Doctors say cadaver kidney transplantation dropped after Covid outbreak

Bengaluru: Manipal Hospitals which claims to have carried out 13 kidney transplants since September, including a cadaver transplant said on Thursday that 220,000 patients in India need kidney transplantation annually.

Dr Vishwanth. S, HoD and Consultant - Nephrology, Transplant Physician, Manipal Hospitals, Old Airport Road said, "Approximately 220,000 people in India require kidney transplantation annually due to kidney failure mostly resulting from long-standing diabetes and hypertension. However, only 7,500 transplants are possible due to the lack of donors. Some of the most common barriers to living donation include donor's concern regarding complete recovery post-transplant. Living donors have a very low chance of long-term health problems in most cases and can be expected to live a full, healthy life as any other person. At present, cadaver kidney transplantation accounts for only 10% of all kidney transplants. As per the Indian law, intensive care doctors can request for organ donation in the event of brain death. Though the cadaver kidney transplantation rate has improved over 3 times since 2012, it has dropped significantly in the wake of the Covid pandemic"

Dr Deepak Dubey, HoD and Consultant – Urology, Robotic Surgery and Renal Transplant, who has played a pivotal role in performing some of the transplants, said that, "A kidney transplant offers a better quality of life than dialysis for those with end-stage renal disease. With the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an obvious concern about the risk of acquiring an infection during the transplant process. Our team has been successfully conducting renal transplants during the pandemic with very positive outcomes. All precautions are being maintained to prevent Covid transmission during the transplant process."

Dr Sankaran Sundar, Consultant - Nephrology, Transplant Physician, Head, International Transplant Services, Manipal Hospitals, who has performed some of the living donor transplants, explained, "At present, approximately 90% of the transplanted kidneys in India are from living donors and in most cases, they are related to the patient. The rate of successful kidney transplants in recent times has seen a huge improvement due to advances in medical science. Anbu Aras, a 35-year-old gentleman came to us for kidney transplant. He was seen earlier in another centre where he underwent kidney biopsy which was consistent with CKD due to IgA nephropathy. Anbu was counselled about the advantages of early preemptive transplant. As his 55-year-old mother was medically fit and blood group compatible we offered preemptive transplant (early transplant without dialysis or just a few dialysis sessions). Both the donor and the recipient were discharged after a week. After discharge from hospital, Anbu does all tests with the help of our home care team and twice a week video consults with me and my team."