A Race Against Time: Complex Kidney Transplant Operation Between Israel and Cyprus
Early Wednesday, a complex cross-transplant operation between Israel and Cyprus concluded successfully. Three pairs of donors and recipients received life-saving kidneys through international coordination.
It was a precise race to save lives: this Wednesday, before dawn, one of the most complex transplant operations conducted in recent years between Israel and Cyprus got underway. For many long hours, medical teams in both countries worked in parallel, coordinating surgeries, organ transport, flights, and the exchange of kidneys at a meeting point at Larnaca Airport. By the end of the operation, three kidney transplants were completed, and all transplanted organs began producing urine—a primary sign of graft acceptance and function.
The operation was based on the cross-transplant program, intended for patients in need of a kidney transplant who cannot receive a donation from a family member due to medical incompatibility. Through a matching database, other pairs in similar situations are identified, and donors are swapped so that each recipient receives a kidney from a compatible donor.
The Chain of Life
At 05:00 AM, surgery began at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva to remove a kidney from a 50-year-old Israeli man who wanted to donate to his mother. Despite his desire, tests showed they were incompatible. About two hours later, surgery began at Nicosia Hospital in Cyprus to remove a kidney from a 58-year-old woman who wanted to donate to her husband; in this case, too, no medical compatibility was found.
At 09:00 AM, the kidney took off from Israel to Cyprus in a dedicated cooler. About an hour later, in a private lounge at Larnaca Airport, representatives from both countries met to exchange the coolers. Simultaneously, surgeries continued in Israel. At Beilinson Hospital, a kidney was removed from a 57-year-old Israeli woman who wanted to donate to her husband, but they were also incompatible. Her kidney was transplanted into the Israeli donor's mother, while the kidney that arrived from Cyprus was transplanted into her husband.
In parallel, the kidney flown from Israel was transplanted into a Cypriot recipient. Thus, a chain of transplants involving three pairs of donors and recipients across two different countries was completed in just a few hours.
The exchange was carried out by Cypriot transplant coordinators Ivi and Christella, alongside Dr. Tamar Ashkenazi, director of the National Transplant Center in Israel, and Dr. Andreas Soloukides, the responsible nephrologist from the Cypriot Ministry of Health. Dr. Michael Papoulos, a Cypriot transplant surgeon who specialized in Israel, coordinated the surgical aspects in Hebrew with Dr. Eviatar Nesher, director of the abdominal organ transplant program at Beilinson Hospital.
The cross-transplant program has been operating in Israel for years under the National Transplant Center. A computerized system identifies possible matches between incompatible pairs, allowing for transplant chains that save lives in cases that initially seemed hopeless. The program is managed by Rona Simon with the support of Prof. Itai Ashlagi from Stanford University.
Cooperation between Israel and Cyprus has been ongoing for several years. Dr. Tamar Ashkenazi stated: "Technological progress allows for medical cooperation between countries today, but the cooperation with Cyprus is one of a kind. Beyond geographical proximity, there is a personal, professional, and human closeness between us—in a word, family."
She added: "I call on family members of kidney patients: even if you are told there is no compatibility, do not give up. Your willingness to donate may save your loved one through the cross-matching program. We perform such matches on an ongoing basis, allowing more patients to be released from dialysis and gain a new life."
