New approaches to kidney transplantation in Ukraine

Abstract

The number of patients with end-stage renal disease in Ukraine, as in the whole world, increases. Kidney transplantation remains the most effective method of treatment for such patients. After 1933, when in Ukraine the world’s first kidney transplantation was performed, the number of there surgeries remained insignificant (up to 130 operations per year). In 2018–2020, the reform of transplantation in Ukraine began due to the change of some laws. And as a result, the number of such operations is gro­wing every year. Control over the transplantation process is carried out by a newly created body of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center. New transplant centers are being created, immunological support of transplant couples is being improved using polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometers and solid-phase methods due to HLA typing of the donor and recipient according to A, B, C, DR, DQ, DP loci, detection of anti-HLA antibodies, allele-specific anti-HLA antibodies using single antigen bead assay. Examinations of patients are carried out at the pre-transplantation stage and as part of monitoring after transplantation. Given the military actions, the lack of aviation and the long time of getting to the clinic, it became possible to preserve organs by methods of hypothermic or nomothermic perfusion. The number of organ transplantations is increasing. In 2023, several successful simultaneous heart and kidney, kidney and pancreas transplantations were performed. The problems of overcoming tissue incompatibility, choosing the optimal immunosuppressive therapy regimen for a given patient, training of nephrologists, wider and more effective use of perfusion machines, new protocols of immunosuppressive therapy, studying the peculiarities of kidney transplantation from marginal donors (the number of which in Ukraine prevails), kidney transplantation in highly sensitized recipients are still actual in Ukraine. The cooperation with our European and American colleagues is very important to improve the long-term results of such operations.