Over 300,000 people are suffering from end-stage kidney diseases and despite that just few transplantations are taking place, says renal transplant physician and nephrologist Raka Kasuhal.
She said a major hurdle in kidney transplantation is the availability of a suitable healthy donor in the family.
About 30-40 percent of kidney failure patients do not get a transplant due to blood group mismatch in the family.
She was speaking at a continued medical education (CME) on kidney transplant held here. Nearly 80 physicians took part in it, organized by Ivy Hospital in Mohali in an association of the Indian Medical Association of Dharamsala.
Such kidney transplantation was once considered impossible or highly risky due to hyperacute rejection by which the transplanted organ becomes non-functional as the antibodies will reject it, Kasuhal said.
Renal transplant surgeon Avinash Srivastava said ABO (A, B, AB, O blood groups) incompatible kidney transplant is a boon to such patients as it may reduce the waiting time for transplants in them.
"We have been performing ABO incompatible transplants successfully for the last three years. To perform such transplants, medical treatment is given to lower antibody levels in the blood and reduce the risk of donor kidney rejection. This treatment includes a process of removing antibodies from the blood (plasmapheresis), and prescribing medications that protect the new kidney from antibodies," he said.
The results of such ABO incompatible transplants are the same as of normal kidney transplant with about 93-95 percent kidneys working by the end of the first year, he added.