HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

ISMETT, in
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
, Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione translated as the Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Advanced Specialized Therapies, is a center for organ transplantation located in
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. ISMETT was founded in 1997 as a partnership between the Region of Sicily, the Civico and Cervello hospitals in Palermo, and the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a $23billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and d ...
(UPMC).Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione (ISMETT)
/ref> ISMETT primarily specializes in performing all types of
organ transplantation Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transpor ...
s, using both deceased and living donor techniques. ISMETT has 70 beds (14 ICU, 21 in semi-intensive, and 35 inpatient), 7 outpatient beds, 4 operating rooms, a hospital pharmacy and laboratory analysis, infectious diseases and pathology in a facility that covers an area of .


History

The idea of creation of the Institute stemmed from a group of hepatologists at a hospital in Palermo that proposed to the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a $23billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and d ...
(UPMC) the idea of a multi-organ transplant center to be realized in
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
. Its creation was also prompted by a 1995 law passed in the United States that capped the total number of foreign patients that can be placed on a waiting list for transplants at 5%. For this reason, transplant leaders in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
began looking toward opportunities in Europe and participated actively in the creation of a transplant center in Palermo. On May 23, 1996, the idea was presented to the Ministry of Health, who welcomed the project. The first director was Ignazio R. Marino who performed the first successful liver transplantation in Sicily on July 31, 1999. Ignazio Marino's team performed the first 100 solid organ transplantations of ISMETT. On March 20, 1997, the State-Region Conference officially approved the creation and clinical management of ISMETT in accordance with art. 9/bis of Legislative Decree no. 502/92 and proceeded with construction of the new institute. The construction began in 1999 with the laying of a foundation stone and was completed in 2004 when the new center opened its doors. As of 2007, ISMETT had revenues of €2,270,000. Its
chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...
was Camillo Ricordi, with Bruno Gridelli serving as its
director-general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...
and Ugo Palazzo serving as its director of health


Transplant activities

ISMETT began its clinical activity in 1999. On July 31, 1999, Ignazio Marino performed its first
liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, al ...
from a cadaveric donor in Sicily. The same year Ignazio Marino started a cadaveric and living donor
kidney transplantation Kidney transplant or renal transplant is the organ transplant of a kidney into a patient with end-stage kidney disease (ESRD). Kidney transplant is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantat ...
program. The team led by Ignazio Marino performed the first 100 solid organ transplant at ISMETT. In 2004, ISMETT obtained permission to perform heart-lung transplants, thus becoming a multi-organ transplant center. In 2003 ISMETT started a pediatric liver transplantation program, and that year performed the first children's transplant done in southern Italy.


Transplantation of HIV+ patients

In 2001, Ignazio Marino performed the first living donor transplant into and HIV-positive patient in Italy, a procedure that created controversy and criticism, including complaint from the Ministry of Health. The Ministry moved to censure Marino arguing that this particular type of transplant had the characteristics of clinical trials that required special authorization. That patient transplanted by Dr. Marino is still alive and enjoying an excellent quality of life free of dialysis, 16 years after the kidney transplant. Because of this success the rules in Italy have been changed and now HIV-positive patients are not any longer denied access to transplantation if they need it. In 2007, for the first time in the world, an ISMETT team led by Dr. Bruno Gridelli performed a lung transplant on an HIV positive patient In this case, the intervention was authorized by the Ministry and was included within an experimental program launched by the National Transplant Center. This time, no controversy was recorded and the procedure received congratulatory press.


The Cell Factory

In 2007, the Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy Unit (Unità di Medicina Rigenerativa e Terapie Cellulari), termed the Cell Factory, was opened at ISMETT with the aim to initiate a program of regenerative medicine that researches the reparation of damaged organs. The mobile production laboratories (GMP Facility) of the unit have been made part of a project sponsored by the Region of Sicily and the Budget and Finance under the "ICT for the excellence of the territories." Among the research trials carried out at the Cell Factory is the injection of fetal
hepatocyte A hepatocyte is a cell of the main parenchymal tissue of the liver. Hepatocytes make up 80% of the liver's mass. These cells are involved in: * Protein synthesis * Protein storage * Transformation of carbohydrates * Synthesis of cholesterol, ...
s as a therapy to bridge the patients waiting for a liver transplant, transplantation of pancreatic islets for patients with diabetes type 1, and transplantation of human fetal skin cells for the treatment of lesions of the skin.


The Center for Simulation

The Center for Simulation became active at ISMETT in June, 2007Centro di Simulazione
/ref> with the aim to prevent and reduce medical errors. The use of simulation for training staff is already quite widespread in certain sectors such as aviation, and has now spread into the medical field. The simulation center provides for the implementation of higher risk procedures without risk to personnel and without involving patients. The center has five life-sized and technologically sophisticated simulator mannequins that can mimic the signs and symptoms of real patients. The center was created thanks to a donation from the Foundation Fiandaca. The training activities of the centre, which is open to all health care providers, began in January, 2008 .


See also

*
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) is a $23billion integrated global nonprofit health enterprise that has 92,000 employees, 40 hospitals with more than 8,000 licensed beds, 800 clinical locations including outpatient sites and d ...
*
Organ transplantation Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged or missing organ. The donor and recipient may be at the same location, or organs may be transpor ...


References


External links


ISMETT

UPMC

Regenerative Medicine and Therapy Unit of ISMETT (Cell Factory)
{{Authority control Hospital buildings completed in 2004 Hospitals in Italy Organ transplantation in Italy Education in Palermo University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Medical research institutes in Italy