[Development of renal transplantation in the Gdansk center]

The kidney transplantation is one of the renal replacement therapy methods, which prolongs live of the patients with the end stage renal disease for many years. Moreover, this method is well known, safe and not so expensive as dialysotherapy. Our purpose was to present the 15-year activity of the transplantation center in Gdańsk. The first renal transplantation took place on the 31st of March 1980 and there have been 137 renal transplantations in Gdańsk until now. We can divide the time between the 31st of March 1980 and the end of 1994 into two periods: I from 31.03.80 to 31.12.89 and II from 1991 to 1994. During the first were 46, and during the second were 91 renal transplantations performed. It means that since the second half of 1991 the activity of the center in Gdańsk has increased. The graft function was noted in 29 patients (63%) during the first period and in 75 (82%) during the second. The acute graft failure was observed in the most of the cases mentioned above. The 5-year living of the transplanted patients and the dialysed patients is comparable and amounts to 90%. Infections were the main reason of death during the first period, and cardiovascular complications during the second. The 5-year graft's functioning is 60%. Nowadays the results of the kidney transplantation center in Gdańsk are good and comparable with the results of other centers in Poland and Europe. Our center, as similar ones in Poland is prepared to extend the kidney transplantation activity. So it is necessary to intensify an effort to gain more organs for transplantations.