VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital successfully conducts 1st paediatric renal transplant

New Delhi, Nov 25 VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday announced achieving a new milestone -- a first and successful paediatric renal transplant on an 11-year-old boy undergoing regular dialysis.

“This is not only a first for Safdarjung Hospital, but also the first time that a paediatric renal transplant has been performed in any central government hospital,” the hospital said in a statement.

The surgery was performed on an 11-year-old boy who had developed end-stage kidney disease due to a rare disorder known as bilateral hypodysplastic kidneys -- where both kidneys are smaller than usual because they have not fully developed in the womb.

The boy hailed from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh. His 35-year-old mother was the donor.

“The condition was diagnosed about one and a half years back when the child was brought in a serious condition to the paediatrics department at Safdarjung Hospital and had to be revived after a cardiac arrest,” said Director Professor and Incharge, Paediatric Nephrology, Dr Shobha Sharma, who led the paediatric team, during the surgery.

Kidney failure was diagnosed at that time, and the child had been under the care of the paediatric nephrology division since then and had been undergoing regular dialysis.

“Paediatric kidney transplant is a surgical challenge and differs from the adult transplant on various counts including the need to anastomose the donor kidney to the larger major vessels in the recipient and also the need to create space for the adult kidney to sit comfortably in the child's body,” said Dr Pawan Vasudeva, Director Professor and Head of Urology and Renal Transplant, who led the surgical transplant team.

“The donor kidney has taken up well with kidney function having normalised,” Vasudeva informed.

He added that the child has had an uneventful recovery, is off dialysis, and would be discharged soon.

“Safdarjung Hospital remains committed to providing the highest quality of healthcare free of cost to all citizens without any bias,” said Dr Sandeep Bansal, Director at VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital

He noted that it was satisfying to see the child, whose father was a daily wage worker, now free from dialysis and in good health.

“This was a dream come true for the family, who had given up all hope, knowing that such a procedure in the private sector would cost close to 15 lakhs,” Bansal said.

Dr Charu Bamba, Medical Superintendent, informed that the hospital would provide immunosuppressive drugs, which are expensive and which need to be continued in kidney transplant patients, free of cost to the child.

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