* The kidney was transplanted to a 58-year-old woman

* Rare surgery at KIMS Hospital, Secunderabad

* No more age and size barriers for organ donation

Organ donation usually refers only to adults. However, a 14-month-old baby was brain-dead in Hyderabad city. The baby’s parents were kind enough to overcome the grief and donate their child’s organs out of humanity. But, the size of such young children is relatively small. There will be some difficulties in implanting them in the elderly. But, a 58-year-old lady is on dialysis for the past 7 years and is also on a pacemaker for a heart problem. The kidney collected from this 14-month-old baby was transplanted into the elderly woman. This has been made possible due to the presence of highly skilled doctors, state-of-the-art technology, and incredible equipment. Consultant urologist and Renal Transplant Surgeon Dr. Umamaheswara Rao, who led the team that performed the kidney transplant surgery, explained the details.

“Availability is the biggest problem in the matter of organ transplantation. In such a situation, it is very necessary to perform different types of surgeries to save the lives of patients. This surgery is done to overcome all the boundaries like age and size. It gave new hope to the patient’s life. Many aspects had to be carefully considered. We have to see the size of the collected kidney and the possibility of the recipient’s body’s acceptance. The kidney grows in the human body until the age of three years. After that, it is fully grownand functional. After the transplantation too, it grows in the body of the recipient. In some cases, when the kidney of a young person is transplanted to an older person, there are problems such as thrombus in the arteries will be there. However, in this case, there is no such thing. It is a bold decision to transplant the kidney collected from a small baby to a 58-year-old patient. We have been able to complete this surgery with utmost success with all kinds of precautions.

There is a need to raise awareness among the people on organ donation. The family members of the deceased need to be so courageous to decide on organ donation. But that one decision will save many lives. Now research in the medical field is multifold, new techniques have come in to secure organs, and some organizations coordinate organ donations. It is because of such organizations that such lives are being saved. This achievement wouldn’t be possible without the team of doctors involvement, Dr. Parag, Dr. Chetan of pediatrics team, Dr. Diwakar Naidu Gajjala, Dr. V S Reddy of Nephrology team, Dr. Gopichand, Dr. Sree Harsha of Urology team, Dr. Naresh Kumar, Dr. Murali Mohan of Anaesthesia team, and Mrs Mangadevi, Mr Sanjeev, Mr Venkat, Mr Bhargav from the Jeevandhan team. The work and success would be dedicated to the one and only Padmasri Dr. S. Saharaiahm Chief Transplant surgeon” he said. Dr. Umamaheswara Rao expressed happiness that the limitations in medical science are no more present now.