Transplantation
Main article: Transplantation
2026
In Russia, began to create genetically modified pigs for transplantation of their organs to people
In Russia, the first project is being implemented to create genetically modified pigs for transplantation of their organs to humans. The corresponding statement was made by the embryologist, general director of the Novosibirsk company "M-Genomics" Eduard Chuyko in an interview with TASS on January 13, 2026. Read more here.
Kidney transplant became free in Russia
In January 2026, the chief freelance transplant specialist of the Ministry of Health of Russia, director of the National Medical Research Center of Transplantology and Artificial Organs named after Academician V.I. Shumakov, Sergei Gauthier, announced the inclusion of kidney transplantation in the basic program of state guarantees. Such an operation is now fully funded by compulsory health insurance (compulsory medical insurance). Read more here.
2025
3800 organ transplants were performed in Russia per year, of which 320 were for children
In 2025 Russia , more than 3.8 thousand organ transplantation operations were carried out, 320 of them were performed in pediatric patients. This was told by the chief freelance transplantologist of the Ministry health care RUSSIAN FEDERATION Sergei Gauthier.
According to Gauthier, in 2025, over 1,000 transplants were performed at the Academician V.I. Shumakov National Medical Research Center for Transplantation and Artificial Organs, including 232 operations for children. The transplantologist noted that the center retains world leadership in the number of heart transplants. There has been a significant increase in such interventions in children, where the use of an artificial heart serves as a temporary measure in anticipation of a donor organ. An increase in lung transplantation operations was also recorded.
In
The Shumakov National Medical Research Center performs the largest number of liver and kidney transplants to children in the world. In 2025, this institution set a world record for pediatric kidney transplants - 92 operations. In total, 163 such operations were carried out in Russia.
The priority is the development of regional programs. The inclusion of kidney transplantation in the compulsory health insurance program from 2026 will allow the constituent entities of the Russian Federation to increase the number of such operations without financial restrictions previously imposed by the state task system.
Sergei Gauthier also said that the total number of kidney transplants in 2025 reached almost 2.2 thousand, which exceeds the figure for 2024 (1.9 thousand). The need for such operations remains high, given that about 60 thousand patients in Russia are on dialysis, a procedure for artificial blood purification that replaces kidney function.
The number of liver transplants increased to 1.1 thousand, satisfying two-thirds of the estimated need for 1.5 thousand operations per year. In pediatric practice, from the age of three months, 114 liver transplants were performed.[1][2]
Approval in Russia of a new list of organs suitable for transplantation. Nerves, spinal cord and more bones entered there
In September 2025, the Ministry of Health of Russia published an order on the formation of a new list of transplantation objects. The list includes an expanded list of bones, as well as nerves and the spinal cord. The document will significantly increase the possibilities for the reconstruction of lost elements of the musculoskeletal system. The new positions will avoid limb amputation in patients with serious injuries.
According to Medvestnik, the document should replace the same order No. 150n/1 of March 25, 2025, valid from September 1, 2025. The current list contains 25 items. The updated version expands the capabilities of medical institutions to conduct transplant operations.
The existing list of bones reflects only "arch bones" and " skulls lower jaw." This significantly limits the possibilities of reconstruction. Allotransplantation of bones is indicated in patients who have lost their upper jaw, orbital bones, ribs and pelvis. In this regard, the list is supplemented with a general paragraph - "bone and its fragments (without specifying)." The wording will allow surgeons to perform surgery to transplant any bones without additional approvals.
Allotransplantation of nerves and spinal cord was added to the transplant list. The procedure is intended for patients who have lost significant areas of large nerves. The operation is also indicated for patients who have suffered a spinal cord injury with lower paraplegia. Allotransplantation of appropriate lost or damaged neural structures will help restore movements in the hand or foot. Experts point to the possibility of avoiding limb amputation thanks to new methods.[3]
Russia has developed an innovative technology for heart transplantation without stopping it
Russian scientists from Omsk State Medical University have created a revolutionary heart transplant technique that allows surgery to be performed without stopping and cooling the organ. The new technology substantially reduces the risk of ischemic damage and increases the viability of the transplanted heart. This was reported by the developers in July 2025.
