At Mumbai hospital, ‘kidney swap’ surgery between men from Latur, Sangli

AFTER A delay of a year due to the ongoing pandemic, a 58-year-old man from Latur and another 43-year-old from Sangli underwent a kidney transplant surgery in a procedure called “kidney swap” in which kin of each patient donates a kidney to the other.

In this case, the donors were the wives of the two patients. The surgery was conducted on March 8 in PD Hinduja Hospital. Both the recipients underwent four Covid-19 tests in a span of seven days to ensure they were not infected.
Dr Jatin Kothari, nephrologist and transplant surgeon, said the Sangli resident had undergone a transplant 12 years ago after suffering from chronic kidney ailment. His mother had donated her kidney then. “That kidney served him for 10 years. Two years ago, it failed and he started having dialysis support. Since then, he had been looking for a match but his wife’s blood group was not compatible,” Dr Kothari added.

The Latur resident was diagnosed with kidney ailment in 2019 and was on dialysis support for one-and-a half-years. He falls in the below-poverty line category and was treated for free in the hospital. “Last year, the hospital could not provide isolation rooms for transplant patients owing to Covid-19. So the surgery had to be put on hold,” Dr Kothari said.

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The blood group of the Latur resident’s wife, aged 52, was compatible with the Sangli resident, while the blood group of the latter’s wife, aged 36, was found to be compatible with the Latur resident. The hospital arranged for the transplant after conducting the Covid test.

“The only challenge is that the transplant cost escalates when we try to follow all Covid norms. Multiple tests have to be carried out,” Dr Kothari added.