By Kim Dong Eun (mikkola@korea.ac.kr)

On April 4, Korea University Medical Center (KUMC) made anofficial announcement that it succeeded in transplanting a donator’s fourdifferent organs- heart, liver, and two kidneys- to four different individuals.One person’s donation was able to save four valuable lives. Suchtransplantation where multiple organs are transplanted simultaneously is veryrare, as the surgery requires precise timing, accurate decision, as well as theavant-garde technology.

The donator of the organs was also a patient that wasreceiving treatment from the KUMC. The donator was a patient in his latetwenties and he was hospitalized and had been in a brain coma. His family madethe decision to donate his organs.

The organs were donated to three women and one man, who wereall suffering from chronicle diseases. Originally, the liver was planned to begranted to another hospital. However, the hospital refused because it claimedthat the condition of the liver was not suitable for surgery. However, thedoctors at KUMC decided that the transplant would be possible with the righttiming.

The surgery was successful and all the patients that receivedthe transplant left the hospital without any further aftereffect. Such successreveals the advanced technology of KUMC’s system. The head of the transplantcenter Kim Dong Shik (45, Seoul) said at the press conference that “Transplantation is a graceful actof sharing a valuable life with others. [We] will try our best to serve thepatients with connecting lives.”

KUMC aims to maintain an effective system to supervise theorgan donation and transplantation.