Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — A total of 1,031 organ transplant operations were performed in the Kingdom last year and Director General of the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation (SCOT) Dr. Faisal Shaheen said it was an increase of 40 percent over 2014. "King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah was the leading health institution to perform kidney transplants in the Kingdom with 187 transplants in the past year. King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh came second with 181 kidney transplants," said Shaheen. He added King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam was third with 131 kidney transplants followed by Prince Sultan Military Medical City in Riyadh with 91 transplants. Lastly, King Abdulaziz National Guard Medical City in Riyadh performed 52 kidney transplant operations during the year. "The organ donation program in the Kingdom has improved a great deal. The health institutions receive donations from dead and living patients," said Shaheen. He said the total number of kidney transplants during the report year alone reached 778, of which 634 were from living donors while 144 from donors who were dead. "The rate of organ transplants in general has increased by 24 percent since 2014. On the international spectrum, the Kingdom is rated among the top 10 countries with regard to living organ donors. It is also the leading country in the Arab world and Asia in brain dead organ donors," said Shaheen. He added that the Kingdom is also leading in liver transplants. "In 2015 alone, the Kingdom had a total of 195 liver transplants. The country ranks third in the word with the largest number of liver transplants in a year after Korea and Turkey. The rate of lung transplants has also increased by 50 percent since 2014 with 20 patients receiving transplanted lungs," said Shaheen. He said there have been eight pancreas transplants within the past year and 30 heart transplants at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh.
