Abu Dhabi: At least 26 people have benefited since the UAE legalised donations from deceased individuals, with four people receiving much-needed organs in the latest raft of multi-organ transplants in the country.
The latest transplant surgeries were undertaken in June at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Shaikh Khalifa Medical City, and included the UAE’s first double-lung transplant. Medical experts have said that this milestone means that the UAE’s transplant centres will soon be leading others in the region.
“At the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, we have successfully performed a double-lung transplant — a particularly high-risk procedure — within just three years of the hospital’s establishment. Given this pace of advancement, I dare say that the UAE will soon be leading transplant surgeries in the region,” Dr Reda Souilamas, chair of thoracic surgery at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, told Gulf News.
“Under the guidance of the UAE leadership, it is also notable that the first double-lung transplant in the country was performed on an expatriate, proving that there is no distinction being made between patients in need,” he added. In fact, the two lungs were donated to an Arab mother of six who had been confined to a wheelchair for years, and needed supplemental oxygen.
Rapid progress
In recent years, the UAE has made rapid progress in the field of transplantation. The Shaikh Khalifa Medical City, a government facility that is also the country’s first transplant centre, has already completed more than 200 kidney transplants, with the majority being kidney transplants between related living donors and patients. The kidneys, like the liver, are some of the only organs that can be transplanted from living individuals. Surgeons at the hospital had also performed the country’s first deceased donor transplant, providing kidneys to a 23-year-old Emirati woman from Al Ain in April 2013.
A presidential decree authorised deceased donor transplants in 2016, and also clarified the guidelines for brain death. Soon after, in December 2017, the first heart transplant was undertaken by Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, providing a new lease of life to a 38-year-old Emirati with end-stage heart failure.
This February, the first liver transplant was completed at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. The recipient was 60-year-old Emirati, Mohammad Al Kuthairi, who had been suffering from liver cirrhosis and failure complicated by gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal infection and fluid accumulation. The first lung transplant in the UAE was then performed 10 days later, providing a 53-year-old Emirati with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with a single lung.
Lung transplants complex
Dr Souilamas explained that lung transplants are especially risky because the organs act as a filter and barrier to the external environment, and therefore run the risk of becoming infected. In light of this, the double-lung transplant surgery he led was done in the least invasive manner possible, with minimal time between organ procurement and transplantation. The surgeon, who has performed 150 lung transplants over the last decade, also commended the level of teamwork and coordination at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, a health care facility by Abu Dhabi Government-owned holding company, Mubadala.
Dr Fadi Hamed, intensivist and lung transplant pulmonologist at the hospital, stressed that the success of a transplant also depends on post-surgery care.
“A high level of post-operative care is crucial. The medical team must ensure that there are no early complications, infections or signs of organ rejection,” he said. Transplant centres also provide physiotherapy and teach patients about what medications to take.
“Because of the high level of care, we were able to discharge the patient who received a double-lung transplant just nine days after the surgery,” the doctor added. She is now receiving regular follow-ups, and will be seen by doctors every few months after a year has passed.
Enthusiasm for organ donation
While the UAE is still awaiting the establishment of a donor registry and national transplant list, experts have testified to much enthusiasm from residents. More than 1,200 residents attended an awareness meet organised earlier this month, where it was revealed that 68 per cent of residents support organ donation.
Dr Ali Al Obaidli, chairman of the UAE National Transplant Committee, also said that organ donations are on the rise in the country.
“Only 0.5 per cent of mortalities in a country present viable opportunities for organ donation, because the organs must be in the healthiest state and the donor must often be in a state of brain death. This is why it is important for residents to inform their families and friends if they wish to donate their organs,” he urged.
Key facts about transplants
■ At least 7 people have become deceased organ donors in the UAE
■ At least 26 patients have benefited from their organs
■ Organ donations have facilitated 14 kidney transplants, 4 liver transplants, 5 lung transplants including 1 double-lung transplant, 2 heart transplants and 1 pancreatic transplant
■ 4 transplant centres in the UAE: Shaikh Khalifa Medical City and Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi in Abu Dhabi; Mediclinic City Hospital and Al Jalila Speciality Children’s Hospital in Dubai
A review of the six cases of organ donation
■ The organs of a deceased donor from Sharjah’s Al Qasimi Hospital were transplanted into five people.
■ The second deceased donor was at Al Fujairah Hospital and the organs were transplanted into three people.
■ In the third case, a deceased donor at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi enabled the transplants for three people. This case also saw the first heart transplant in the country, conducted at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
■ In the fourth instance, the kidneys of a two-week-old deceased female donor at Saudi German Hospital in Dubai were both transplanted into one patient.
■ At the Shaikh Khalifa Medical City in Ajman, a deceased donor’s organs helped save four lives. One kidney was transplanted into a 14-year-old Jordanian child, while another kidney was received by a 42-year-old Emirati who was suffering from kidney failure. The donor’s liver was also transplanted into a 60-year-old Emirati in the country’s first liver transplant. Finally, the donor’s lungs were transplanted into a child suffering from pulmonary failure in Saudi Arabia.
■ In the sixth case of deceased organ donation, a donor in Al Fujairah Hospital helped save three lives. One kidney each was transplanted into two different patients, and the donor’s lung facilitated the country’s first lung transplant at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi this month.
■ Earlier this month, a deceased donor’s organs were used to perform a double-lung transplantation on a 45-year-old Arab mother of six. A female patient from Ras Al Khaimah with cirrhosis received the liver. The donor’s kidneys were also transplanted into two different patients.