According to TASS, the innovative technique belongs to the field of experimental transplantology and pathophysiology. The technology eliminates the traditional stages of cardioplegic cardiac arrest and accompanying periods of cold and secondary thermal myocardial ischemia, which often damage the transplant.
Experimental testing of the method was carried out on 32 laboratory animals. The researchers used a specially prepared Krebs-Henzelite solution supplemented with an erythrocyte suspension. This composition provided full nutrition of the heart muscle at a temperature of 22 to 37 degrees Celsius for 15 hours.
According to the agency, surgery was performed according to the method of heterotopic implantation - the transplant was placed in the abdominal cavity of the recipient. Vascular compounds were formed according to the "end-to-side" principle, which made it possible to create reliable anastomoses between the donor organ and the recipient's circulatory system.
The main achievement of the new technology was the complete exclusion of the stages of cold and secondary thermal ischemia. These processes traditionally accompany standard heart transplantation operations and often cause impaired functions of the transplanted organ. Elimination of ischemic periods allows preserving the viability of myocardial tissues and ensuring more successful graft engraftment.[4]
2024
The number of organ transplants in Russia for the year increased to 3300
The number of organ transplants in Russia reached 3,300 operations in 2024, which indicates a significant development of domestic transplantology after a recovery period associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the total number of transplants, 2,000 operations were kidney transplants, and the rest were liver, heart and lung transplants. Director of the National Medical Research Center of Transplantology and Artificial Organs named after V.I. Shumakova, chief freelance transplant specialist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Gauthier announced this on January 18, 2025.
Sergei Gauthier noted that the increase arose mainly due to transplantation of such important organs as the liver and heart. Special attention in 2024 was paid to the further development of lung transplantation.
The number of lung transplants reached 35 by the end of 2024, including two transplants of the cardiopulmonary complex. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences called this one of the achievements of domestic transplantology, since such operations require the highest qualification of medical personnel and modern equipment.
The National Medical Research Center of Transplantology and Artificial Organs named after V.I. Shumakova demonstrated world leadership in the field of heart transplantation. In 2024, the facility performed 294 heart transplants, an outstanding outcome for one medical center.
The branch of the National Medical Research Center in the city of VolzhskyVolgograd region made a significant contribution to the development of regional transplantology. In 2024, 101 organ transplants were performed within the walls of this medical center, of which 17 were heart transplants. Sergei Gauthier called this a very big step in the regional development of transplantology.[5]
Russia has developed a technology for preserving the life of a donor heart for 10 hours. Artificial lungs are used for this
In October 2024, Russian scientists talked about the creation of an innovative technology that allows, according to them, to maintain the viability of a donor heart outside the body for up to 10 hours. A key feature of the method is the use of artificial lungs, which significantly increases the transport time of the organ for transplantation. Read more here.
The first small intestine transplant was carried out in Russia
Russia In April 2024, a small intestine transplant was successfully performed for the first time. The operation took place in. This is Sklifosovsky Institute only the third such transplant in the country and the first in the last ten years. This was reported in the press service of the Moscow department. health care More. here
2023
In Russia, 250 heart transplants are made annually per year
On June 13, 2024, it became known that at least 250 heart transplants are performed annually in Russia. This was announced by Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Gauthier, Director of the National Medical Research Center of the TIO named after Academician V.I. Shumakova and chief freelance transplant specialist of the Ministry of Health of Russia. According to him, Russian heart transplantology has reached the world level, and patients on the waiting list do not have time to die.
As Sergei Gauthier noted, until the early 2000s, only a few heart transplants were performed in Russia per year. Currently, only one institute performs 250 such operations annually. This was made possible by a well-coordinated system that saves many lives.
