[The first 10 years of Hungary's full membership of Eurotransplant].

Abstract

Introduction: The main aim of Hungary’s joining to Eurotransplant was to improve the chances of Hungarian patients receiving organs, as well as graft and patient survival. Objective: The results of the Eurotransplant cooperation were examined from the Hungarian perspective, including the realization of the initial goals. Method: Data analysis was performed using absolute and annual average data from the first 10 years of full membership (from 2013), and a comparison was made between the data from the examined period and the data from the last 5 years before the Eurotransplant membership, as well as, where available, data from the previous 10 years. During the examined period, the numbers and circumstances of organ donors, multi-organ donors, donated organs, and transplants in Hungary were analyzed, along with the development of waiting lists and international organ exchanges. Results: In the 10 years following Hungary’s membership in Eurotransplant, the number of reported donors decreased by 17%. However, excluding the years affected by the COVID–19 pandemic, the number of actual donors increased by 12.53%. The most significant improvement was observed in the multi-organ donor rate (40.38% vs. 71.23%). During the period examined, the number of transplants increased by 18.95% (3325 vs. 3955). 23.49% of domestic transplants were carried out with foreign organs. The number of new patients on the waiting list increased by 25.16% (average per year 461 vs. 577), while the waiting time decreased. In the case of kidneys, 0 to 3 HLA mismatches increased by 10.7%, while the proportion of higher mismatches decreased by 10.9%. In the first 10 years of the Eurotransplant cooperation, 801 additional life years were gained to our kidney recipients. The number of successful transplants performed from the doubled acute list nearly tripled. Discussion: Joining to Eurotransplant proved to be an effective and successful decision, which increased the chances of organ availability for patients on the Hungarian waiting list and improved post-transplant survival rates. Conclusion: In Hungary, the chances of receiving an organ improved due to the availability of organ donation, facilitated by the establishment of a hospital coordinator network beside our Eurotransplant accession. The improvement in the actual donor and transplant rates also indicates that international organ exchange supports the more efficient allocation of donor organs, to avoid losing suitable organs. Orv Hetil. 2025; 166(14): 532–542.