Liver transplant in super-urgency saves Eirini at the Molinette hospital (11 October 2026)
On 11 October 2026, Turin's Molinette hospital, part of the Città della Salute e della Scienza, performed an emergency liver transplant that saved the life of Eirini, a 28-year-old Greek student living in the Netherlands.
The young woman was in Greece when she was struck by acute liver failure caused by Wilson's disease, a rare genetic disorder that causes copper to build up in the liver, which rapidly progressed into multi-organ failure. She was initially admitted to the Hippokration General Hospital in Athens.
The National Transplant Centre in Rome, led by Giuseppe Feltrin, activated the Italy-Greece organ transplant cooperation protocol. Renato Romagnoli, director of Turin's Liver Transplant Centre and regional transplant coordinator for Piedmont and Aosta Valley, offered to take the case, while the Piedmont Regional Transplant Centre, led by Federico Genzano, organised her transfer by medical aircraft to Caselle airport.
Arriving at the Molinette in critical condition, unconscious and intubated, Eirini was assessed by Silvia Martini, head of the liver intensive care unit, and placed on the national super-urgency waiting list. The central intensive care unit, led by Maurizio Berardino, provided life-support therapies, while the blood bank, led by Tiziana Francisci, began plasmapheresis to remove the circulating copper released by the liver's necrosis. Within a few hours, a compatible organ became available from a deceased donor in a nearby region.
Twelve hours after arriving in Turin, the patient entered the operating theatre for the procedure, which lasted about ten hours: the 4,470th transplant performed in the city. Her post-operative recovery was complex and required three months in hospital, with the involvement of several departments (transplant surgery, anaesthesia, intensive care, hepatology, nephrology, infectious diseases, and diagnostic and interventional radiology).
Discharged in early October, Eirini is recovering physically and psychologically and plans to return to Greece soon.
Sources
- Obiettivo News — 11 October 2026
- TorinoToday — 11 October 2026
- ANSA Piemonte — 11 October 2026
- TorinoOggi — 11 October 2026
- CronacaQui Torino — 11 October 2026
- Il Torinese — 11 October 2026