Brave Mother felicitated on the eve of Women's Day in Bengaluru for donating her Kidney to 4 year old Child

Bengaluru: Kidney transplants among kids are a reality now. In one of the rarest cases, a four-year old girl got a new lease of life after her mother donated a kidney in Bengaluru recently. Initially, the kid couldn’t find a donor of her age and hence had to undergo dialysis for 1.5 years. It was a challenge to accommodate adult kidney but with current advancements of medical science and expertise, the girl’s kidney was successfully transplanted. Priyanka (31) who donated kidney to her child was felicitated on the eve of international women’s day by city’s prestigious Rainbow Children’s Hospital on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion noted Paediatric Nephrologist from Rainbow Children’s Hospital, Dr Saumil Gaur said the four-year old girl was suffering from Nephrotic syndrome (FSGS) type. She was on peritoneal dialysis since last 1.5 years. In such cases, growth of children may be slowed and they suffer from associated morbidities like anaemia, hypertension, liver ailments and intellectual disability. After finding a donor, the biggest challenge before the doctors was the size of kidneys. The kid had a small kidney with small blood vessels and her mother had a bigger kidney which was a challenge,” Dr Gaur said. Finally, her kidney was transplanted in January 2017 and currently both mom and daughter were doing well. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Gaur said, “Kidney transplant is a reality in small children who are three to four years of age and weighing 11 kg or above. It was a difficult challenge to accommodate adult kidney in this child of just four years but with current advancements of medical science and expertise , we could successfully do it.”

Adult kidney can be transplanted in small children under care of Paediatric Nephrologists. This transplant was conducted by Paediatric Nephrology Team of Rainbow Children hospital, Marathahalli led by Dr Gaur and Surgical team of BGS Global hospital led by Dr Suresh Raghavvaiah. Adult kidney can be transplanted by using surgical techniques by attaching the blood vessels together. The team used latest surgical techniques, excellent paediatric nephrology support to make this transplant successful.

Rainbow Children’s Hospital clinical director Dr Kishore Phadke said, “This proved that kidney failure was not end of road for small kids and we have lot to offer to them. Kidney transplants did on small kids give them their life back on track like they go back to schools and playgrounds like normal children.” Rainbow Children’s Hospital also saluted two grandmothers who donated kidneys to their grand children and both are doing fine. They both were 59 years old who donated kidney to six and nine-year old grand kids and all four of them were doing well since last one year. Dr Vijaya Agarwal, medical director said these are all superwomen who have fought their fear of pain, society, old age and age old beliefs. These are inspirations for the society and the Rainbow Hospital salutes them for their exemplary courage and their women hood.

Neeraj Lal, VP and cluster head, Rainbow Children’s Hospital said in India, only 2.5% kidney transplant procedures take place while 97.5% patients continue to live with routine dialysis. Hence, there was a need to create awareness on the importance of organ donation and thereby reduce the number of patients depend on dialysis. It is a fact that 80% of the kidney donors are women. “Let’s also pledge our organs after our deaths so that there is no organ scarcity in community”, he added.