Kidney transplant gives boy new lease of life

Pune: Ten-year-old Girish Thorat of a Karad village got a new lease of life, thanks to the incompatible blood group (ABO mismatch) paediatric kidney transplant without plasma exchange performed at Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital.
The surgery was performed on April 4. Girish was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. His maternal grandmother donated the kidney.The hospital claimed it was the first incompatible blood group paediatric kidney transplant without plasma exchange in the country.
Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, nephrologist Tarun Jeloka said the team of doctors also comprised urologists Amol Patil, Anand Dharashkar and Naresh Rao, and anaesthetists Paramjeet Garcha and Ashish Pathak.
Jeloka said, "Earlier, blood group compatibility between the donor and the recipient was needed for a successful kidney transplant. Nowadays, kidney transplants in incompatible blood group are also successfully conducted in adults. Twenty such successful transplants have been conducted at ABMH (Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital). Mostly plasma exchange technique is used in these cases. This is the first timeincompatible paediatric kidney transplant,too without plasma exchange, was conducted in a child."
Jeloka said, "Girish's blood group was A, while his maternal grandmother's was AB. The whole surgery - from removing the kidney from the grandmother to transplanting it - was completed in around four hours. After three months of rest, he can go to school as usual. He will have to continue to take medicines, but there will be no need of dialysis in the future."
The surgery is easier in adults because a psychological balance is needed. "Girish cooperated well with the doctors and took his medicines on time. So, he recovered quickly", he said.
Girish is the son of Dr Jaywant Thorat, a medical officer at the Satara Zilla Parishad-run primary health centre at Yevati village. His family lives in his ancestral village Ond, around 16km from Karad. His mother, Sujata, is a BAMS doctor.
Jaywant told TOI, "Girish was three years old when his legs and body swelled and blood pressure increased. A paediatrician referred us to KEM in Pune, where he was diagnosed with non-responsive FSGS (focal segmental glomericlosclerosis) - scarring of some tissues in the filtering unit of the kidney."
Girish's condition worsened despite treatment, leading to the end stage renal failure. He was then put on peritoneal dialysis, a treatment for patients with severe chronic kidney disease, three years ago. "For the past three years, we conducted dialysis of Girish daily from 9pm to 6am. We spent around Rs 40,000 per month on his medicines and treatment," he said.
Jaywant said the family was exploring kidney transplant for him. "During one such discussion with the family members, his 60-year-old maternal grandmother, Shantabai Desai, expressed the desire to donate her kidney. I came to ABMH and later tests were conducted on her and Girish in January," he said.
The tests on Desai revealed a small stone in the kidney selected for transplantation. It was removed first.