The aim of the Education Committee (EC) is to coordinate ESOT’s efforts to advance multidisciplinary education for transplant professionals at all career levels and to contribute to their professional development.
The Basic Science Committee promotes scientific issues and transplantation research within ESOT. An active basic science community and an efficient translation of innovation into the clinic are crucial for the future of transplantation medicine.
The European Transplant Allied Healthcare Professionals (ETAHP) reaches out to allied healthcare professionals throughout Europe in order to ensure the best care possible for all transplant patients, with the aim to optimize patient outcomes.
The Young Professionals in Transplantation (YPT) is the Network for Junior Transplant professionals of ESOT, representing all young transplant clinicians and scientists who are beginning a career in transplantation and organ donation.
The mission of ECTORS is to provide a forum for discussing and stimulating novel developments in the fields of cellular therapies in organ transplantation, organ regeneration and generation of new organs from stem cells and biomaterials.
ECTTA is the forum for experience exchange on treatment of patients with end-stage heart and lung failure. Our aim is to improve outcomes for the patients.
EDTCO aims to support health care professionals to provide clinically effective programmes on organ and tissue donation, procurement and transplantation.
EKITA is the Organ Expert Section of ESOT on kidney transplantation in Europe, providing a forum for kidney transplantation professionals to exchange scientific information and views aimed at providing the best service to European patients .
The European Liver and Intestine Transplant Association (ELITA), previously known as the European Liver Transplant Association (ELTA), is a section of ESOT. Its membership represents the expertise on liver and intestinal transplantation in Europe.
ELPAT is a European platform that brings continuity and progress in European research and dialogue on "Ethical, Legal and Psychosocial Aspects of organ Transplantation". ELPAT currently consists of over 160 experts from more than 25 European countries.
EPITA is established to provide a forum for those working in the field of pancreas and islet of Langerhans transplantation or any other alternative form of beta cell replacement in Europe, to exchange scientific information and views related primarily to providing the best service for patients in Europe requiring pancreas or islet transplantation.
VCA has opened a new era in the field of transplantation, reconstructive and restorative surgery. This Section brings together 10 representatives of major European teams at the forefront in this field.
Liver transplantation is an accepted method of treatment of end-stage liver disease, metabolic diseases with their primary defect in the liver and unresectable primary liver tumors.
The first attempt of liver transplantation in humans was done by Thomas Starzl at the University of Colorado in Denver, in 1963. After several unsuccessful liver transplantations in Denver, Boston and Paris, a voluntary worldwide moratorium discouraged liver transplantation until 1967. On July 23, 1967 Thomas Starzl performed the first successful liver transplantation.
One year later, Sir Roy Calne successfully launched liver transplantation in Cambridge, UK. Despite the fact that at least the operation seemed to be feasible, LT remained an experimental procedure until 1983 due to its low one year survival rate, which at that time was around 30%.
In that year a National Institute of Health Consensus Development was held in Washington DC. Based on the experiences from four liver transplant centers in Pittsburgh (US), Cambridge (UK), Hannover (Germany) and Groningen (The Netherlands) a consensus document was published stating that liver transplantation could be recognized as an accepted method of treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease.
By that time the first improved one year survival rate approaching 60% were reported.
Since then the numbers of performed liver transplantation constantly increased. In Europe more than 8000 livers were transplanted in 2012 (Newsletter Transplant 2013, EDQM/Council of Europe). The results of liver transplantation improved substantially over the years and currently 1-year patient survival is 85% and a long term survival is above 70%.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought transplantation to a global standstill. Since February, 2020, healthcare providers implemented a radical and focused response to the pandemic, prioritising organisational readiness and resource re-allocation to meet the anticipated influx of patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Many services, including solid organ transplantation, were suspended as intensive care units (ICU) and anaesthetic resources were re-allocated. All European countries have implemented preventive screenings policies for potential organ donors and follow up of the transplanted patients.
On March 30, 2020, the European Liver and Intestine Transplantation Association (ELITA) sent out a call to establish a COVID-19 registry for liver transplant recipients to 149 liver transplant centres located in 30 European countries and affiliated to the European Liver Transplant Registry (ELTR).
As a consequence of the development of this database, studies based on the risk of COVID-19 infection in European liver transplant recipients have been developed. The preliminary results from the ELITA COVID-19 registry suggest that mortality in liver transplant recipients might be higher in older recipients than in younger patients and could be worse in patients with longer follow up since transplantation.
ELITA is planning to promote further studies on the reduction of the quantity of organs offered, impact on the mortality rate of patients on the waiting lists, patient outcomes and the role of the immunosuppression in COVID-19 recipients.
The data collected by ELITA will allow a better understanding of the clinical impact of SARS-CoV-2 on the fragile populations of liver transplant recipients and patients on the waiting list.
– Luca S Belli, Christophe Duvoux, Vincent Karam, Rene Adam, Valentin Cuervas-Mons, Luisa Pasulo, Carmelo Loinaz, Federica Invernizzi, Damiano Patrono, Sherrie Bhoori, Olga Ciccarelli, Maria Cristina Morelli, Lluis Castells, Victor Lopez-Lopez, Sara Conti, Costantino Fondevila, Wojchiech Polak,
COVID-19 in liver transplant recipients: preliminary data from the ELITA/ELTR registry. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Volume 5, Issue 8, 2020
– Polak, W.G., Fondevila, C., Karam, V., Adam, R., Baumann, U., Germani, G., Nadalin, S., Taimr, P., Toso, C., Troisi, R.I., Zieniewicz, K., Belli, L.S., Duvoux, C. (2020), Impact of COVID‐19 on liver transplantation in Europe: Alert from an early survey of European Liver and Intestine Transplantation Association (ELITA) and European Liver Transplant Registry (ELTR). Transplant International, Accepted Author Manuscript
– Belli LS, Fondevila C, Cortesi PA, Conti S, Karam V, Adam R, Coilly A, Ericzon BG, Loinaz C, Cuervas-Mons V, Zambelli M, Llado L, Diaz-Fontenla F, Invernizzi F, Patrono D, Faitot F, Bhooori S, Pirenne J, Perricone G, Magini G, Castells L, Detry O, Cruchaga PM, Colmenero J, Berrevoet F, Rodriguez G, Ysebaert D, Radenne S, Metselaar H, Morelli C, De Carlis LG, Polak WG, Duvoux C; ELITA-ELTR COVID-19 Registry. Protective Role of Tacrolimus, Deleterious Role of Age and Comorbidities in Liver Transplant Recipients With Covid-19: Results From the ELITA/ELTR Multi-center European Study. Gastroenterology. 2021 Mar;160(4):1151-1163.e3. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2020.11.045. Epub 2020 Dec 9. PMID: 33307029; PMCID: PMC7724463
MAPS
– SARS-CoV-2 positive Liver Transplant Recipients and Candidates as of May 24, 2020 (click here to open)
– SARS-CoV-2 positive Liver Transplant Recipients and Candidates as of May 8, 2020 (click here to open)
– SARS-CoV-2 positive Liver Transplant Recipients and Candidates as of April 22, 2020 (click here to open)
– SARS-CoV-2 positive Liver Transplant Recipients and Candidates as of April 12, 2020 (click here to open)
Read the ELITA consensus statements on the use of DAAs in liver transplant candidates and recipients.