Gauthier added that at the Shumakov Institute by mid-June 2024, about two thousand patients with a transplanted heart are observed at different stages of the postoperative period. The introduction of new technologies and treatments makes it possible to significantly improve the quality of life of these patients. Sergei Gauthier stressed that Russia occupies a leading position in the world in the number of performed heart transplants.
The introduction of innovative technologies is important for the development of transplantology in Russia. According to the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (published in 2023), in recent years, Russian surgeons have mastered the method of combined or combined transplantation, in which two organs are transplanted at once. Such operations are actively carried out in the capital's clinics.
Minister of Health RFMikhail Murashko confirmed that more than three thousand organ transplants are performed annually in Russia. In 2023, over 3 thousand operations were carried out, which indicates a high level of domestic medicine. Mikhail Murashko noted that Russian transplantology has achieved outstanding results that meet the best world standards.[6]
For the first time in Russia, a child had a finger transplanted from his mother's leg
On December 12, 2023, specialists from the N. I. Pirogov High Medical Technology Clinic of St. Petersburg State University (St. Petersburg State University) announced a unique operation to transplant a donor finger to an eleven-year-old child with leukemia. This procedure will allow the boy to restore the brush function. Read more here.
Cardiac surgeons in Russia have learned to maintain a donor heart 1.5 times longer than usual
Cardiac surgeons from the E. N. Meshalkin National Medical Research Center in Novosibirsk were able to extend the life of the donor heart from four to six hours. This became known in June 2023.
Thanks to the new method, the organ can be delivered from remote regions. This means that patients will increase the chances of transplantation, reports TASS.
 | In the experimental group, we carry out the preservation of the donor heart outside the body for six hours using autoperfusion. During this time, we observe the function of the organ, its work, changes in parameters, blood composition, changes in the contractile abilities of the myocardium using ultrasound, - explained the cardiovascular surgeon Maxim Zhulkov. |  |
According to him, the heart is quite an autonomous organ, and under certain conditions, even being deprived of communication with the body, the central nervous system, it is able to maintain its functions for a long time. Deputy Director General of the Heart Center for Science, leading cardiovascular surgeon-aritmolog Alexander Romanov said that increasing the functioning time of the donor organ from four to six hours is already a big step towards the availability of heart transplantation. This will allow you to bring a donor organ, for example, from, to the Krasnoyarsk Novosibirsk region. According to him, scientists are striving to bring the solution in which perfusion is taking place before storing the organ for 24 hours. Zhulkov said that experiments are carried out on large laboratory animals. Heart moved in shipping container
By June 2023, scientists are working to create a solution in which the heart can be stored for 24 hours. This organ is quite autonomous and can maintain its functions for a long time even outside the body.[7]
2022
Organ transplantation in Russia increased by 30%
Organ transplantation in Russia in 2022 increased by 30%: according to the results of that 12-month period, 2551 operations were carried out against 2316 a year earlier. Such data in February 2023 revealed the chief freelance specialist transplantologist of the Ministry of Health of Russia Sergey Gauthier.
According to him, the growth occurred, among other things, due to the increase in the regions of transplantation capacities. This type of operation by February 2023 is carried out by 66 medical centers in 36 regions, while in 2007 there were only 31 such clinics.
From 2007 to 2022, the number of heart transplants in Russia increased 16 times. By February 2023, under medical supervision in the country, 2 thousand patients with a transplanted heart. During the same period, the number of liver transplants increased 5.6 times, kidneys - 2.2 times. In Russia, the most medical centers transplanting kidneys are 57 centers in 30 regions, slightly fewer medical organizations with liver transplant departments - 30 clinics in 20 territories.
At the National Medical Research Center of Transplantology and Artificial Organs named after Academician V.I. Shumakov in 2022, 699 manipulations were carried out, and 1.8 thousand operations were carried out by specialists in regional medical institutions.
