Kidney or renal transplantation has become a fairly common procedure, with several hospitals across the country equipped to perform live and deceased donor transplantations.
In 1971, when K.V. Johny, one of India’s first nephrologists, started performing the procedure, the situation was very different.
Dr. Johny, who was then with the Christian Medical College, Vellore, is credited with performing the first successful renal transplant in the country along with his colleague, M Mohan Rao. The patient, Shanmugam from Coimbatore, had Adult Polycystic Kidney Disease and received a kidney from a relative
Recalling the first surgeries, he said, “We needed two operating theatres, one for the donor and one for the recipient. Theatres were scarce, so all operations were at night”.
“After the procedure, we would sleep next to the patient until we were sure the kidney had been accepted,” Dr. Johny said. In the first year, they performed 100 procedures.
Dr. Johny studied nephrology in Australia and was the first person recognised by Madras University as a nephrologist. Since the 1970s, kidney transplantation has come a long way. But, Dr. Johny says, there is still a long way to go.
With the burden of kidney disease in the country increasing, and 95 per cent of the patients dying before they get any medical care, Dr. Johny termed kidney disease in India ‘a death call’.
Dr. Johny, on Sunday, delivered the Krishnan Ang TANKER Foundation Endowment Lecture at the TANKER Annual Charity and Awards Night. Dr. Johny, Sreejith Parameswaran, nephrologist, JIPMER; Sunder Subramaniam, founder and chairperson, Freedom Trust; and Sunil Shroff, founder, Mohan Foundation, were presented awards for their contributions.
Dr. Johny, who performed the first successful renal transplant in India, said much remains to be done in the field
