According to the Korean Network for Organ Sharing’s (KONOS) statistics, AMC performed a total of 963 transplantations in 2016, including 470 liver transplantations, 363 kidney transplantations, 52 heart transplantations, 42 pancreas transplantations, 24 corneal transplantations, and 12 lung transplantations. From January 2000, when the KONOS started collecting data, until February 2017, AMC has performed 10,882 organ transplantations, accounting for 23.7 percent of overall organ transplantations in Korea. Organ transplantation is called a flower of modern medicine because it requires sufficient experience and a good system to perfectly handle complications and adverse reactions as well as sophisticated surgical techniques. AMC has led the domestic and international development of organ transplantation as we had challenging pancreas and heart transplantations for the first time in Korea when the concept of organ transplantation was entirely unfamiliar to Koreans and succeeded in the world’s first dual-living donor liver transplantation. AMC has not declined and will not decline the challenge of performing the largest number of surgeries. The photo shows the director of clinical support, Park Seung-il (second from left), performing lung transplantation.

AMC: The Cradle of Organ Transplantation with 963 cases in 2016

A Driving Force behind the Acquisition of the Reputation of Being Leader in Sophisticated Surgery

AMC is a recognized leading hospital in sophisticated surgery. Earning such reputation is largely attributed to AMC’s liver transplantation team, leading the domestic and international advancement of organ transplantation by setting the record of being the first and the largest.

According to the Korean Network for Organ Sharing’s (KONOS) statistics, AMC performed 963 transplantations in 2016, including 470 liver transplantations, 363 kidney transplantations, 52 heart transplantations, 42 pancreas transplantations, 24 corneal transplantations, and 12 lung transplantations, which is comparable to a total of 4,602 organ transplantations performed in Korea last year. Especially for pancreas transplantation, AMC performed 56.8 percent of the cases.

AMC has continuously set the record of performing the largest number of organ transplantations in Korea since the KONOS’s statistical survey began in 2000 until February 2017. The KONOS reported that AMC has performed 10,882 organ transplantations as of February 28, accounting for 23.7 percent of cases in Korea (45,933). This means that one in four patients received organ transplantation at AMC.

AMC, which has collected data on the number of surgeries performed since the 1990s when organ transplantation was first performed, has a statistics management system that obtains data for organ transplantation. Our system is different from that of the KONOS in that bone marrow transplantation is included and the number of transplantations is computed based not on the number of organs but on the number of beneficiaries. According to our statistics, AMC performed 1,246 organ transplantations in 2016. This record has increased 55 times in 25 years, from 23 cases in the 1990s. The accumulated number of organ transplantations performed at AMC as of February 28, 2017, was 15,892—5,378 for liver, 4,921 for kidney, 626 for heart, 358 for pancreas, 1,061 for cornea, 3,755 for bone marrow, and 56 for lung.

The first organ transplantation performed at AMC was the kidney transplantation led by Professor Kim Seok-gu (retired in 2001) on June 27, 1990. Since then, we have set historical milestones at home and abroad with the world’s first dual-living donor liver transplantation in 2000, the world’s first donor exchange program in 2003, and the first simultaneous multiorgan transplantation of seven digestive organs in Korea in 2011. AMC is also recognized for its professionals’ excellent-quality surgical skills with improved one-year survival rates for major organ transplantations: for instance, 97 percent for liver transplantation (UNOS: 89 percent ), 95 percent for heart transplantation (ISHLT: 86 percent), 98 percent for pancreas transplantation (University of Minnesota Medical Center: 97 percent), and 98 percent for kidney transplantation (USRDS: 96 percent).

The director of the Organ Transplantation Center, Hwang Shin, said, “We are the hospital that severe patients resort to with their last hope. Today’s achievements were possible owing to donors’ noble sacrifice as well as medical professionals and employees’ passion and commitment. I hope we continue working together to bring a healthy life back to patients.”