Dubai: The UAE has set another world record after Dubai Hospital successfully removed the world’s largest kidney from a 56-year-old Emirati man.
Dr Fariborz Bagheri, head of the Urology Department at Dubai Hospital, received a Guinness World Record certificate on Thursday after months of verifying the data, which confirmed that the kidney weighing 4.25kg and that was 34cmx17cm in diameter was the largest removed from a patient.
Dr Bagheri, who led the five-hour surgery, removed Emirati patient Ahmad Saeed’s two kidneys last October, which were infected with polycystic kidney disease.
He explained that while the Guinness World Record was obtained for a 4.25kg kidney, at the time of the surgery, the right kidney weighed 6.9kg, and the left kidney weighed 6.1kg.
“The Guinness World Records requested photographic evidence of the kidneys on the weighing scale, which we didn’t have as we contacted them months after the kidneys were removed,” Dr Bagheri told Gulf News.
He explained that following an anatomy of the kidneys, which were sliced into pieces for diagnosis, the largest kidney weighed 4.25kg.
“We still beat the last world record for the largest kidney, which was 2.14kg,” he said.
During a press conference, Dr Bagheri explained that the patient was diagnosed with polycystic kidneys a few years ago, a condition he was suffering from since birth but was not aware of. As a result, he suffered from a distended abdomen and a gradual growth of several cysts in his kidneys.
“When he was diagnosed with polycystic kidneys in 2014, both of his kidneys were not functioning anymore. We recommended removing them, but the patient didn’t agree to surgery and was worried about possible complications. He had been placed on haemodialysis since then,” said Dr Bagheri.
In Saeed’s case, the kidneys’ growing size was compressing all his internal organs, making it hard for him to walk or breathe properly. This led Saeed to agree to undergoing surgery in 2016.
Gulf News talked to the patient, who said he was ecstatic about his health post-surgery.
“Before the surgery, I felt so tired and had an enlarged stomach. I didn’t feel like talking to friends or going out at all. I couldn’t walk properly and I just wanted to stay in my room with the door closed,” said Saeed.
“Now, I am back to normal, I can move, I can jump and I can run. No one believes that I have removed both kidneys,” he added.
Saeed referred to his plans to undergo a kidney transplant in the next few months, and commented on setting a new world record by thanking God.
Also commenting on the record, Talal Omar, head of Guinness World Records’ Dubai office, said, the committee spent many months studying the extremely complex medical records, and is happy to officially announce the record title of the largest kidney after the completion of the assessment.
“As the leading global authority on breaking records, we want to challenge the way people and brands view themselves. We believe in offering record breaking ideas for everyone, everywhere and will continue to seek out new and exciting records in the UAE — a market that has no dearth of creative ideas and inspiration,” said Omar.
