increase in transplants. According to the EOM, from the beginning of the year until the day before yesterday, 05/04/2023, 62 transplantations of parenchymal organs from deceased donors were performed in our country against 163 last year during the year and 126 in 2021.

In the first three months of the year, 52 brain deaths were reported to the EOM, and organs were harvested from 29 deceased for transplantation. In 2022 (all twelve months), 178 brain deaths were reported to the EOM and organs were donated from 69 deceased donors. And it is worth noting that last year, with an organ donation index of 6.6 donors per million population, was the best in the last decade in terms of the number of transplants for Greece. The distance to other European countries such as Spain, Portugal and Croatia remains large. Spain annually has 40 donors per million population, Portugal and Croatia – about 30 donors per million population.

Local coordinators

The dynamics of organ donation in our country is due to the pilot placement of EOM, sponsored by the Onassis Foundation, in seven hospitals of local transplant coordinators, which is the institution that has led Spain to a high rate of organ donation. This is also supported by the coverage of donation cases in local and national media, which serves as an example for families and doctors.

The Ministry of Health, the Hellenic Transplant Organization and those involved in transplantation want to keep this momentum going. Yesterday, the leadership of the Ministry of Health gave full support to Mr. Iliadis. He intends to look for the minutes of the court session in order to take judicial action himself “in case things are said that affect the institutions of the ministry,” his sources said. The Ministry expresses “absolute support for the EOM and the institution of transplants, which are carried out in our country with complete safety and transparency, and transplants save hundreds of lives every year.”

Last year, with an organ donation index of 6.6 donors per million population, was the best in the last decade in terms of transplants for Greece.

“misrepresentation”

In the same context, Head of the Transplantation Coordination Unit of the EOM Yuli Menudaku comments on “K” that “Incidents like these give the wrong impression about how organ donation is done. Donation is not the business of a resuscitator who will “distribute organs”. Brain death certification is the work of an interdisciplinary team that has nothing to do with transplant departments and the Hellenic Transplant Organization.

After the establishment of brain death and the written consent of the relatives, the EOM coordination center is informed and, based on international protocols, the reception and delivery of organs for transplantation is organized with absolute transparency and controlled procedures.”

Distinguished Professor of Pathology – Nephrology, President of the Hellenic Society of Transplantologists and Onassios, Ioannis Boletis, notes on “K” that “it is unfair when a doctor who, after the death of a patient, fights to give life to other children, is attacked for other reasons. And because of this governance, we fear that we will fall behind organ donation. It means loss of life.”

“They do everything”

Parents who found themselves in a difficult situation of organ donation of their child testify to the same with their testimony. TO EOM and Onassis Foundation organ donation guide (Organmeetings program) in an interview, Ms. Joanna Sarri-Balassi, whose daughter helped five people be born again with her death, usually mentions that “contrary to the conspiracy stories that some people believe, the doctors in the intensive care unit are doing everything to save the patient, they don’t want to take his organs.

Yesterday, our colleague and member of the Hellenic Intensive Care Society was described by a lawyer during a hearing as a “transplant organ dealer” in a foreign country. This characterization openly offends all resuscitators in the country, as well as the sacred institution of organ donation. The greatest gift of life is organ donation. We believe that the idea of ​​giving is being attacked with completely baseless arguments. A family of resuscitators who struggle every day to make a living at no cost to themselves are now saddened by the attack on the work of medical and nursing staff who have been trying for decades to bring the country out of the transplant quagmire. The continuous efforts of the intensive care unit workers are aimed at offering Greek citizens the gift of transplantation, that is, the gift of life.
On behalf of resuscitators throughout the country, EETH President M. Theodorakopoulou.

Strict and transparent process based on international protocols

As a transparent and controlled process involving a network of actors National Health System and which is carried out on the basis of international protocols with its central coordination Greek transplant organization, experts characterize organ donation for transplantation in our country. The process essentially begins with the death of the patient in the intensive care unit.

Such as explains “K” Honorary Professor of Pathology-Neprology EKPA, President of the Hellenic Society of Transplantology and the Onassios Center for Cardiac Surgery, Ioannis Boletis, “brain death is a very specific condition, the diagnosis of which is initially made by a resuscitator after certain medical tests and laboratory tests, if necessary.” It is noted that a stroke is the death of a person after irreversible catastrophic damage to the brain stem. And never in the history of medicine has a patient recovered from a catastrophic brain stem injury.

Mr. Boletis continues: “The doctor, having informed the Hellenic Transplant Organization that he has a potential donor, turns to relatives about the possibility of organ donation. The consent of relatives is not required if the deceased was an organ donor (registered in the Donor Registry) and not possible if the patient during his lifetime declared his refusal to become a posthumous donor (Register of EOM Objectors). ). The doctor does not have this information in advance, but receives it from the EOM during his communication after the first diagnosis of brain death. If the relatives agree, a team of doctors outside the intensive care unit – in some cases even from another hospital – repeat the tests to certify brain death in order to have additional confidence in the diagnosis. All procedures and test results are recorded in the protocols, which are signed by a team of doctors stating death. From now on, the Hellenic Transplantation Organization will take over the coordination of the organ donation process.”

Distribution of grafts potential recipients of the respective national registry, stored electronically in the EOM, is decided for each organ and the procedure is carried out based on strict international medical criteria such as blood type, histocompatibility between donor and potential recipient, waiting time, age, body parameters and medically confirmed severity of the condition the health of each patient.

The intensive care unit doctor is also not involved in the organ harvesting process. This is done by a team of surgeons from the hospital and department that will be performing the transplant on the intended recipient. Mr. Boletis emphasizes that “we only send organs abroad for transplantation when we do not have a compatible recipient of our own. The shipment is made to countries that have agreed that they will accept patients from Greece for transplants that are not done in our country, so in the end it benefits Greek patients.” As stated in a statement from the Greek Transplant Organization, “The EOM offers, based on strict rules and protocols, organs for transplants in our country or in Italy, with which Greece maintains a transnational cooperation, mainly for pediatric organ transplants that are not performed in Hellas. Dozens of children from Greece have been transplanted in Italy with transplants from Greek or Italian donors.”