Brain dead donor in Al Ain saves four lives
Donor heart sent to patient in Saudi Arabia, liver and kidney given to UAE patients
Abu Dhabi: The organs of a 50-year-old brain dead donor in an Al Ain public hospital have helped save four lives.
The donor, who had been admitted at Al Ain’s Tawam Hospital, had suffered an acute stroke that resulted in trauma to the brain and subsequent brain death, the hospital announced in a statement on Wednesday (February 3).
The transplant procedures took four hours, and the donor’s heart was transported to Saudi Arabia. Three other organs – a liver and both kidneys – were donated to eligible patients in the UAE, including two people in Abu Dhabi and a third in Dubai. The transplant is Al Ain’s second till date.
Dr. Hala Abu Zaid, head of Intensive Care Unit, and head of organ donation at the Tawam Hospital, said the procedure was carried out at Tawam, and was led by an anaesthesia consultant, supported by additional clinical staff.
“The first phase involved the extraction or removal of the organs from the body of the donor. We ensured that the process was in strict accordance with the medical protocol for organ transplantation, which requires the coordination of all organ transplant centres in the UAE, and oversight of the National Committee for Organ Transplantation, which is responsible for matching potential patients with donor blood and tissue types,” Dr Abu Zaid said. The Saudi Centre for Organ Transplantation also partnered to transport the heart.
A patient in Abu Dhabi received the liver, while one kidney was donated to another Abu Dhabi patient. The second kidney was donated to a patient from Dubai.
“The operation was successful, and the organs were transported by fully-equipped technical crews and a medical evacuation team, who transported the organs by plane to the patients,” Dr Abu Zaid said.
The entire process was carried out after obtaining the approval of the deceased person’s relatives, who expressed their support towards the humanitarian role of organ donation.
The UAE approved organ donation from deceased donors in 2017, and a number of procedures have so far been carried out across its five licensed transplant centres.