Valdecilla ha realizado más de 8.100 trasplantes en 50 años
El Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla (HUMV) will celebrate this Wednesday, February 26, an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the launch of its Transplant Program, which has become one of the most prominent nationally and internationally, with 8,159 interventions since 1975.
The regional president, María José Sáenz de Buruaga, will attend this event, which will take place from 12:00 in the Gómez Durán Hall of the healthcare center and will bring together key figures who have been part of this project, as well as transplant patients and current hospital professionals.
Valdecilla’s Transplant Program has allowed for 8,159 organ and tissue transplants since its inception in 1975, a «milestone» that reaffirms the hospital’s commitment to the health and well-being of patients and has been possible to maintain thanks to a combination of «medical excellence, advances in research, and close collaboration with society,» as highlighted by the Cantabrian Government in a statement.
The event will feature speeches from Buruaga, Valdecilla’s manager, Félix Rubial; the transplant coordinator, Eduardo Miñambres; the Head of Nephrology Service at the hospital, Juan Carlos Ruiz San Millán, and José María Gómez Ortega, a kidney transplant recipient in 1990 and current Specialist Pathologist at the healthcare center.
The event will also include the participation of the Association for the Fight Against Kidney Diseases (ALCER) and will pay tribute to colleagues and professionals who have driven this program, such as Carlos Gómez Durán (Cardiovascular Surgery), Juan María Abaitua (Urology), and César Llamazares (Nephrology) in kidney transplants; Javier Ortega Morales (Thoracic Surgery) and Felipe Zurbano (Pulmonology) in lung transplants; Manolo Fleitas (General Surgery) and Fernando Casafont (Digestive) in liver transplants; Julio G. Cotorruelo (Nephrology) and Daniel Casanova (General Surgery) in pancreas transplants.
The event will conclude with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in the 2 de noviembre building’s hall, a gesture through which Valdecilla will pay tribute to the 50 years of trajectory of its Transplant Program, symbolizing the recognition of the advances and achievements made over these five decades.
50 YEARS SINCE THE FIRST TRANSPLANT
On February 26, 1975, the first kidney transplant was performed at Valdecilla, marking the beginning of «a path full of achievements.» The recipient was a 20-year-old who received a kidney donated by his sister and who is still alive today.
Since then, the hospital has carried out kidney, heart, liver, pancreas, lung, cornea, and hematopoietic progenitor transplants.
Just one week later, Valdecilla performed the first transplant with an organ from a donor in a vegetative state (cadaver transplant), benefiting a 36-year-old patient who lived until 82 thanks to the proper functioning of the kidney he received.
Thus, the program’s expansion is not only limited to the number of transplants performed but has also been a pioneer in medical innovations.
REFERENCE CENTER AND LEADER IN KIDNEY TRANSPLANT IN THE ERCA SITUATION
Another major achievement of Hospital Valdecilla is the high rate of kidney transplants in the situation of Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease (ERCA), that is, before the patient starts dialysis. Cantabria leads in this area nationally, thanks to the high donation rate that characterizes the region.
Additionally, over these five decades, the hospital continues to attract many patients from other autonomous communities who trust in its experience to undergo complex transplants.
In that sense, Cantabria transplants patients from Castilla y León (lung, heart, and kidney); Basque Country (lung, heart, kidney, pancreas, and hematopoietic progenitors); Navarra (lung, heart, kidney, pancreas, and hematopoietic progenitors); La Rioja (lung, heart, liver, kidney, pancreas, and hematopoietic progenitors), and Asturias (lung, heart, kidney, pancreas, and hematopoietic progenitors), with Valdecilla being «a reference center in kidney transplantation.»
Valdecilla is also a Reference Center of the National Health System (CSUR) for lung transplants and hematopoietic progenitor transplants.
HALF A CENTURY IN FIGURES
In total, from 1975 until the end of 2024, Valdecilla has performed 2,399 kidney transplants, 807 heart transplants, 775 liver transplants, 93 pancreas transplants, 889 lung transplants (665 of them bilateral), 574 cornea transplants, and 2,622 hematopoietic progenitor transplants.
In 2015, the hospital was a pioneer in performing the first pancreas transplant in Spain from a donor in asystole, and a year later, in 2016, it carried out the first combined liver and kidney transplant in the country, also with a donor in asystole, an advancement that marked a milestone in translational medicine.
In 2020, Valdecilla stood out even more as a national reference by performing Spain’s first lung transplant during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the first heart transplant from a deceased donor after cardiac arrest, along with other reference hospitals in Spain.
And last year set a record for the region, reaching the historical maximum in organ donation, with 94.9 donors per million population, positioning Cantabria as the national leader.
