High demand

“A donor kidney gave me back my zest for life”

A kidney transplant is a highly complex, interdisciplinary procedure.

(Bild: @Ordensklinikum Linz)

Kidney transplants have been performed at the Sisters of Mercy Elisabethinen Hospital in Linz for 50 years. Around 60 operations are performed every year. The demand would be significantly higher, but there is a shortage of suitable donor kidneys.

"The donor kidney saved my life," says Rudolf Brettbacher (64) from Linz gratefully. "Before that, I was getting worse with every year, and my outlook and enjoyment of life continued to decline. I celebrate my kidney birthday every year!"

Great need
Around 60 kidneys are implanted at the Ordensklinikum Linz every year. However, the demand for donor organs is significantly higher: "We always have between 120 and 140 patients on our waiting list who would need a donor kidney," says Daniel Cejka, Head of the Department of Nephrology and Transplantation Medicine. "We could transplant more, but the number of donor organs is very limited."

(from left): Michael Girschikofsky, patient Rudolf Brettbacher, Christa Pfleger Daniel Cejka, Tamara Holzinger-Hammer and Matthias Biebl.

(Bild: @Ordensklinikum Linz)

Too few donors
For every million people, there are currently only around 18 organ donors, dead or alive, who are in a suitable constitution for a transplant. And this is despite the objection rule, according to which every citizen is eligible for donations unless they refuse in writing. According to the doctors and experts at the hospital, around 30 donors per million would be ideal.

Long waiting lists
Patients in need have to wait around three to four years. This waiting time can be bridged with dialysis, but the quality and expectation of life is significantly higher with a donated organ, especially as dialysis patients have to be treated three times a week for four hours. Planned living donations only account for around a quarter of all transplants, the rest are post-mortem donations.

Clock ticks from the time of collection
These are a logistical challenge: "Only around 20 hours can pass between removal and transplantation, of which four hours are spent on an examination and around two and a half hours on implantation," explains transplant coordinator Tamara Holzinger-Hammer: "Transportation also takes a few hours, depending on the origin."