An extinct child in the Kaunas clinics will save six people: an organ was taken to Germany

At the resuscitation of the Kaunas clinics of the Lithuanian Health Sciences Hospital, the boy’s life was extinguished on the night of February 13. During a difficult hour of mourning, doctors informed the boy’s family that he was a potential donor and the family could make the decision to donate his organs for donation.

“This is the first donor child this year. Every time a donation touches children, it becomes even more sensitive than usual. We express our great gratitude that the young man’s relatives made the noble decision to donate organs to the seriously ill during the most difficult hour of the loss of a child. We understand that this decision is very delicate, ”he thanked the relatives Artūras Bagotyrius, Director of the National Transplant Office of the Ministry of Health.

After the family members signed the consent for donation, it was established that all the young man’s organs were suitable for transplantation, but there was no suitable recipient for the heart either in Lithuania or abroad. A pair of kidneys and corneas were transplanted at the same LSMUL Kaunas clinics, and the liver was taken for transplantation to the Santara Clinics of Vilnius University Hospital.

According to medical indicators, the lungs were not suitable for Lithuanian recipients, so they were offered to foreign countries. The answer was received that the lungs are suitable for a German citizen, so on Sunday morning German doctors came to the LSMUL Kaunas clinics for their explantations. The healthy organ was urgently removed for surgery in Germany from a recipient on hold.

The SAM National Transplant Office notes that countries participating in an international donation program only offer donor organs to foreign countries if the organs are not suitable for recipients treated in their own country due to medical incompatibilities.

This is the first time this year that an unexpected organ has been offered to foreign recipients. In 2020, 8 organs (liver, heart, lungs) were exported abroad (Switzerland and Germany), and three organs were brought to Lithuania from Latvia: the heart and two livers.

Any adult Lithuanian can express their support for organ donation by signing a consent for organ donation. After signing, a token donor card is issued. The consent can be signed online at https://ntb.lt and the card is sent directly to your home. When signing the consent, it is possible to indicate whether the total or partial donation of the corresponding organs and tissues is accepted.