The patient undergoing a second transplant faced incompatibility with the donor on two fronts
The patient undergoing a second transplant faced incompatibility with the donor on two fronts
Doctors at Kauvery Hospital here have managed to perform a second kidney transplant for a 51-year-old man despite the patient facing incompatibility with the donor on two fronts.
A release from the hospital said the patient had undergone a kidney transplant 16 years ago. A viral infection that occurred two years ago affected the transplanted kidney, causing it to fail completely and the patient on dialysis.
When doctors decided that another transplant was the best option, more complications emerged. He had high levels of antibodies because of a previous transplant. “The antibody was identified to be directed against the HLA antigen, a type of molecule found on the surface of most cells in the body that play a key role in the body’s immune response to foreign proteins,” the release said. “
Furthermore, while his wife turned out to be the only available donor, their blood group did not match. “This meant that he had antibodies to the wife’s HLA antigen as well as to her blood group,” the release said.
The decision to go ahead with the transplant was taken after counseling the family about the possibility of the patient’s body rejecting the transplant, the release said. The patient, who was undergoing treatment for TB for the past one year, had made the situation more complicated.
The patient was given immunosuppressants two weeks before surgery, as opposed to drugs given just 24 hours before surgery in the case of normal transplants.
The patient was also subjected to plasmapheresis, a procedure in which the liquid part of the blood (or plasma) is separated from the blood cells to produce antibodies against HLA antigens and antibodies against the donor’s blood group, the release said. can be removed and replaced. with a plasma that did not contain antibodies. The hospital said the man was discharged without complications 10 days after the surgery.
Congratulating R Balasubramaniam and his team for the surgery, Aravindan Selvaraj, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Kauvery Hospital, Chennai, said that it is very rare for a person to have antibodies against two different components. “However, our finest team of nephrologists and medical experts coupled with state-of-the-art facilities has made it possible to treat such complex conditions with better results,” he said.