Basing your knowledge only on information provided in large media, it can be concluded that Poland is a country of transplant successes. Indeed, we have single spectacular achievements in this field, but everyday reality is gray: there are still too few organs, and the families of those who died in accidents often fight fiercely so that the organs will not be removed.
This year was special for Polish transplantology. In May, the first face transplant was performed in our country, and in December the second such procedure was performed. Both operations were extremely complicated and were performed by a team of doctors from a hospital in Gliwice.
The first patient was Mr. Grzegorz, who required a transplant due to a dramatic accident at work. On April 23, a man lost most of his face while working on a stone-cutting machine. The reconstruction was necessary for the patient to live. Doctors began a nervous search for a suitable donor and intense theoretical preparations. After all, such treatments have never been performed in Poland before.
The man waited almost a month for a new face – the procedure was performed on May 15. In the world of transplantology, however, it is extremely short. It is almost a miracle that the matching donor was found so quickly. The fact that the mother of the donor, 34-year-old Sławomir, decided that consent to the transplant was the only way to prevent her son’s death from being wasted also helped a lot.
The situation was completely different for 26-year-old Joanna, who was operated on on December 4. The same specialists who had gained experience working on Grzegorz’s face participated in the several-hour operation. Joanna suffers from non-fibroadenomatosis from birth. The disease caused her face deformity. The woman had previously undergone treatments to improve her appearance, but only the surgery in Gliwice gave her a chance for a normal life.
The Limb Replantation Center in Trzebnica also deserves special attention. As the name suggests, the facility deals with arm and leg transplants. It is the only branch of this type in Poland. The doctors there can work wonders. The best proof of this is the procedure from 2008. Damian was then transplanted a hand of … a woman. The hand caught on fantastically and although after looking at it you can see that its skin is a slightly different shade and is older, it does not raise any suspicions and definitely does not give the impression of a woman.
A year ago, it might seem to us that face transplant in our country is a distant science fiction. The awareness that such procedures are possible raises our overall assessment of transplantology and allows for grants that allow the field to be developed further. However, it must be remembered that the main aspect by which transplants can be performed is not single successes but organ availability. It is still very difficult with us.
In December 2013, 1478 people were on the list of people waiting for transplants. This is just eight people less than in January 2013. Of course, transplants are carried out all the time – about 130 organs are transplanted each month from deceased donors, but the same number of patients are placed on the waiting lists. Living donation is somewhat improving the situation. Last year, thanks to this possibility, 57 people received a new kidney. Unfortunately, only the kidneys and part of the liver can be replaced in this way.
Why is there still a shortage of organs? First of all, from low social awareness and reluctance to share the organs of a loved one deceased. In this situation, the law does not help.
According to Art. 6 of the Act of July 1, 2005 on the collection, storage and transplantation of cells, tissues and organs, a person may object to the postmortem harvesting of their organs in three different ways. The first is an entry in the central register of objections to the removal of cells, tissues and organs from human cadavers. The second option is to submit a self-signed declaration. The third and most troublesome route is an oral statement made in the presence of at least two witnesses.
Why the most troublesome? The matter is simple. In theory, the family has no right to object to the removal of organs from the deceased for transplant, if the person has not objected during his lifetime. Unfortunately, it is often the case that grieving relatives claim that an oral statement has been made. There is no way to verify this information. Fortunately, there are people like Mrs. Teresa, mother of Sławomir, who died in May, who realize how valuable the body of their loved one is and that she can save someone else’s life.
Another problem with transplantology is the fact that there is also a shortage of donors for bone marrow transplantation. Currently, there are over half a million people in the Central Register of Unrelated Potential Donors of Bone Marrow and Cord Blood. It may seem like a large number, but finding the perfect donor is extremely difficult. For this reason, only 659 downloads were made last year.
Here, too, as in the case of transplants from deceased donors, we are disadvantaged by low social awareness. It is commonly believed that bone marrow extraction is an extremely painful procedure that is performed without anesthesia. This is not true.
In fact, hematopoietic cells can be obtained in two ways. The first is … filtering the blood that is simply drawn from a vein in the arm. This minimally invasive procedure, however, requires longer preparation and is more troublesome than bone marrow collection. For several days before filtration, the donor has to take special injections to increase the number of hematopoietic cells in the blood and test the blood daily for their concentration.
If we decide to collect bone marrow from the hip bone, we will have to go to the hospital the day before. The procedure itself will take 60-90 minutes and will be performed under complete anesthesia, i.e. anesthesia. After waking up, the only traces that remain on the patient’s body are needle punctures. It is not even necessary to apply stitches.
To enroll in the register and be included in the database of potential donors, it is enough to go to the nearest bone marrow donor center and undergo a simple examination. The list of centers can be found at: http://www.szpik.info/.
All that holds us back from the high standards of transplantation is our own reluctance. We already have the rest: good infrastructure and a number of specialists who can not only sew a cut finger, but also give someone a new face, and thus a chance for a normal life or life in general. Let us not let the media successes obscure our needs. There is still a lot of work to do.