The IV-th Romtransplant Congress
Constanta - Eforie Nord, 23 - 26 June 2004

In 2004 the Black Sea Coast hosted the IV-th National Transplant Congress with international participation organized by ROMTRANSPLANT Association with the support of Ovidiu University of Constanta and which took place between June 23-26 at Europa Hotel, Eforie Nord.

The topics approached during the congress aimed at discussing the progresses achieved in the field of transplantation around the world, as well as the current status and perspectives of tissue and organ transplantation in Romania. Approximately 300 Romanian specialists participated in the congress, together with many illustrious specialists in the field of transplantation invited from Europe and around the world.

One of the essential topics was related to transplant immunopathology, to immunological tolerance and its implications in immunosuppressive protocols (prof. dr. M. Voiculescu, Bucharest), post-transplant immunoreconstruction (prof. dr. Margit Serban, Timisoara). Prof. dr. Harald Lange (Philipps University, Marburg, Germany), invited in this session, addressed the issue of various non-immunological and non-surgical causes that decrease the survival of patients and of grafts after organ transplantation.

The sessions dedicated to kidney transplantation addressed aspects related to combined kidney-pancreas transplantation and to the experience of European centers in this domain (prof. dr. Raimund Margreiter and prof. dr. Cristoph Hoermann from Leopold-Franzens-Universitat, Innsbruck, Austria; prof. dr. Franco Mosca, Pisa University, Italy; prof. dr. Luisa Berardinelli, Milan University, Italy), the results of new surgical techniques of prelevation (prof. Dr. M. Lucan, Cluj-Napoca), as well as the use of grafts from elder donors (prof. dr. I. Sinescu, Bucharest).

The session dedicated to liver transplantation addressed the results and perspectives opened up by the techniques of living-related and split-liver transplantation both in adults and in children (prof. dr. Cristoph Broelsch and dr. Massimo Malago from Essen University Hospital, Germany; prof. dr. Domenico Forti and dr. Luciano De Carlis from Niguarda Ca Granda Hospital, Milan, Italy). The role of imagistical examinations in living-related liver transplantation (dr. Antonio Rampoldi, Niguarda Ca Granda Hospital, Milan, Italy) and the postoperative complications after liver transplantation (dr. Andrea De Gasperi, Niguarda Ca Granda Hospital, Milan, Italy and dr. Kenneth White, Institute for Health Research and Policy, London Metropolitan University, Great Britain) were also discussed. The Romanian experience in liver transplantation was presented by prof. Dr. Irinel Popescu, Bucharest.

In the session headed by prof. Dr. R. Deac (Targu Mures), heart transplantation and combined heart-lung transplantation were presented both from the perspective of the European Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation (prof. Dr. G. Laufer, Innsbruck, Austria) and of the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation.

Another field of interest was represented by transplantation of pancreatic islets, with discussions on existing prelevation techniques and on results (prof. dr. Thierry Berney, Department of Surgery, Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland; prof. dr. Yoko Mullen, Southern California Islet Resources Center, Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism, City of Hope Medical Center/Beckman Research Institute, Duarte, California, USA and prof. dr. Severine Sigrist from the European Center for the Study of Diabetes, Strasbourg, France), as well as on the selection criteria for donors and recipients in the case of allotransplantation and autotransplantation (prof. dr. V. Sarbu, Constanta).

Hematopoetic stem cell transplantation, a widely used curative method performed in children and adults with malignant hemopathies, was presented from the perspective of the Romanian experience by prof. dr. D. Colita (Bucharest), prof. dr. Margit Serban (Timisoara) and prof. dr. I. Benedek (Targu Mures).

Other sessions addressed the use of tissue transplantation in ophthalmology (prof. Dr. M. Pop and dr. M. Zemba, Bucharest) and in plastic and reconstructive surgery (prof. dr. I. Lascar, prof. dr. D. Enescu, prof. dr. Ileana Boiangiu and prof. dr. Doina Dumitrescu, Bucharest).

Regarding the current situation of transplantation in Romania, the speakers underlined the progresses achieved in the legislation for organ donation and in the organization of the national transplant system, in which ROMTRANSPLANT Association has played a decisive role. On the other hand it was remarked that there still remain problems related to the insufficient funds allocated for organ and tissue transplantation, as well as to the extremely low rate of donors, all of which lead to an insufficient development of the Romanian transplant program.

At the end of the congress, ROMTRANSPLANT Association proposed a set of recommendations regarding the development of the national transplant program, which will be presented in a press release.