{"id":49558,"date":"2026-10-08T12:20:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T10:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/?p=49558"},"modified":"2026-10-08T12:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T10:21:23","slug":"hungarys-first-triple-living-donor-kidney-transplant-performed-at-semmelweis-as-part-of-a-cross-donation-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/2026\/10\/hungarys-first-triple-living-donor-kidney-transplant-performed-at-semmelweis-as-part-of-a-cross-donation-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungary’s first triple living-donor kidney transplant performed at Semmelweis as part of a cross-donation program"},"content":{"rendered":"
Two weeks ago, three patients received new kidneys at the same time as part of Semmelweis University’s living-donor kidney exchange program. The recipients are doing well. This extraordinary surgical feat was the result of six hours of coordinated work by thirty healthcare professionals. This was the first time a three-way living-donor cross-donation was performed in Hungary. The medical team overcame immunological or blood-type incompatibilities between the patients and donors by exchanging the donated organs among three pairs of donors who were unrelated to one another. As the interventions were successful, the donors have already been discharged from the clinic; by now, two of the three recipients are recovering at home, and the third will also be able to go home soon.<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>Similarly to the European practice, the so-called \u201ccross-donation\u201d or \u201ckidney exchange\u201d has been available in Hungary since 2024. The basic idea is that if someone has a donor (e.g., a family member), but the two are immunologically incompatible, another pair in a similar situation is sought, and the donor from one pair donates a kidney to the recipient of the other pair, and vice versa, explains Dr. Attila Szij\u00e1rt\u00f3, Director of the Department of Surgery, Transplantation and Gastroenterology (St\u00e9G) at Semmelweis University. The most important message of these initiatives is that people with kidney failure could receive a new organ sooner if more of their relatives and close friends were to donate their kidneys.<\/p>\n

Until the summer of 2025, organ transplants were only possible between two pairs of individuals; the first cross-donation was performed earlier this year at the University of P\u00e9cs Clinical Center. However, following a statutory amendment last summer, multiple couples can now participate in the otherwise anonymous organ exchange, which significantly increases the likelihood of optimal matches and, consequently, the chances of successful kidney transplants, added Dr. Attila Szij\u00e1rt\u00f3.<\/p>\n

\n

Since the<\/em> number of organs from deceased donors is limited, living donor donations are growing in importance, as they can help reduce the current average waiting time of 3.5 years. \u2013 Dr. Attila Szij\u00e1rt\u00f3<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Dr. J\u00e1nos Bal\u00e1zs Kov\u00e1cs, Assistant Professor at ST\u00e9G and head of the kidney transplant program, said that the unusual transplant had required the coordinated efforts of nearly thirty healthcare professionals, including doctors, assistants, nurses, and coordinators. Then it took roughly six hours of intense work in the operating room to successfully perform the country\u2019s first triple living-donor kidney transplant.<\/p>\n

\n

The procedures were<\/em> performed simultaneously in three adjacent operating rooms: In the morning, the donors were anesthetized and the kidneys were removed \u2013 one of them using robotic assistance. Then, in the afternoon, the kidneys were transplanted with only a minimal time lag. \u2014 Dr. J\u00e1nos Bal\u00e1zs Kov\u00e1cs<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dr. J\u00e1nos Bal\u00e1zs Kov\u00e1cs shared that one of the patients involved in the cross-donation had already undergone a third kidney transplant. For the other two patients, immunological incompatibility had previously posed an insurmountable obstacle, which the three-way exchange has now successfully resolved.<\/p>\n

\n

Cross-donation provided an extraordinary opportunity to immediately improve the lives of my wife and another person. \u2013 S\u00e1ndor B\u00f3ta <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>S\u00e1ndor B\u00f3ta is one of the donors and the husband of one of the patients. They are both recovering at home. He added that, based on his experience, he would not decide differently even now, and he encourages everyone to trust in the professionalism of the Hungarian transplant team.<\/p>\n

As part of the living-donor kidney transplant program, two female and one male patient received new kidneys at Semmelweis, giving them the opportunity to enjoy a better quality of life.<\/p>\n

Eszter Csat\u00e1ri-F\u00f6ldv\u00e1ry
\nTranslation: Judit D\u0151tsch
\nPhotos and illustration by B\u00e1lint Barta\u00a0\u2013 Semmelweis University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three patients – two female and one male – received new organs. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102255,"featured_media":47263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,286],"tags":[215,125],"class_list":["post-49558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-x-nyitolap","tag-healing","tag-transplantation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49558"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49563,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49558\/revisions\/49563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}