In 2023, Italy rose to second place among major European countries in organ donation: the rate achieved was 28.2 donors per million inhabitants, behind Spain (world leader with 48.9). Confirming the result is the latest Analytical Report of the National Transplant Network's annual activity.
The report, which elaborates on preliminary data published last January, confirms that 2023 was the best year ever for reported donors (3,092, +16.2 % over 2022), donors used (1,667, +14.2 %) and transplants performed (4,466, +15.2 %).
The document contains more than 200 pages of analysis, graphs and tables that focus in detail on the entire activity of the Italian National Health Service's donation and transplantation network, regarding solid organs but also tissues, hematopoietic stem cells, gametes and gut microbiota.
Among transplant centers, it was the City of Health and Science of Turin that carried out the most transplants (457), confirming its first place in kidney and liver transplant activity. It was followed by the Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria di Padova (435), the national leader in lung and pancreas transplants, while in third place was the Policlinico Sant'Orsola di Bologna (322).
Outstanding among southern centers is the result of the Policlinico di Bari, Italy's leading center for number of heart transplants. On the other hand, as far as organ harvesting activity is concerned, there were 221 hospitals in which organ donation was carried out in 2023: the most active nosocomas were the Ospedale Civile Maggiore in Verona (55 donations), the Bellaria Hospital in Bologna (46) and the Policlinico Careggi in Florence (46).
The Report also confirms the growth in tissue donation (15,327, +24.4 %) and transplantation (24,944, +15.2 %) activity, particularly corneas and bone, as well as in hematopoietic stem cell donations.
