A HOSPITAL in Barcelona has made history after becoming the first in Spain to complete a successful organ transplant between two people with human immunodeficiency virus, commonly known as HIV.
Surgeons at Vall d’Hebron University Hospital performed a kidney transplant from a living donor to his friend, both of whom are doing well after the operation.
“Vall d’Hebron is once again at the forefront: in 1981, we were the first hospital in Spain to diagnose a patient with HIV and now, 45 years later, we have performed Spain’s first transplant between two people with HIV,” said Dr Albert Salazar, managing director of the hospital.
The hospital, located in the Horta-Guinardo district of Barcelona, regularly carries out transplants involving HIV-positive people.
But the latest surgery marks the first time that both donor and recipient have had the virus, with a procedure of this nature illegal under Spanish law until it was repealed last year.
“Performing Spain’s first transplant between people with HIV at Vall d’Hebron, after the regulatory restriction was removed last year, represents a medical milestone for the hospital and will also help reduce waiting times for these patients,” said Dr Albert Sandiumenge, coordinator of Vall d’Hebron’s donation and transplantation programmes.
“Every year, around 50 people with HIV are waiting for an organ, 30 for a kidney transplant, 15 for a liver transplant and five for heart, lung or pancreas transplants.”
The first transplant between two people with HIV was performed in South Africa in 2007.
In Europe, organ transplantation between HIV-positive people is allowed in six countries, including Spain and the UK, prohibited in 11 and unregulated in 18.
“Thanks to antiretroviral treatment, well-controlled HIV infection is no longer an obstacle to successful transplantation between appropriately selected patients with HIV,” explained Dr Jordi Navaroo, deputy head of the hospital’s infection diseases department.
“Allowing people with HIV to become donors represents a major step forward in terms of rights, equality and inclusion for people living with HIV.”
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