AIIMS performs kidney transplant on India’s youngest organ recipient

New Delhi, Sep 16

Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here has performed an en bloc kidney transplant surgery on a five-year-old boy, who became the youngest organ recipient in India.

"The boy was suffering from chronic kidney failure for around one-and-a-half years and was continuously on haemodialysis. On every alternate day, the boy had to come for dialysis, which was not only costly but also not feasible for him at his age," Manjunath Maruti Pol, additional professor in the department of surgery, AIIMS, told IANS.

Talking to IANS, Manjunath said the boy became the youngest organ recipient in India for en bloc kidney transplant. The child was suffering from chronic glomerulonephritis which caused kidney failure. The transplant was performed on August 25, he said.

En bloc kidney transplant occurs when the two moieties (kidneys), from the same small pediatric donor, along with the aorta and inferior vena cava (IVC) for graft revascularization are transplanted into a single recipient, he explained.

"The family members of a 16-month-old boy donated the kidneys after he suffered brain death. Rishant was also the youngest donor at AIIMS. His parents donated his kidneys, liver, and both corneas to save the lives of two children suffering from end-stage liver and kidney disease," said Deepak Gupta from the department of neurosurgery.

Very few cases of organ donation after brain death by such young children (<2 years of age) have been reported from India, Gupta told IANS. The surgical team comprised Manjunath Maruti Pol, Sandeep Aggarwal, Seenu and Sunil Chumber. --IANS