Organ transplantation
Prof. Dr. Bastian Schmack | Prof. Dr. Fabio Ius
The thoracic transplant program at the MHH began in 1983 with the first heart transplant. Since then, the number of heart, lung and heart-lung transplants has risen steadily.
Today, the MHH is a pioneer in transplantation medicine and is one of the world's leading centers. With more than 440 solid organ transplants per year, the MHH performs the most transplants in Germany. Since 1983, a total of over 3,500 thoracic transplants have been performed, including almost 1,100 heart transplants, over 150 combined heart-lung transplants and over 2,300 lung transplants. With around 100 lung transplants per year, the Clinical Department of Cardiothoracic, Transplantation and Vascular Surgery at the MHH is one of the largest lung transplant centers in Europe.
By optimizing surgical, technical and drug therapy procedures, we have been able to continuously improve our transplantation results, which is also reflected in the extended durability of the transplanted organs.
The survival rates of patients after lung transplantation have continued to rise in recent years and are now 87 % after one year and almost 50 % after 10 years - the best results in the world. Both the pediatric lung transplant program (more than ten transplants per year) and the living lung donation program introduced in 2012 are unique in Germany.