Ukraine performs first simultaneous heart-and-liver transplant
Kyiv doctors have successfully performed Ukraine's first simultaneous heart-and-liver transplant on a 44-year-old Kyiv resident with severe heart and liver disease. The nearly 15-hour operation involved sequential transplantation, artificial blood circulation, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
Key points
- The procedure was carried out at Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 1.
- The operation lasted nearly 15 hours.
- A 44-year-old Kyiv resident received a heart followed by a liver transplant.
- The patient was weaned from mechanical ventilation within the first postoperative day.
- He was conscious, breathing independently, sitting up and eating while his condition remained stable.
- The donor was a young man declared brain-dead after a hemorrhagic stroke.
- Ukraine recorded 473 organ transplants across 21 medical institutions in the first nine months of 2026.
Why it matters
The successful procedure establishes Ukraine's first combined heart-and-liver transplantation and expands treatment options for patients who need both organs replaced. It also demonstrates the coordination of surgery, intensive care and advanced organ-support systems required for such a complex intervention.
What happened
Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 1 performed Ukraine's first simultaneous heart-and-liver transplant on a 44-year-old Kyiv resident with severe cardiovascular and liver disease. His heart ejection fraction had fallen sharply, he had life-threatening bleeding from varicose esophageal veins, and both conditions were deteriorating. The surgical team sequentially transplanted his heart and liver while using artificial circulation during both stages and a preplanned transition to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. The donor was a young man who was declared brain-dead after a hemorrhagic stroke; ECMO was used to stabilize him and preserve his vital functions while the organs were retrieved. After the main transplant stages and control of bleeding, the patient was transferred to intensive care. Within the first day, he was conscious, breathing independently, sitting up and eating, and was disconnected from mechanical ventilation.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian reporting emphasizes the historic nature of the procedure, the role of Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 1 and the patient's difficult preoperative condition. It also highlights the rapid recovery after surgery and the technical complexity of combining organ transplantation with artificial circulation and ECMO.
Background
The recipient had been placed on a waiting list for combined transplantation in Minsk in 2018 but had not received the required assistance. The procedure took place against the backdrop of 473 organ transplants performed in 21 Ukrainian medical institutions during the first nine months of 2026.