Organ transplant center in Antalya becomes hope for hundreds of patients

ANTALYA (A.A) - February 14, 2012 - Having begun with a kidney transplant in difficult conditions 30 years ago, the Prof. Dr. Tuncer Karpuzoglu Organ Transplant Center in the southern province of Antalya is now the hope for hundreds of patients. Speaking to the AA, the architect of the Prof. Dr. Tuncer Karpuzoglu Organ Transplant Center, Tuncer Karpuzoglu, said that he moved to Antalya in the early 80s after performing 18 organ transplants in Ankara. Dr. Karpuzoglu performed the first kidney transplant at the Mediterranean University's Antalya Medical Faculty Hospital in 1982 under difficult conditions. Having shown to whole Turkey that an organ transplant could take place out of Ankara, Dr. Karpuzoglu dealt with difficulties successfully. If I had not made the organ transplant in that term, organ transplants at the Mediterranean University would have begun after at least a decade. We struggled against difficulties and brought food to the patient from our home. We waited in the patient's room for 24 hours and helped our patient recover, Dr. Karpuzoglu said. Dr. Karpuzoglu established the organ transplant center at the Mediterranean University in 1992 after serving as the rector of the university for nine years. Following the kidney transplant, we performed transplants of liver, heart and pancreas, Dr. Karpuzoglu noted. We began our journey at the center with only four assistants. Today, we have become a major center for transplants, Dr. Karpuzoglu said. After performing a double limb transplant and Turkey's first facial transplant, the Prof. Dr. Tuncer Karpuzoglu Organ Transplant Center has become a center that the whole world talks about. 74-year old Dr. Karpuzoglu said that he wanted to see the center as the best one in both Turkey and Europe. When DNA is examined in depth and we receive students from abroad for Ph.d studies, the center would have reached its goal, Dr. Karpuzoglu also said. Below is a chronology showing the organ transplants at the center: First kidney transplant: 1982 First kidney transplant from a cadaver: 1986 First liver transplant: 1997 First liver transplant from a living person: 2001 First heart transplant: 1998 First pancreas transplant: 1998 First kidney transplant with tissue incompatibility: 2002 First joint kidney and liver transplant: 2004 First double kidney transplant: 2005 First kidney transplant with blood incompatibility: 2007 First heart-kidney transplant: 2009 First double limb transplant: 2010 First facial transplant: 2012 First double limb and facial transplant from a cadaver: 2012