Organ Transplantation Success in Turkey

By Mohamed Taki - Medical Research Editor | March 30th, 2012

Organ transplantation has been giving the gift of life to patients who would otherwise be without options. There is one particular country and hospital that is offering this gift of life to patients from all over the world.

Memorial Hizmet Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey tells a story of survival from a kidney transplant patient, from its list of successful organ transplantations in Turkey.

18 months ago, 40-year-old Tuncay Yarim visited a doctor complaining of severe headaches, constant exhaustion and dizziness; he was later diagnosed with kidney failure.

Like any patient suffering from kidney failure, Tuncay had to receive dialysis treatment. He started undergoing dialysis treatment as a replacement for kidney function.

Dialysis takes on the kidney’s function by removing waste, salt and extra water to prevent them from building up in the body and to keep a safe, balanced level of chemicals in the blood, such as potassium, sodium and bicarbonate.

For the average person, dialysis treatment occurs three times a week for around four hours per session.
Tuncay’s life was disrupted by the dialysis treatment; he had missed out on family getaways and many social functions in order to attend his dialysis treatments on a regular basis.

“Travelling was not an option for me as I was dependent on dialysis. If I wanted to go somewhere, I had to move between my daily dialysis schedules. I had to receive dialysis, 4 times a day, every 6 hours,” Tuncay said.

Seeing her husband suffering in agony, Tuscay’s wife wished to donate one of her kidneys to him; however their blood type wasn’t compatible. He was then placed on a cadaver waiting list for compatible kidney donor.

Later on, his sister became another possible candidate for donation and fortunately, she was the perfect match for his kidney transplant in Turkey.

Many patients had recommended Memorial Hizmet Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey to Tuscay for his kidney transplant procedure. The team of organ transplantation surgeons at Memorial Health Group successfully carries out kidney transplant surgery on a regular basis.

The team is comprised of two of the most pioneering physicians in the organ transplantation department: Dr. Mert Altinel (Department of Kidney Transplant Memorial Hizmet Hospital) and Dr. Burak Kocak (Department of Kidney Transplant Memorial Sisli Hospital).

After successfully undergoing the surgery, Tuscay is now able to take extended vacations with his family without any restrictions of fluid intake or receiving dialysis.

Tuscay is forever grateful to the hospital’s medical staff and the kidney transplant department at Memorial hospital who provided him with a new lease on life.

Kidney transplant has become one of the most common and widely-performed organ transplant surgical procedures in Turkey. Memorial Hospital offers state-of-the-art kidney transplant department, appointed with the latest advanced surgical equipments to improve the life quality of kidney failure patients.

Memorial Hospital Organ Transplantation Unit is the first and the only private healthcare institution approved and licensed by the Health Department for organ (liver and kidney) transplantation and related laboratory services.

Learn more about the organ transplantation program at Memorial Hizmet Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey.