King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSHRC: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) has recently announced that it has successfully performed 5,000 kidney transplants since the inception of its transplant programme in 1981, placing it among a select group of leading global health centres that have achieved this milestone. In 2023 alone, KFSHRC performed 80 paediatric kidney transplants, the highest number conducted by any hospital in a single year, making KFSHRC’s kidney transplant programme the largest of its kind, surpassing health centres in the USA and Europe.
It stated in a press release that, over the past decade, the programme has experienced significant growth, with more than 3,000 transplants performed since 2010 and approximately 1,250 transplants in the last three years alone.
Moreover, the establishment of the kidney paired donation (KPD) programme has significantly revolutionised the transplantation landscape by addressing the challenge of compatibility between patients and their donors. This programme has helped patients who would otherwise face considerable obstacles in finding suitable matches. By facilitating the exchange of donors whose blood types or tissues do not match the intended recipient, KFSHRC has become a leader in paired donation transplants compared to any single health centres in the USA and Europe.
Furthermore, the centre said that adopting advanced technologies has allowed it to now rely entirely on minimally invasive surgery, including removing kidneys from donors with the robotic assistance. The surgeons are also able to transplant kidneys in a selected group of patients through robotic surgery, a minimally invasive procedure which KFSHRC states enhances precision and safety.
It also highlighted in its press release that the kidney and patient survival rates at one year are between 97% to 99%, an achievement that it claims underscores the establishment of a stellar transplant centre within the organisation. Beyond routine kidney transplants, this centre specialises in complex cases, including those involving different blood groups, low-weight paediatric patients, paired exchanges, and patients with elevated body mass index.
KFSHRC has retained its status as the leading institution in the Middle East and Africa for the second year running and ranks 20th globally among the top 250 academic medical centres worldwide. It is also recognised as the most valuable healthcare brand in the Kingdom and the Middle East in 2024, according to Brand Finance. Additionally, Newsweek Magazine has ranked it among the top 250 hospitals globally.
