The day began with speeches from Dr Josep M. Campistol, director general of the Hospital Clínic Barcelona; Dr Antonio Alcaraz, head of the Urology Department, Dr Esteban Poch, head of the Nephrology Department; Dr Beatriz Domínguez-Gil, director of the Spanish National Transplant Organization (ONT), and Dr Jaume Tort, director of the Catalan Transplant Organization (OCATT). Next, Dr Federico Oppenheimer, nephrologist at the Clínic, reviewed six decades of the evolution in kidney transplantation, from that first procedure in 1965 to the present day.
The programme also included a panel discussion on the present and future of kidney transplantation, with the participation of professionals from the Nephology, Urology, Immunology, Anaesthesia and Nursing Departments, as well as the contribution of a patient, Esteban Capella, who has been living with a transplant for 50 years.
“The first kidney transplant at the Clínic was an act of scientific and human courage that opened a new era in Spanish medicine,” said Dr Josep M. Campistol. "Sixty years later, we continue working with the same spirit: to advance, to innovate, and, above all, to care for and offer life opportunities to those who need it most.”
The event was closed by Dr Raquel Sánchez Valle, medical director of the Clínic, and Dr Rosa Ramos, director of the Clínic Institute of Nephrology and Urology.
The first kidney transplant in Spain
The first kidney transplant in Spain was performed on 23 July 1965, a historic milestone that took place at the Hospital Clínic Barcelona. Urologist Josep M. Gil-Vernet’s team, in collaboration with the nephrologist Antoni Caralps, led the first transplant. This procedure paved the way for a highly effective therapeutic approach that became a routine technique within the Spanish health system. The Clínic is the Spanish hospital that has performed the most kidney transplants over the years, according to the Spanish National Organ Transplant Organization.
