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JKU Rector Lukas Receives a Kidney Transplant Following 5½ Years of Dialysis.

The Johannes Kepler University Linz would like to provide information regarding Rector Meinhard Lukas’ kidney transplant last Friday at the Transplant Center at the Medical University of Vienna / Vienna General Hospital.

Meinhard Lukas; photo credit: Robert Maybach
Meinhard Lukas; photo credit: Robert Maybach

Prof. Gabriela Berlakovich performed the procedure and Lukas’ nephrological care is in the hands of Prof. Rainer Oberbauer. Thanks to outstanding care provided by the respective teams at the Medical University of Vienna and by the Vienna General Hospital, Rector Lukas is doing very well under the circumstances. The important thing now is that Rector Lukas’ body accepts the donor kidney.

Back in March 2017, Rector Lukas initially announced he had been suffering from chronic kidney failure. Since then, he has been dependent on daily dialysis therapy, which he performed himself for several hours every night at home in the form of peritoneal dialysis. The Elisabethinen Hospital and, most recently, the Kepler University Hospital (Prof. Alexander Moschen and his team), have been providing him with outstanding medical care.

Last Friday, the Transplant Center at the Medical University of Vienna offered him a donor kidney based on his position in the waitlist. Prof. Gabriela Berlakovich performed the surgery at the Department of General Surgery (Medical University of Vienna) in the afternoon. His nephrological care is in the hands of Prof. Rainer Oberbauer (Department of Nephrology and Dialysis at the Medical University of Vienna).

Prof. Berlakovich and Prof. Oberbauer, along with their exceptional medical and nursing teams, have provided outstanding care and under the circumstances, he is doing very well. The important thing now is that his body accepts donor kidney. For this reason, over the next few days, he will be in post-operative care at the Department of General Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna. During this time, Vice-Rector Stefan Koch will substitute and represent him.

As more donor organs are needed than are available, those affected are put on a waiting list. Donor organs are allocated according to clear medical criteria. The likelihood of a successful transplantation for each available donor organ among the listed patients is the central factor and in comparison, the waiting time only plays a secondary role in comparison. Accordingly, an individual patient’s wait time can be significantly longer than the average (approximately 3 ½ years for kidneys), as it was for Meinhard Lukas.

Rector Lukas remarked: "I would like to thank everyone involved in the Austrian healthcare system for the outstanding and highly professional work they do in the field of transplantation medicine. This opens the doors to a new future and patients can experience a higher quality of life, in spite of sometimes suffering from severe chronic diseases. I would like to especially thank Prof. Berlakovich and Prof. Oberbauer, along with their teams, for the excellent care. My deepest appreciation and respect go to my colleague, Rector Markus Müller, and his entire staff for their exceptional leadership at the Medical University of Vienna. I am experiencing just how deserving this university’s international reputation is."