50-year history of kidney transplantation in Hungary

Abstract

The first Hungarian kidney transplantation was performed by András Németh in Szeged in 1962, approximately 50 years ago. A preliminary agreement with Eurotransplant was signed in 2011, and special patient groups gained benefit from this cooperation in 2012, wnich lead to a full membership to Eurotransplant. This event inspired the authors to review the history of Hungarian kidney transplantation of the past 50 years, from the first operation to recent via the specific cornerstones of the transplant program. The donor of the first Hungarian kidney transplantation was the brother of the recipient. The operation itself was technically successful, but the lack of immunosuppression caused graft rejection, and the patient died after 79 days. His brother, the donor, is still healthy, after 50 years, and he encourages everybody to donate organs. Organized kidney transplant program started more than 10 years later, such as 1973, in Budapest. The program was supported by the Ministry of Health. New centers joined the program later, Szeged in 1979, Debrecen in 1991 and Pécs in 1993. These four transplant centers work currently in Hungary, and 6611 kidney transplantation has been performed up to the end of year 2012. Orv. Hetil., 2013, 154, 846–849.