ACIBADEM TURKIYE: A Preeminent Center for Adult and Pediatric Liver and Kidney Transplantation

Acıbadem Healthcare Group is a leading destination for kidney and liver transplantation worldwide. Many patients from across the world choose Acıbadem in Türkiye for their treatment, attracted by their multidisciplinary approach, extensive experience, innovative surgical techniques, high success rates, and patient-centered international service.

Organ transplantation is a deeply emotional journey. A healthy donor willingly undergoes surgery to give part of their organ, offering someone else a chance to survive. The recipient, in turn, holds on to life through this act of generosity. Today, organ transplantation is possible for various organs. However, the two organs with the highest need for transplantation, as well as the most frequently transplanted and with the highest success rates, are the kidney and liver.

Professor Hamdi Karakayalı, one of the pioneers in organ transplantation in the country and the head of Acıbadem Atakent Hospital Organ Transplantation Center, highlights the center’s capacity and expertise: “At Acıbadem, we perform both liver and kidney transplantations, primarily relying on living donors in our transplantation program. Acıbadem serves as a referral center not only for Türkiye but also for the wider region.  Many patients travel from abroad with their donors to undergo transplantation at our center. My team and I have extensive experience in this field. I have performed more than 2,500 liver transplantations and over 4,000 kidney transplantations. At Acıbadem, in this hospital alone, we have conducted 1,500 liver transplantations and more than 1,000 kidney transplantations in the past 10 years.”

Acıbadem has impressive success rates in both kidney and liver transplantation. The survival rate for kidney transplantation is nearly 99%, and for liver transplantation, our success rate is almost 90%, both of which are especially notable compared to the success rates of other countries performing living donor transplantations.

The Liver Continues to Function Even After Donating More Than Half

When the liver can no longer function properly, it is called liver failure. If it is not treated, it will progress to death. A liver transplant is the only solution, as survival is not possible without a functioning liver. There are two types of liver transplants based on the donor source: living donor and deceased donor transplantation. The liver is uniquely suited for living donor transplants because it is the only organ in the human body that can regenerate. When a donor gives more than half of their liver for transplantation, the remaining portion can continue functioning without serious complications. In fact, the liver can still perform its functions even when up to 70% of it is removed.

The Leading Country in Living Donor Kidney Transplants Worldwide

Kidney transplantation is the transfer of a healthy kidney to a person whose kidneys have no activity. Although dialysis can partially compensate for the loss of kidney function, it is not a permanent cure. There are two types of kidney transplantation regarding the donor types: from living donors and from deceased donors. A living person can donate a kidney because, after donating one, they can continue to live a healthy, normal life with the remaining kidney. More than 3.500 kidney transplants are performed in Türkiye annually, and 85% of them are done with living donors. This number makes Türkiye first country for living donor kidney transplantations in the world.

Pediatric Organ Transplants Set Acıbadem Transplantation Center Apart

Beyond performing thousands of surgeries, having an expert team, using state-of-the-art technology, and achieving success rates of up to 99%, perhaps our most remarkable aspect is our ability to touch lives by performing surgeries on babies as young as 5–6 months old, weighing only 4.5 kilograms. Babies may suffer from congenital genetic diseases that lead to liver or kidney failure, requiring organ transplants. However, only a limited number of centers worldwide perform these surgeries. At Acıbadem, our team has extensive experience in this field. Today, liver and kidney transplantation procedures are performed at Acıbadem’s four organ transplantation centers: two in Istanbul and one each in Izmir and Bursa. If you’d like to learn more, visit acibademinternational.com and share your condition with us through the contact form. Our expert team will get in touch with you within a few hours.