Medical Korea

Transplantation

Why Transplantation in Korea

01 Korea Has Established a Systematic Foundation
- As the Act on Organ Donation was enacted and the KONOS (Korean Network for Organ Sharing) was founded in 2000, the government level support and management of organ transplantation commenced. In response to the needs of an independent institution for securing more organ donation from deceased donors, KODA (Korea Organ Donation Agency) was founded in 2009 to promote and facilitate the donation of organs from brain death patients and control thereof.

02 Growth of Organ Transplantation in Korea

Since the year 2000, organ transplantation cases were carried out nationwide, organ transplantation in Korea has been growing steadily.

Growth of Organ Transplantation in Korea : Kidney,Lung,Liver,Pancreatic Duct,Pancreas,Small Intestine,Heart,Cornea,Total
Kidney	Lung	Liver	Pancreatic Duct	Pancreas	Small Intestine	Heart	Cornea	Total
13,279	1,383	6,371	18	813	21	2,467	5,940	30,295

Source: KONOS (Korean Network for Organ Sharing)

03 Status of Living Organ Donor in Korea
- Korea has the highest number of living donors per million people in any of the Asia-Pacific contries and ranks 2nd in terms of the number of living donors per million people worldwide (IRODaT 2022).
Source

International Regestry in Organ Donation and Transplantation (IRODaT)
04 The Largest Living Donor Organ Transplantation Program in the World
- Since the first living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in Korea in 1997, LDLT procedures have continuously developed. Currently, Korea performs the highest number of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) operations in the world annually.
  21.61 individuals out of every 1 million people are receiving LDLT, the highest rate in the world (IRODaT 2022).
  On the other hand, since the first living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) in 1969, LDKT procedures have continuously developed. 26.4 individuals out of every 1 million people are receiving LDKT operations in Korea (IRODaT 2022).
Source

KONOS (Korean Network for Organ Sharing) / International Regestry in Organ Donation and Transplantation(IRODaT)

05 Excellent Outcomes of Living Donor Organ Transplantation in Korea

Successful Rate of LDLT(Living Donor Liver Transplantation)

Successful Rate of LDLT(Living Donor Liver Transplantation) : Years after transplantation,Living,Deceased
Years after transplantation	Living	Deceased
LDLT 1yr Graft	94.5	88
LDLT 3yr Graft	90.3	82
LDLT 5yr Graft	89.3	77.3

* KOTRY (Korean Organ Transplantation Registry) annual report 2019_liver - LDLT performed between 2014-2019
** Based on OPTN (Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, USA) data as of October, 2020- LDLT performed 2008-2015

Graft Survival Rate,6 months,1 year,2 year,3 year,4 year,5 year
Graft Survival Rate	6 months	1 year	2 year	3 year	4 year	5 year
Total Transplantation	93.3%	91.6%	88.7%	86.9%	85.6%	84.9%
Living Donor Transplantation	95.8%	94.5%	91.8%	90.3%	89.3%	89.3%
Deceased Donor Transplantation	84.3%	81.1%	77.6%	75.3%	73.3%	71.5%

Source: KOTRY (Korean Organ Transplantation Registry) annual report_liver 2019

Successful Rate of LDLT(Living Donor Liver Transplantation)

Graft Survival Rate,6 months,1 year,2 year,3 year,4 year,5 year
Graft Survival Rate	6 months	1 year	2 year	3 year	4 year	5 year
Total Transplantation	97.8%	97.1%	96.5%	94.3%	93.2%	90.5%
Living Donor Transplantation	98.9%	97.1%	96.5%	94.3%	93.2%	90.5%
Deceased Donor Transplantation	96.0%	94.9%	93.7%	91.3%	89.0%	86.1%

Source: KOTRY (Korean Organ Transplantation Registry) annual report_liver 2019

Advanced Treatment

01 Innovations of Liver and Kidney Transplantation in Korea
- Korea has developed many innovative new surgical techniques which has now become the standard technique in most centers around the world. Since the introduction of desensitization therapy that can remove anti-ABO antibodies prior to transplantation in 2007, Korea has been performing incompatible blood type LT and KT transplantation successfully. As of the end of 2019, a total of 11,682 cases of incompatible blood type LDLT have been successfully completed. Since Feb. 2007, more than 2,501 cases of ABO-incompatible LDKT were performed until 2019. ABO-incompatible LDKT is rapidly increasing.
Source

KONOS (Korean Network for Organ Sharing)
- In Korea, the First Exchange Donor(Swap) program between two families was performed in 1991 and multipair donor kidney exchange by a web-based algorithm started in 2005.
- Schematic Representation of Multipair Donor Kidney Exchange.
02 Innovations in living donor liver transplantation in Korea
- Korea, which holds the dominant position in the world's living donor transplantation, has been developing a wide range of surgical technologies related to liver transplantation and a number of such technologies are generally used worldwide in these days.
Case of Cutting Edge Equipments for Transplantation
- Robotic surgery is also being performed on organ transplantation in Korea. The surgical area can be viewed in detail with 10-fold magnified stereoscopic images, and scars can be minimized with minimal incision due to robotic surgery.
- Kidney Transplantation
- Immunosuppressive Therapy
- Management of Complications after Surgery
- Collaborative Treatment and Operation
Case of Transplantation in Korea
- Korea has performed the world's first '2:1 living donor liver transplantation’.
  Although the surgical process is much more complicated than conventional one-on-one living donor liver transplantation, the success rate and survival rate of 2:1 living donor liver transplantation are comparable to that of conventional one-on-one living donor liver transplantation. Even if the blood type is different, Korean medical staff can perform successful liver transplant surgery even in liver cancer, which has highly recurrence rate.
Source

Asan Medical Center, http://www.amc.seoul.kr/asan/information/journal/journalDetail.do?journalId=12381
Dong-A University Hospital, www.damc.or.kr/05/02_2017.php?bbscode=press&reCategory=&key=&keyword=%EB%A1%9C%EB%B4%87