Media Release
Mangaluru, Mar 29: The kidney transplant team from Yenepoya Hospital recently performed a successful cadaveric (deceased) kidney transplant harvested in neighbouring Udupi district and transplanted to a recipient in the city. It was the coastal districts' first cadaveric kidney transplant.
A team consisting of Dr Mujeeburahiman, Dr Nischith D'Souza and Dr Althaf Khan from the department of urology, Dr Santosh Pai, chief nephrologist and Dr Padmanabha Bhat, Dr Ramamurthy and Dr Shruthi from the department of anesthesia, conducted the surgery.
Dr Nischith D'Souza, Urologist and Dr Santosh Pai, nephrologist, members of the team which
conducted the transplant, said that the kidney was retrieved from a donor at Kasturba Hospital,
Manipal. The donor, Purushottam from Bhatkal, was declared brain dead after he failed to recover from a severe injury in an accident. The liver was also transported to a hospital in Bengaluru, after a green corridor (free access without signals or traffic) was created by the police from Manipal to Mangaluru.
The kidney was transplanted to a 25-year-old woman after necessary cross match. She had been
on dialysis for the past four years and had been struggling to get a suitable donor from her family.
She had registered for cadaveric transplant with the Zonal Coordination Committee of Karnataka
(ZCCK), and was awaiting her turn.
"We started the transplant around 1 am on Wednesday and finished in the wee hours of the morning," said Dr Nischith D'Souza. "We have been also carrying out live related kidney transplants regularly.
"If one does not get a suitable live related donor, cadaveric transplant is an alternative to be considered. Registration with the ZCCK is a must. There is a severe shortage of organs for transplants in the country with about 80,000 people on the kidney transplant waiting list," he said.
"Organ donation of deceased is a very sensitive topic. Public perception about the same has changed in the recent past. Nevertheless, a start has been made with the purpose of providing a better quality of life to patients with kidney failure," he added.