Once again, the Innsbruck University Clinic can come up with a remarkable success: For the first time in Austria, a child from Vienna was successfully transplanted shortly before Christmas with an “unsuitable” donor kidney – that is, the kidney of a donor who has a different blood group than the child .
Specifically, it was a living gift from a father from Vienna to his then 13-year-old son. Both are doing very well, reports the Tirol Kliniken on Tuesday. Due to a genetic disease, the teen no longer had functioning kidneys and was dependent on dialysis.
Blood groups did not match
Usually in such cases, one parent will donate a kidney, as the organ is usually a match. In this particular case, however, that was not the case because the blood groups did not match. The attending physician at the Vienna General Hospital then turned to the experts at the Innsbruck clinic.
“The process is very complex”
As the clinic went on to say, so-called “blood group-incompatible kidney transplants” have been successfully performed in Innsbruck for several years, but never on a child in the whole of Austria. Different disciplines should work closely together in a complex process. The reason: the recipient’s immune system must be deactivated in time and to a sufficient extent to prevent the so-called “hyperacute rejection”, ie rejection of the organ during surgery.
The critical phase begins 28 days before transplantation. “At that point, the antibodies relevant to rejection are specifically switched off. This is done on the one hand with medicines and on the other hand with the help of mechanical processes,” explains nephrologist Hannes Neuwirt, deputy director of the Innsbruck University Clinic for Nephrology.
Early birthday present
Two days before the teen’s 14th birthday, the donated kidney was finally implanted, surgeon Katrin Kienzl-Wagner, senior physician for visceral, transplant and thoracic surgery, reported. She did the surgery. Until the age of 18, the medical care of patients is the responsibility of the children’s clinic.
Aftercare now back in Vienna
After the transplant there is close supervision and in the weeks after discharge there are sometimes several checks per week. Aftercare is now taking place again at father and son’s home in Vienna. They are in excellent condition.
“Especially in the teenage years, the positive influence of the transplant on physical development is enormous. Not to mention the consequences of dialysis for finding your place emotionally and socially, for example at school, but also in everyday life. This negative effects can now be largely avoided by the transplant,” says Thomas Müller-Sacherer, the supervising pediatric nephrologist.
Source: Krone
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