Agartala:

In a significant milestone, doctors have successfully transplanted a kidney on a 20-year-old man at the Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital in Tripura.

After the six-and-a-half-hour long surgery at the hospital, Medical Superintendent Sankar Chakraborty said that a team of doctors have successfully transplanted a kidney from Munna Saha Sutradhar to her son, Subham Sutradhar.

“We recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Manipur’s Shija hospital. With their mentorship, the kidney transplantation was done successfully,” the Medical Superintendent told the media.

Chief Minister Manik Saha, who himself is an oral and maxillo-facial surgeon and served in a key position at the Tripura Medical College and B.R. Ambedkar Memorial Teaching Hospital, another society-run medical college in Agartala, personally supervises the MoU related and other process to transplant the kidney.

Mr Chakraborty said that there are many legal aspects related to such a surgery and transplantation.

“We completed all required procedures step-by-step. The most important thing is that it has to be done under someone or some hospital’s mentorship. So, we started looking for a mentor in the northeast region and selected Shija Hospitals and Research Institute in Manipur. They agreed to help us on technical grounds,” he added.

He said that the patient along with his parents met Chief Minister Saha during “Mukhyamantri Samipesu” (Chief Minister’s weekly meeting with the public) a few weeks ago after which the doctors were asked to adopt required steps.

Gulliver Potsangbam, a nephrologist from Shija Hospitals in Imphal, who led the 13-member surgical team, said that the hospital has completed 114 kidney transplants till now.

Appreciating the doctors’ feat, Chief Minister Saha in his post on X said: “Today’s achievement will be marked as a milestone in the state’s medical services. It’s something that seemed impossible just a few days ago.”

“As a result of the state government’s continuous efforts to improve healthcare services, today, a critical surgery like a kidney transplant has become possible in the state. I extend my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to the medical team and other health staff involved in this surgery. I also wish for the speedy recovery of both the kidney donor and recipient,” the Chief Minister added.

Today’s achievement will be marked as a milestone in the state’s medical services. It’s something that seemed impossible just a few days ago.

As a result of the state government’s continuous efforts to improve healthcare services, today, a critical surgery like a Kidney… pic.twitter.com/H96HHBiO4h

— Prof.(Dr.) Manik Saha (@DrManikSaha2) July 8, 2024

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

US surgeons who transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a brain-dead patient announced Thursday they had ended their experiment after a record-breaking 61 days.

The latest experimental procedure is part of a growing field of research aimed at advancing cross-species transplants, mainly testing the technique on bodies that have been donated for science.

There are more than 103,000 people waiting for organ transplants in the United States, 88,000 of whom need kidneys.

“We have learned a great deal throughout these past two months of close observation and analysis, and there is great reason to be hopeful for the future,” said Robert Montgomery, director of the New York University Langone Transplant Institute, who led the surgery in July.

It was the the fifth so-called xenotransplant performed by Montgomery, who also carried out the world’s first genetically modified pig kidney transplant in September 2021.

Tissue collected during the study indicated a mild rejection process had begun, requiring intensification of immunosuppression medication.

By “knocking out” the gene responsible for a biomolecule called alpha-gal — a prime target for roving human antibodies — the NYU Langone team were able to stop immediate rejection.

The donor pig in this experiment came from a herd cultivated by Virginia-based biotech company Revivicor.

The herd has also been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a source of meat for people with hypersensitivity to the alpha-gal molecule, an allergy caused by some tick bites.

These pigs are bred, not cloned, meaning the process can be more easily scaled.

Early xenotransplantation research focused on harvesting organs from primates — for example, a baboon heart was transplanted into a newborn known as “Baby Fae” in 1984, but she survived only 20 days.

Current efforts focus on pigs, which are thought to be ideal donors for humans because of their organ size, their rapid growth and large litters, and the fact they are already raised as a food source.

In January 2022, surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical School carried out the world’s first pig-to-human transplant on a living patient — this time involving a heart.

He died two months after the milestone, with the presence of porcine cytomegalovirus in the organ later blamed.

Last week, Chinese scientists published a paper showing they had succeeded in hybrid pig-human kidneys in pig embryos, an alternative approach that also has the potential to one day help address organ donation shortages.

But the development raised ethical issues — especially since some human cells were also found in the pigs’ brains, experts said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hyderabad:

On the occasion of Rakha Bandhan, a brother who could not bear the pain of his sister who was undergoing dialysis, took the key decision to donate his kidney and save her life. 

Speaking to ANI, Dushyant Varkar and his sister Sheetal Bhandari, both natives of Pune, shared their experiences. They said that it would remain the most memorable moment of their life.

“After dialysis, I used to face many health problems like weakness, insomnia, etc. Due to weakness, I was unable to work… Brother made a brave decision that he wants to donate his kidney although we had registered for the donation of kidney”, said Sheetal Bhandari after a successful kidney transplant that was performed in the month of June. 

She further added, “Every sister should have a brother that can help her in any situation, I can’t express the relation between brother and sister in words”.  

“Actually my sister has been facing kidney problems since 2017. The team of Dr AV Rao and Sujit Reddy helped us a lot. They have successfully transplanted my kidney to my sister,” Dushyant Varkar said. 

A nephrologist at the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology, Hyderabad Dr Sujith Reddy said that the sister did not get a cadaver kidney and thus the brother stepped in to donate his kidney. The surgery was done without any complications. 

The festival of Raksha Bandhan recognises the deep bond between siblings. It is symbolised by the sacred thread or bracelet called a Rakhi, which a sister ties around her brother’s wrist.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)