New Delhi: The number of patients with chronic kidney disease is less. Sandeep Bhatnagar (51), a school principal RaipurChhattisgarh & CG Hanumanthua civil contractor Mahbubnagar In Telangana, know that their destinies were intertwined. He recently underwent a rare interstate, inter-hospital swap transplant (donors are exchanged and matched with recipients) by a team of doctors at two hospitals in Hyderabad.
Both men were waiting for a kidney donor, but there was no suitable match in the family, even as their wives were willing to donate for them. At the end, Indu Bhatnagar (40), Sandeep’s wife donated one kidney to Hanumanthu (37), while Varalakshmi (37), Hanumanthu’s wife donated one kidney to Sandeep.
Two couples from Chhattisgarh and Telangana underwent four surgeries simultaneously with video streaming in real-time. Eight months of documentation and paperwork went into the complex exercise. Doctors said this has paved the way for boosting kidney transplants to 5,000-6,000 per year. Currently around 10,000 transplants are performed in the country annually. “There is a lot of legislation involved and a lot of travel. To reduce any chance of a couple withdrawing consent after a surgery, all four had to undergo surgery at the exact time and date (December 9),” said Dr KS Nayak, chief nephrologist and head of the nephrology department. Kidney transplant, Virinchi Hospital, where a donor-recipient surgery was performed.
Data has shown that 90% of people waiting for a transplant are not aware of swap transplants. By demonstrating how the donor pool can be expanded beyond cities and states, doctors hope to open the floodgates for more such transplants. Dr Sridhar Reddy, chief nephrologist at KIMS Hospital, where the donor-recipient underwent the second surgery, said, “Patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) have only two options – dialysis and transplant. Studies show that fewer than half of patients who need dialysis actually have access to it, making organ matching even more difficult to obtain. The families worked very hard to get the documents approved from both the states.”
While the swap has happened in Mumbai in the same hospital, Dr. Vishwanath BillaNephrologist & Founder Director Apex Kidney Care – who performed the swap transplant – said, “This is a unique transplant. Something like this has now become a necessity in a county like ours. We need to look outside our existing donor pool, into states and even countries.” In the meantime, two recipients have recovered and now have healthy creatinine levels.
During the last year and a half, both the couples had become friends. Barely being able to speak to each other, they now stay at each other’s houses while they travel. “They have come as protectors for us so whenever they (CT Hanumanthu and Varalakshmi) had to travel to Raipur, we invited them to stay with us. We have even gone to meet him,” said Indu Bhatnagar, one of the donors. They have even started liking each other’s food and their kids have become friends. “We met because of this common problem in our families but we have found friends for life. It is very satisfying to see that both the families are healthy and happy.”
Both men were waiting for a kidney donor, but there was no suitable match in the family, even as their wives were willing to donate for them. At the end, Indu Bhatnagar (40), Sandeep’s wife donated one kidney to Hanumanthu (37), while Varalakshmi (37), Hanumanthu’s wife donated one kidney to Sandeep.
Two couples from Chhattisgarh and Telangana underwent four surgeries simultaneously with video streaming in real-time. Eight months of documentation and paperwork went into the complex exercise. Doctors said this has paved the way for boosting kidney transplants to 5,000-6,000 per year. Currently around 10,000 transplants are performed in the country annually. “There is a lot of legislation involved and a lot of travel. To reduce any chance of a couple withdrawing consent after a surgery, all four had to undergo surgery at the exact time and date (December 9),” said Dr KS Nayak, chief nephrologist and head of the nephrology department. Kidney transplant, Virinchi Hospital, where a donor-recipient surgery was performed.
Data has shown that 90% of people waiting for a transplant are not aware of swap transplants. By demonstrating how the donor pool can be expanded beyond cities and states, doctors hope to open the floodgates for more such transplants. Dr Sridhar Reddy, chief nephrologist at KIMS Hospital, where the donor-recipient underwent the second surgery, said, “Patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) have only two options – dialysis and transplant. Studies show that fewer than half of patients who need dialysis actually have access to it, making organ matching even more difficult to obtain. The families worked very hard to get the documents approved from both the states.”
While the swap has happened in Mumbai in the same hospital, Dr. Vishwanath BillaNephrologist & Founder Director Apex Kidney Care – who performed the swap transplant – said, “This is a unique transplant. Something like this has now become a necessity in a county like ours. We need to look outside our existing donor pool, into states and even countries.” In the meantime, two recipients have recovered and now have healthy creatinine levels.
During the last year and a half, both the couples had become friends. Barely being able to speak to each other, they now stay at each other’s houses while they travel. “They have come as protectors for us so whenever they (CT Hanumanthu and Varalakshmi) had to travel to Raipur, we invited them to stay with us. We have even gone to meet him,” said Indu Bhatnagar, one of the donors. They have even started liking each other’s food and their kids have become friends. “We met because of this common problem in our families but we have found friends for life. It is very satisfying to see that both the families are healthy and happy.”