Last year, a total of 295 kidney, liver and cardiac transplants were carried out at the centre, thanks to the generosity of donors and their families and the involvement of the professionals. HUB has also led tissue and cadaver donation in Catalonia, the pillar that makes the transplant system in our region possible. In addition, its renal transplant and living donor activities place HUB at the forefront of hospitals across the country in these areas.
In 2025, 22% of the organ transplants carried out in Catalonia took place at Bellvitge Hospital (HUB). A total of 295 adult kidney, heart and liver transplants were performed at the centre, 3.5% more than in 2024, placing it as the second centre in Catalonia by volume of procedures. It is the Catalan and Spanish healthcare centre where the most kidney transplants, 207, and heart transplants, a total of 31, were carried out, in this case surpassing the hospital's record for the second consecutive year. It is also worth noting that 43 of the kidney transplants came from living donors, the highest figure in Catalonia and Spain. In addition, 57 liver transplants were performed, four more than the previous year. On the other hand, Hospital de Bellvitge has recorded 61 cadaveric donations, the highest figure among Catalan centres, and 320 tissue donors, making it the leader in this field in Catalonia for the fourth consecutive year.
With these results, the HUB has contributed significantly to the total number of transplants carried out in Catalonia, which reached a total of 1,356, 0.8% more than in 2024 and the second-best figure on record. The official data published by OCATT (Catalan Transplantation Organisation) and the ONT (National Transplant Organisation) consolidate Bellvitge Hospital as one of the leading reference centres in the transplantation system in its three main areas of activity: renal, cardiac and liver.
The 1,356 organ transplants performed in Catalonia represent one of the highest transplant rates in the world, with 167 transplants per million population (pmp), according to data from the OCATT. In this regard, Jaume Tort, director of the OCATT, stressed at the presentation of the 2025 report that ‘we can be very proud of our results; we are a world-class reference.’
By organ type, in 2025 kidney transplants (945; 3.6%), heart transplants (68; 4.6%) and lung transplants (110; 4.8%) all increased overall. By contrast, liver transplants (206; -8.0%) and, more significantly, pancreatic transplants (27; -30.8%) have decreased.
Dr Gabriel Moreno González, Director of the Transplant Programme at Bellvitge Hospital, highlights that "thanks to a great multidisciplinary effort we have rolled out pioneering projects and techniques such as heart donation in asystole, both at our hospital and at other centres; the donation of patients who request the provision of assistance to die (PRAM) and the close collaboration with Primary Care."
"None of this would have been possible without the generosity of the donors and their families, to whom we turn at a very difficult time in their lives to ask them to be able to give life to other people. From the transplant coordination team, we have stepped up our efforts to meet with them during these difficult times," concludes the director of the HUB Transplant Programme.
Leadership in cardiac transplantation, organ donation and living donation
HUB was the first centre in Catalonia for the number of deceased donors, with a total of 61 (55% of whom were donors on circulatory arrest), representing a 13% increase in donors compared to the previous year. This figure is particularly significant in a global context of a reduction in cadaveric donors in Catalonia, specifically by 2.9% compared to 2024.
A total of 43 of the kidney transplants performed at HUB during 2025 were made possible thanks to a living donor. This figure represents almost 20% of all kidney transplants performed at the HUB, placing it as the hospital with the highest activity for living donor kidney transplantation in Catalonia (27.5% of the total) and in Spain. It is also worth noting that the vast majority of these transplants were carried out using robotic surgery, placing HUB at the forefront of Catalan centres in the use of this technology for living donor kidney transplants.
Dr Edoardo Melilli, Head of the Renal Transplant Unit at Bellvitge Hospital, took part in the OCATT press conference, in which he described as a resounding success the consolidation of the organ and tissue donation and transplantation model that makes a person's chance of accessing a transplant in Catalonia the highest in the world, ‘thanks to social commitment and that of the professionals.’ He also highlighted the challenge of maintaining immunological and surgical advances; integrating the patient's perspective and increasing live donor transplant rates.
Also speaking at the press conference was Elena Baez, who first received a heart transplant at HUB in 2023 and a kidney transplant in 2025, also at HUB. After expressing a moving thank you to the healthcare professionals and donors – ‘their act of generosity surpasses my understanding’ – she underlined the enormous model that ‘allows people like me to go from having no chance to enjoying a normal life’.
New record for heart transplants
In terms of heart transplants, Hospital de Bellvitge has reached a new milestone, achieving its best ever record: 31, of which 13 came from donors on asystole. It is the centre that has performed the most heart transplants in Catalonia, accounting for almost 48% of the total. In 2021, the HUB performed the first heart transplant in Catalonia using a heart from a donor on controlled asystole. Since then, it has carried out 43 heart transplants from donors on controlled asystole.
Finally, in the case of the liver, the HUB has also increased its activity in 2024 and has completed 57 liver transplants.
At the forefront of tissue donation
In 2025, the HUB has once again been, for the fourth consecutive year, the Catalan centre with the highest activity in tissue donation, with a total of 320 donors. Thanks to them, 480 tissue donations of different types (ocular, skin, bone and tendon, valvular, vascular and living valves) have been achieved, which have served to improve the quality of life of the recipients.
The tissue donation programme, led by the nursing team in Transplant Coordination, implemented an innovative model seven years ago that involves interdisciplinary collaboration with other professionals at HUB.
Finally, this year the faecal microbiota transplant was included for the first time in the Catalan organ and tissue donation and transplantation report. In mid-2025, the Department of Health launched the Catalan Microbiota Bank, a pioneering initiative at a national and European level. It is made up of the microbiota banks of Hospital de Bellvitge and Hospital Clínic. In 2018, Hospital de Bellvitge created the first bank of frozen faecal samples in Spain to facilitate and promote the performance of faecal microbiota transplants.
The bank allows SISCAT centres to provide access to an innovative, effective and safe treatment for patients with recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections. In recent months, 65 faecal microbiota transplants have been performed, 44 of them at Bellvitge Hospital. In the majority of cases (51), the treatment was administered orally (capsules); the remainder via colonoscopy.