The School of Medicine at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens is delighted to showcase the work of its newly established Liver Transplantation and Liver Disease Surgical Department, operating at the General University Hospital of Athens ‘Laiko’, under the direction of Dr Georgios Sotiropoulos, Professor of Surgery and Transplantation. This Department, the only one of its kind within Greece’s public national health system, plays a pivotal role in strengthening the country’s liver transplantation programme, setting a new standard for both scientific excellence and social contribution.
Since the reintroduction of the liver transplantation programme in Athens in 2018, the number of procedures has steadily increased each year. By the end of 2023, the Liver Transplantation Unit at ‘Laiko’ Hospital had successfully carried out 58 liver transplantations. This growth has been supported by the 1st Department of Gastroenterology at the University of Athens, under the direction of Professor Georgios Papatheodorides. Following the establishment of the Liver Transplantation and Liver Disease Surgical Department in 2024, an additional 45 liver transplantations have been performed as of August 2025—a significant milestone for public transplantation activity in Athens and a clear indicator of the Department’s dynamic expansion. Among these were 4 liver transplantations in patients with acute liver failure and 3 living donor liver transplantations (LDLT), which marked the commencement of Greece’s first living donor liver transplantation programme. Indeed, the first LDLT in Greece using robotic assistance was recently performed successfully, when a woman donated the right lobe of her liver to her young son. The Department has also successfully carried out reduced-size liver transplantations, providing new opportunities for patients with severe liver disease, who are not suitable for conventional full-size grafts. Furthermore, it has implemented a liver transplantation protocol for colorectal liver metastases, positioning Greece as the 4th European country to apply this internationally recognized approach.
The Department’s multidisciplinary team, comprising expert surgeons, hepatologists, anaesthesiologists, intensivists, pathologists, radiologists, and nurses, achieves exceptional survival rates. The team is at the forefront of adopting innovative medical technology, advancing organ donation, and training the next generation of scientists.
The University of Athens continues to champion initiatives that enhance public health and offer patients with severe liver disease a second chance at life, contributing significantly to the transformation of our country’s transplantation landscape.
