Successful ABO incompatible kidney transplant conducted on a 48-year-old man suffering with chronic kidney and liver ailment at Fortis Mohali

Hoshiarpur, July 20, 2023: The Renal Sciences Department at Fortis Hospital Mohali has given a new lease of life to a 48-year-old Hoshiarpur-based man via a kidney transplant conducted in May this year. The case assumes significance as the Patient’s Blood Group was O and the donor’s Blood Group was A, yet the kidney transplant was conducted successfully.

The Patient was suffering from Type 2 Diabetes, Chronic Liver Disease (CKD) and his left side of the body was paralysed since the past 1 year. He had been experiencing swelling in his legs, foamy urine, breathlessness and subsequently underwent a medical examination at a Hoshiarpur-based hospital in February last. The Patient was diagnosed with CKD and put on hemodialysis (filtering waste and water from the blood) twice a week. However, after his symptoms failed to subside and the dialysis schedule hampered his quality of life, he consulted Dr Anna Gupta, Associate Consultant, Renal Sciences and Kidney Transplant, at Fortis Hospital Mohali.

As the Patient had Blood Group O, his sister with the same blood group was evaluated as the donor first. However, she was rejected as she was diagnosed with diabetes and had a protein leak in the urine. The Patient’s wife with Blood Group A was finally accepted as the donor as no other legitimate match could be found in the family.  The Kidney Transplant Surgery team comprising Dr Gupta and Dr Sunil Kumar, Senior Consultant and Kidney Transplant Surgeon conducted a successful kidney transplant surgery on the Patient in May this year.

Contrary to the transplant with the same blood group, the Patient was made to undergo de-sensitization (removing antibodies from blood). He was successfully discharged seven days after the surgery with the serum creatinine of 1.3 mg/dl and no complications. He has recovered fully and leading a normal life today. The donor was also discharged on the 4th post-operative day with no complications.

Stating that CKD was a rising health ailment in India, Dr Gupta, added, “Screening diabetic patients and hypertensive ones is the key. Those CKD patients who have legitimate donor in family but the blood group is different should not lose hope. With the current advances in Organ Transplant sciences, ABO incompatible kidney transplants can be performed with a success rate of around 90%.

On what constitutes a successful kidney transplant programme, Dr Gupta, added, “A kidney transplant programme requires careful pre-operative selection of the kidney transplant donor, expertise in kidney transplant surgery, advanced level of post-operative care as well as a dedicated team of transplant surgeons and transplant nephrologists.”

Highlighting the importance of kidney transplant, Dr Sunil Kumar, said, “Careful selection of donors is very important as a successful surgery outcome ensures a healthy life for the patient. Also, patients can return home within a week of the surgery and resume their normal routine activities. Except for the first three months, there are very few dietary restrictions. As far as ABO incompatible kidney transplant is concerned, it is technically challenging and has to be well planned to avoid surgical complications. Our team has been performing such complicated surgeries since last seven years with excellent outcomes.