Transplantation is one of the priority types of medical care of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation for development in the regions. For example, the agency intends to introduce a special increasing coefficient for the federal subsidy to the regions for the provision of VMP outside the basic compulsory medical insurance program in order to stimulate local clinics to load existing transplant capacities.
In February 2023, Sergei Gauthier said that there were no difficulties with medicines for organ transplantation due to sanctions in Russia.
| | We can assume that there will be some logistical difficulties in the delivery of drugs, but so far we have monitoring of drug defects, this is not observed, "he said.[8] | |
Why the law on organ transplantation is outdated in Russia
Adopted back in 1992, the law on organ transplantation in Russia is outdated, changes in it can save the lives of a large number of people. This opinion was expressed at the end of August 2022 by the author of the project "20 ideas for the development of Russia" Dmitry Davydov.
According to him, the condition establishing exclusively genetic kinship between the donor and the recipient was a necessity by the early 1990s. This clause of the law made the sphere of organ transplantation transparent and protected people from criminal schemes in which they were forced to give organs under pressure or for money. For 30 years, the situation in the country has changed dramatically, Davydov said.
Oleg Reznik, head of the Center for Organ and Tissue Donation at the Dzhanelidze Research Institute of Emergency Medicine, agrees with this position:
| | In today's digital world, it's very easy to test whether people actually live together and how long they live together, what they're motivated by. You can even make the court make a decision. | |
From the standpoint of today, one should also approach the proposal to create a unified base for the exchange of corpse organs by Russia, which also remained without comments from government agencies, Dmitry Davydov points out.
| | Technological solutions based on successful foreign experience, which I propose to pay attention to first of all, can create a reliable system of organ exchange among the constituent entities of the Russian Federation with the further possibility of scaling up to the international level, - said the author of "20 ideas for the development of Russia." | |
Another serious limitation on the path to an increase in the number of transplants in Russia, Dmitry Davydov considers the lack of a unified system for the exchange of organ donors-corpses. For many years, the country has been operating the presumption of consent to the transplantation of organs and tissues of dead people. Its essence is that after diagnosing brain death, it is possible to remove organs suitable for transplantation by default if the deceased or his relatives did not register their disagreement with such a procedure during their lifetime.[9]
2020
Organ transplantation in Russia has sharply decreased - from 2400 to 1960
In 2020, 1960 organ transplants were registered in Russia against 2400 a year earlier. At the same time, the number of such operations for children increased by 13.6%, to 256. Such statistics at the end of September 2021 were cited by the head of the Samara Center for Organ and Tissue Transplantation, the chief freelance transplant specialist of the Ministry of Health of the Samara Region, Alexei Mironov.
According to him, in 2020, children underwent 119 kidney transplants, 131 liver transplants and six heart transplants. Most operations were performed in Moscow federal centers.
At the end of 2020, a total of 1124 kidney transplants, 251 heart transplants, nine lung transplants, two heart-lung transplants, 559 liver transplants were performed in Russia.
As of the end of 2020, transplantation centers in Russia were located in 32 subjects with a total population of 99.3 million people. Kidney transplantation was performed in 44 centers, liver transplantation in 29, heart transplantation in 16, pancreas transplantation in three, lung transplantation in three, and small intestine transplantation in one.
The waiting list for kidney transplantation during 2020 in the Russian Federation consisted of 6929 potential recipients, that is, 11.5% of the total number of patients receiving treatment with hemo- and peritoneal dialysis (approximately 60 thousand).
In the period 2012-2020 in the Russian Federation, as the number of organ transplants increases, there is an increase in the number of patients on waiting lists: kidney transplantation almost twice, liver - 4.6 times, and heart - 1.8 times. At the same time, the average waiting time for organ transplantation has practically not changed.
In 2020, there were 8906 organ donors in Russia. Posthumous donors - 5644, living (related) donors - 3262.[10]
Russian Ministry of Health launches advertising for organ donation in social networks
On October 6, 2020, it became known about the intention of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation to launch an advertisement for organ donation on social networks. The agency announced the corresponding tender.
