site.btaMilitary Medical Academy Ready to Perform Kidney Transplantations

The Military Medical Academy is ready to perform kidney transplantations, head Major General Ventsislav Mutafchiyskiy said, speaking to journalists on Tuesday. Earlier, the hospital in Sofia marked the European Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation by adding six new petals to the Tree of Life in memory of organ donors.

The medics underwent training in Turkiye and Romania, said Gen. Mutafchiyski. He said the hospital is also ready with the equipment for operating theatres. Preliminary talks have also been held to sign contracts with immunology laboratories that deal with establishing the immunological status of donated organs, added Mutafchiyski.

Post-transplant monitoring of patients who underwent liver transplantation at the MMA, as well as patients transplanted abroad, is carried out by doctors at the MMA, he added. He said that the monitoring of transplanted patients is paid for by the MMA, except for complications that occur, such as liver rejection or certain viral infections, which are funded by the Health Ministry. According to Gen. Mutafchiyski this should change and the state should take care of the full monitoring of patients after organ transplantation.

The survival rate of patients after liver transplantation at the MMA is fully comparable to the survival rate of patients transplanted in European and world transplant centers, which perform 200-300 transplants per year, added Gen. Mutafchiyski.

Every week the waiting list for a liver transplant is updated.

According to the Executive Agency for Medical Supervision, as of October 3, 2024, there were 823 people waiting for organ transplants, and since the beginning of the year, 13 kidney transplants, one heart transplant and six liver transplants have been performed.