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Spain’s Transplant Surge Capped by Madrid Hospital’s 63-Hour Run of Four Heart Transplants

Expanded donor pathways—controlled asystole, living donation, PRAM—are driving the rise.

Overview

  • Madrid’s Hospital 12 de Octubre performed four heart transplants in 63 hours for the first time reported in Spain, with three hearts from controlled-asystole donors and most patients already discharged.
  • The Community of Madrid logged a record 1,026 organ transplants in 2025, including 104 heart procedures for a 35% year-over-year increase.
  • Catalonia completed 1,356 transplants in 2025—945 kidney, 206 liver, 110 lung, 68 heart, 27 pancreas—while family refusals to donation climbed to 27.6%.
  • Catalonia reported 51 PRAM donors enabling 167 transplants in 2025, alongside 174 living kidney donors as programs continue to expand capacity.
  • Galicia set a new high with 429 transplants and 143 donors, as controlled-asystole donation surpassed brain-death donation for the first time and family refusals fell to 19.7%.