Abu Dhabi: A 50-year-old was recently given a new lease of life after he received the first positive cross match-desensitisation living donor kidney transplant in the UAE.
The transplant was performed at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC), managed by Cleveland Clinic, a SEHA health system facility.
Since the multi-organ transplantation programme at SKMC started in February 2008, 21 kidney transplants have been performed.
The Indian patient, Abdul Ameer, battled kidney problems for three years and struggled with being on hemodialysis, as there was no transplant programme in the country.
His 36-year-old wife stepped in and offered hers. She said: "He is my life partner, and I want to spend more time with him. I didn't think twice and offered him my kidney."
They then went to their home country, India, to get the transplant done. However, when they did the matching tests, they found out that the husband had antibodies against his wife, which meant that if his wife's kidney had been transplanted, it would have been rejected right away. He was told that the operation could not be done in India.
Months later, while he was on dialysis at SKMC, he was informed about the opening of the multi-organ transplantation programme and that he could be a good candidate.
The required tests were done in June 2009 by a multidisciplinary team, which also confirmed that he had antibodies against his wife but said she was still an appropriate donor.
However, at SKMC, the transplant team had instituted procedures that could remove the antibodies from the patient's blood. The team then conveyed this news to Ameer and his wife, and the long, complex procedures to remove the antibodies were then initiated. In the meantime, the patient also suffered from heart problems and received a coronary artery bypass at SKMC.
State-of-the-art
The complex, non-surgical procedures to remove the antibodies took about three months to complete. Abdul Ameer said: "The multi- organ transplantation team provided me and my wife with all the information and education regarding the kidney transplant and how they were going to remove the antibodies. They comforted us with many smiles and confirmed that my wife could be the donor."
Dr Abrar Khan, senior consultant and director, transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery, said: "We arranged a series of tests for them to make sure both were fit for transplantation and donation. The transplantation team at SKMC worked very hard with both to make sure that their journey was as smooth as possible. The removal of antibodies went smoothly and the transplant went well. We were delighted with the outcome of the surgery."
"We are proud that SKMC is now capable of performing such state-of-the-art surgery. The techniques used in preparing the patient and his wife for surgery are cutting-edge in the field of organ transplantation. Additionally, the wife's kidney was removed using the latest laparoscopic techniques.
"The patient is very happy with his new kidney and is totally functional at this time."
After the transplant was done and Abdul Ameer went home, he was able to function completely normally. He visits the multi-organ transplantation clinic regularly for his monthly follow-up visits.
He said: "We are very pleased with the service we were offered, and the professionalism and dedication of the transplant team at SKMC. I would like to thank first the leader of the UAE, President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for their leadership and generosity."
