Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (MGMCRI), a constituent college of Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, has successfully performed its first renal transplant.
The procedure was performed on a 33-year-old male who had renal failure. The patient who hails from Nagapattinam district had received the donor kidney from his 26-year-old spouse.
The couple was discharged in a healthy condition following a 12-day stay in the hospital. A noteworthy feature is the 60% subsidy levied on the cost incurred towards the live renal transplant, a press note from MGMCRI said.
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While lauding the efforts of the transplant team, Subhash Chandra Parija, Vice Chancellor of Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, said initiatives for starting a liver transplantation programme had been started as part of an overall effort to strengthen the organ transplant services at MGMCRI.
These services would benefit the underserved patient community in and around Puducherry and neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Dr. Parija said.
Liver transplants would be commenced at the earliest upon receiving necessary permission from the competent authorities, he said. The renal transplant programme was initiated subsequent to the approval provided by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, New Delhi.
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Dr. Parija informed that all patients with end-stage renal failure or those with Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 4 need to be assessed for renal transplantation. Kidneys can be donated by either living donors or from deceased donors. Deceased donors are either donations after brainstem death or donation after circulatory death.
A state-of-the-art and dedicated operation theatre supported by fully-equipped critical care units and post-operative ward would henceforth render its services for this exclusive renal transplant programme, said Nirmal Coumare, Medical Superintendent, MGMCRI.
The successful renal transplant was performed by the team of specialists led by Hemachander, nephrologist and Kalayan Ram Kone, urologist of MGMCRI.
Benefit of underserved
The hospital is ready to perform renal transplantation in a phased manner in view of the fact that 12 patients with chronic renal failure have already registered.
Empanelment with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme for renal transplant has also been aimed at for catering to a larger patient community, especially hailing from the underserved areas in the neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu, doctors said.