Manipal Hospitals Jaipur performed a rare and unique ABO incompatible kidney transplant to give a new lease of lives to 52-year-old, 18-year-old and 39-year-old.

Although worldwide popularity of ABO-incompatible renal transplant is increasing, however developing nations have their own limitations such as high cost, risk of antibody-mediated rejection and increased incidence for post-transplant infections. These transplants were complicated as there was a blood group mismatch among the recipients and donors. Despite all the hurdles, the kidney transplant team of Manipal Hospitals Jaipur successfully performed three ABO-incompatible kidney transplantations. All patients are living an active healthy life with normal kidney function.

The 51-year-old became the donor for her 52-year-old husband. In this case, the donor's blood group was AB+ and the recipient's blood group was B+. In the second case the 38-year mother became the donor to her 18-year-old son. The donor's blood group was B+ and her son's (recipient) blood group was O+. Lastly, 39-year-old was donated kidney by her 57-year-old paternal aunt in a heart-warming gesture. The blood group of the recipient was O+ and while the donor's blood group was B+.

All the patients were suffering from end-stage kidney issue and the transplant was the last option. Since their health was deteriorating and they could not wait for cadaver transplant, their family members offered to become donors to save their lives. "Kidney transplantation is the best form of Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) for End-stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients. Only 10 per cent of ESRD patients receive any form of RRT in India and only 2 per cent undergo renal transplantation. Due to mismatch blood group approximately 35 per cent, willing donors are rejected. This barrier can be removed with ABO-incompatible (blood group mismatch) kidney transplantation. With an ABO incompatible kidney transplant, you receive medical treatment before and after your kidney transplant to lower antibody levels in your blood and reduce the risk of antibodies rejecting the donor's kidney", said Dr Jitendra Goswami & Dr Alok Pandey, Nephrologist, Manipal Hospitals Jaipur sharing details on this rare kidney transplant.

"For removal of antibodies, we give the special injection (Rituximab) and we do Cascade Plasma Exchange (Double Filtration Plasma Exchange), a process that filters the blood and removes harmful antibodies", said Dr Ravi C Dara, Immunologist at Manipal Hospitals Jaipur. "Long term studies have shown that the outcome of ABO-incompatible renal transplant is almost similar to the ABO compatible transplant and risk of infection is also comparable. So, ABO-incompatible renal transplant is a boon for CKD Patients especially in our country in view of the increasing numbers of ESRD potential & the limited number of Kidney donors", said Dr DR Dhawan & Dr Jyoti Bansal, Urologist at Manipal Hospitals Jaipur.

"Manipal Hospitals Jaipur is always at the fore when it comes to using innovative technology in healthcare. This is a great milestone and for the same, I congratulate the nephrology department as the team of doctors displayed utmost commitment and dedication. With a high standard of healthcare services and an expert pool of doctors, we have touched many lives since the inception of Manipal Hospital Jaipur. At present, our Hospital has the finest state of the art infrastructure with advanced cutting edge technology in Rajasthan. This drives the hospital to deliver path-breaking care for patients on a day-to-day basis. We constantly endeavour to provide world-class medical treatments to our patrons", said G Karthihaivelan, Hospital Director, Manipal Hospitals Jaipur.