For a 54 year old patient suffering from kidney failure, there was no derth of donors. His elder brother offered to donate one of his kidneys. However, a blood group mismatch rendered their kidneys incompatible. But that was a small deterrent for doctors at Apollo Hospital who conducted a successful transplant using the incompatible kidney. Today the patient is healthy.
‘We used a special technique to prime the recipient’s defense system to accept an organ with a mismatched blood type. The process involved blood cleansing through plasma exchange that rids the system of cells that would have been rejected the previously incompatible kidney. We administered the patient with a drug called Rituximab to reduce anti-bodies in his blood. Patient’s blood type is O while his brother’s type is B,” said Dr. Sandip Jasuja, senior consultant nephrologist at Apollo. Numerous patient with kidney failure are not able to undergo transplant due to non-availability of donors with matching blood group.
Dr Gaurav Sagar, another senior doctor, said transplants involving incompatible kidneys have been carried out successfully in Mumbai and Ahmedabad and foreign countries like Japan. "The five-year survival rate of patients in such cases is almost as good as in regular transplants with matching donors," Sagar claimed.
Meanwhile, the patient, who was on dialysis for a year, couldn't be happier. "My wife and sister-inlaw have the same blood group as me. However, they couldn't donate their kidneys because of health problems like high blood pressure. I had lost all hope and thought that I was going to die. Even my brother, though willing, could not donate the organ. The doctors have given me a new lease of life," said the patient, a farmer based in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. The surgery cost Rs 10 lakh approximately.
In India, approximately 1,75,000 kidneys, 50,000 hearts and 50,000 livers are needed for transplantation every year, said Dr Anupam Sibal, group medical director, Apollo Hospital. "There is a need to promote organ donation," he said. At present, only 0.1% of all donations are from cadavers.