Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children performs its 1st cadaveric kidney transplant successfully

 Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children has performed its 1st Cadaveric Renal Transplant Surgery successfully on Arya Patil, a 13-year-old girl child. The surgery was led by an expert team of Pediatric Urology surgeons headed by Dr Pradnya Bendre & Pediatric Nephrology Surgeons headed by Dr. Uma Ali along with other urologists from KEM hospital.

Arya Patil, a 13-year-old girl from Airoli, had been suffering from end-stage renal disease and needed a kidney transplant to survive. She was suffering from Alport syndrome which is a rare genetic disease that affects the kidneys and also causes deafness. For those diagnosed with Alport syndrome, life can be a constant struggle but for her, it has been a journey of resilience and strength. For her, growing up with Alport syndrome was not easy. She experienced profound hearing loss when she was just 9 months and had to undergo a cochlear implant at just 18 months of age. When she turned 8 years old, she suffered renal failure and was admitted to Wadia Hospital. Here she was diagnosed with a rare mutation of the COL4A4 gene which confirmed the diagnosis of Alport syndrome. Over the next few years, she progressed to End-stage renal disease and was placed on the cadaveric list for transplantation due to the lack of a suitable living donor. After being on the waiting list for several months, a suitable kidney became available from a deceased donor.

In the wake of a tragic accident in which a 12-year-old child passed away after sustaining serious injuries, the parents’ selfless decision to donate their child’s organs, despite the family’s insurmountable grief and loss, saved multiple lives and gave hope to those in need. The decision to donate organs is a personal and often difficult one, and it is a demonstration of the highest generosity and compassion of the family that chose to honour their child’s legacy in this manner.

Dr Pradnya Bendre Prof & Head of Pediatric urology Dept said, “The transplant required multidisciplinary efforts from the surgical and medical team. In this case, our entire team has worked tirelessly round the clock to ensure the success of this life-saving surgery, which took several hours to complete. After the surgery, the child was closely monitored and cared for by the hospital’s expert ICU team”.

The hospital will continue to monitor the patient’s progress and provide ongoing care and support in the post-transplant period which is extremely important to ensure the longevity of the transplanted organ and provide a healthy quality of life for the recipient.

Dr. Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of Wadia Hospitals said, “The first cadaveric renal transplantation is a significant milestone in our commitment to providing the highest quality care to our patients. This is a momentous occasion for our hospital and for the family of the child who received the kidney transplant. We will continue in our endeavour in advancing the field of pediatric medicine through research and innovation. I would like to thank the parents of the donor child who at the time of their own grief were thoughtful enough to bless the other child with an opportunity to live and spread smiles. I hope this comes as a great example to promote organ donation and help each other.

Mr. Prakash Patil, the father of Arya, who is an autorickshaw driver from Airoli, Mumbai expressed heartfelt thanks by saying, “Being on the waiting list to get a suitable kidney donor made us fear whether we would ever get a kidney for our daughter’s transplant or not, but we are very thankful that we got a donor at Wadia Hospital. We are thankful to the doctors who performed the surgery successfully and nurses, mamas & maushi (the other hospital staff) for their supportive behaviour!”