The winner of the competition will have to adapt and post two videos in the services "Vkontakte," "My World," "Odnoklassniki" and on YouTube within two days from the date of the conclusion of the state contract. The target audience for the content is men and women aged 18 and over. The end of applications for participation in the competition is scheduled for October 8, 2020.
The initial contract price is 2 million rubles. For this amount, the performer must provide at least 3.5 million video screenings at different sites aimed at increasing the awareness of Russians in organ donation for further transplantation to those in need.
On June 1, 2021, a federal law "On human organ donation and transplantation" may enter into force in Russia. It introduces the concepts of "donation," "donor organ," "posthumous donation" and "lifetime donation"... Its adoption stretched over 7 years. A bill replacing the current law of 1992 "On Organ and Tissue Transplantation" was proposed back in 2013, but its adoption was constantly postponed. First of all, due to the fact that the register of refusals from post-mortem donation was never created, so that, in accordance with the law, the presumption of consent could work if the deceased or his relatives did not declare a refusal to donate.
There are three main conditions for organ donation. First, a person can become an organ donor after death only if a strict protocol is followed, using which the slightest possibility of error is excluded.
The second condition is that a person can become an organ donor after death, if during his lifetime he did not have serious concomitant diseases, systemic or oncological.
Third, there is a presumption of consent in our country regarding organ donation. This means that if a person during his lifetime has not expressed an objection to becoming an organ donor after death, he can become an organ donor. [11]
2019: Doctors in Russia will be allowed to take the organs of the dead
In December 2019, the Ministry of Health introduced a bill on human organ donation and transplantation. The document records the conditions and procedure for the removal of organs, as well as their further transplantation. In addition, the bill describes the rights and obligations of organ donors, recipients, health professionals and relevant institutions.
It is reported that medical organizations will have the right to begin transplantation on the day of a person's death, unless his relatives declare their disagreement with the removal of organs in time. Also, the transplant will be made in the absence of the opportunity to inform relatives within two hours after death.
Also, the draft law provides for the automatic consent of an adult capable citizen to posthumously remove organs if two conditions are met, if he has not reported his lifetime refusal to posthumously donate orally to the attending physician in the presence of two witnesses, or in writing - in a medical organization.
The bill defines the legal age of the deceased for post-mortem donation.
| | A posthumous donor is a person aged 1 year and older, in respect of whom a death procedure has been initiated or death has been ascertained, and whose donor organs can be used for transplantation (transplantation) and which, when donating human organs, is recognized as a potential, acceptable, real and relevant donor, - according to a document published on the federal portal of draft regulatory draft legal acts. | |
By December 24, 2019, the bill is being publicly discussed. This stage will end on January 20, 2020, the law will enter into force on June 1, 2021, the explanatory note says.[12]
Notes
- ↑ 3.8 thousand organ transplants were performed in the Russian Federation, of which 320 operations were performed to children
- ↑ The chief transplantologist reported an increase in the number of kidney and liver transplants
- ↑ Russia will expand the list of organs suitable for transplantation
- ↑ Russia has developed a method of heart transplantation without stopping it
- ↑ The number of organ transplants is growing in Russia
- ↑ Surgeon Gauthier announced the world leadership of the Russian Federation in the field of organ transplantation
- ↑ Cardiac surgeons in Novosibirsk learned to maintain a donor heart 1.5 times longer
- ↑ The Ministry of Health denied difficulties with the availability of drugs for transplants
- ↑ Non-blood donor: how to reduce organ deficit for transplantation in Russia
- ↑ Doctors of Clinics SamGMU took part in the V Russian National Congress "Organ Transplantation and Donation"
- ↑ Provision of services for posting videos aimed at raising the level of awareness of citizens of the Russian Federation on the development of the human organ donation system for transplantation in the information and communication network "Internet"
- ↑ npa=98296/Human Organ Donation and Transplantation Bill
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