Kashmir, Haryana families swap kidneys to save loved ones

 

Two families of patients suffering from kidney failure have set a legendary example of love, affection and sacrifice. A team of doctors at Alchemist Hospital, Panchkula, has performed this swap or paired exchange kidney transplant, between a woman who hails from Kashmir and a gentleman from Yamunanagar (Haryana). 

 47 years old Zubaida Bano was suffering from kidney failure for more than two years. She was undergoing regular dialysis at a hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir, however, her condition started deteriorating in the last one year due to the need for regular dialysis. Doctors advised her to undergo a kidney transplant to stay alive. Initially, her husband was willing to donate his kidney to save his wife Zubaida, however, on medical examination, he was found to be unfit for kidney donation. There was no other eligible donor in the family, who was having a matching blood group and could donate kidney to save Zubaida.

 However, Zubaida and her family realized that she is not going to survive very long on dialysis and requires an urgent kidney transplant. Her daughter Ifra Jan, with the help of her maternal uncle, approached Dr. Neeraj Goyal at Alchemist Hospital, Panchkula. Ifra, just a 20-year-old college student, had determined to save her mother.

 On evaluation, she was found to have a blood group that was different from her mother and found to ineligible to donate to her mother. Dr. Neeraj explained, “ A swap (viz a paired exchange) kidney transplant was the best available option for Zubaida according to medical science”. 

At the same time, 33-year-old Ajay Kumar of Yamunanagar also visited Alchemist Hospital. Explaining his painful story, Ajay broke into tears, “ I got a heart attack 2 years back when I was just 31 years old and stenting was performed at PGI, Chandigarh as it was a major heart attack. During treatment for the same, I was told that both of my kidneys had failed due to uncontrolled blood pressure”.

 Few months after cardiac stenting, Ajay was started on regular dialysis, as he started having breathing difficulty due to excess fluid collection in his chest. For the initial few months, he felt better, but soon he started suffering from side effects of regular dialysis. His body started depleting, had significant weight loss and was almost bed-ridden.

 “I had frequent chest pains during dialysis and had repeated attacks of pneumonia due to fluid collection in the chest that required repeated hospitalization. My wife Geeta and I had understood that I can not survive very long on dialysis and require kidney transplant at the earliest,” explained Ajay. 

“When Ajay visited us for the first time, he was in very poor health and was not able to walk properly. As the blood group of his wife, Geeta was different from that of Ajay, they had already visited few hospitals, however, they were denied the transplant,” explained Dr. Ramesh Kumar, Consultant Nephrologist.

“On a detailed analysis of both the patients’ files, it was found that these patients were fit or eligible for the paired exchange kidney transplant, which is a legally and medically viable option. Tissue matching was performed and both the kidneys matched perfectly to the respective donors” explained Dr. Neeraj. After this, a joint session was held between both the families and necessary legal permissions were sought from the respective state authorities of Jammu Kashmir, and Haryana. However, in the meantime, Ajay suffered another attack of chest pain, and coronary angiography revealed another blockage in his heart.

Ajay’s wife Geeta said, “Ifra came to our life like an angel as my husband required an urgent kidney transplant at that time”.  

Dr. Neeraj Goyal successfully performed this swap kidney transplant, the first of its kind in the northern region of Haryana. According to Dr. Neeraj, both these patients were under the expert care of Dr. Ramesh Kumar, Sr. Consultant Nephrology after surgery.

 Dr. Neeraj further explained that “due to Ajay’s underlying heart disease and history of heart attacks his heart was quite week and was not pumping the blood properly. Therefore surgery and anesthesia were quite risky in Ajay. However, under the expert anesthesia care lead by Dr. Akaljot Kaur, Head of the Anesthesia Department, surgery was performed successfully without any complication. Due to his positive approach, and willingness to live again, Ajay recovered very rapidly after the transplant. He was eating normally on the same evening and was out of his bed on the third day of his surgery.” Both these patients are now leading a normal life and trying to come out of the mental trauma they had been through, all this time. 

Alchemist Launches Kidney Transplant Unit by performing Three Transplants

Kidney Transplant team addressing a press conference at Chandigarh

Chandigarh, July 20: Alchemist Hospital, Panchkula on Friday announced launching of kidney transplant unit by performing three successful surgeries of Kidney transplant.

Addressing a press conference at Chandigarh Press Club today, Dr Neeraj Goyal, Chief Kidney Transplant Surgeon and Consultant Urologist said that Alchemist Hospital is now   certified as the recognized centre for performing kidney transplants.

He said, “This is for the first time that such an advanced and complicated surgery has been performed in this region. This unit is first and the only transplant facility in this region of Haryana, which will cater to the needs of patients hailing from Haryana, Himachal, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and adjoining areas of UP and Uttrakhand”.

Dr Neeraj Goyal further explained that all the three transplants were living related which means the patients received kidney from their near relatives. Sanjiv Bansal of Kotkapura, Punjab was suffering from kidney failure due to long standing diabetes and hypertension. He was admitted to the Intensive care unit of Alchemist Hospital in a very serious condition in the month of January and had to be kept on ventilator for few days.

After improvement in his condition, doctors planned for his kidney transplant. His wife Mrs Vanita Bansal donated one of her kidney to save his life, explained Dr Charanjit Lal, Consultant Nephrologist. He recovered well in few days only and has started his normal life after transplant surgery.

         

Thirty-two year old Dinesh Kumar from Karnal, was another patient who had both his kidneys failed and was in poor health due to regular requirement of dialysis. His 28 year old brother Sushil Kumar donated his kidney to save his life. He recovered rapidly after kidney transplant and joined back to his normal job after one month of surgery.

 Dr Ramesh Kumar, Consultant Nephrologist Alchemist Hospital told, that transplant operation was very risky and demanding in the case of Dinesh Kumar due to his weak heart. However, with the expert team of anaesthetists, surgery was performed successfully with excellent results leading to normalization of kidney function within first two days only.

         

The third patient, 53 year old Karam Singh hailing from Yamunanagar, received donor kidney from his wife. He was on dialysis for last six months leading to extreme weakness and poor general condition, restricting him to wheel chair. He recovered fast after kidney transplant leading to normalization of life style within few days only. He is ambulatory and self-sufficient now, taking care of his farms.

         

Dr Neeraj Goyal further explained that in all the cases, the donor surgery was performed using advanced laparoscopic surgery that has got many advantages over conventional open donor surgery.

 Laparoscopic surgery is associated with minimal pain and rapid recovery resulting in early discharge from the hospital, which is very crucial for donors. All the donors were discharged within 3-4 days of surgery explained Dr Rajiv Goyal, Consultant Urologist.

One of the greatest advantages of starting Transplant Program at Alchemist Hospital, Panchkula is the smoother and well organized process of legal documentation in Haryana state. This involves single counter clearance before conducting operations of live related kidney transplant that shortens the time involved in legal documentation and limits the sufferings of the patients. It is particularly beneficial to the residents of Haryana state, explained Dr Rajiv Goyal.