Parents should not fear donating their kidneys in case their wards require transplantation as the chances of success are more when the kidney comes from parents, a paediatric nephrologist said on Monday.
He was speaking about the kidney transplantation surgery of an 11-year-old boy, Sagar Jana, from Lakshmikantapur in South 24-Parganas district, around 65km south of Kolkata.
Sagar was diagnosed with kidney ailment in December 2020. Both his kidneys were damaged and he required dialysis.
It was then that doctors at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute (CMRI) in southwest Kolkata approached the boy’s parents for the transplant. His parents instantly agreed. Sagar’s mother Dali gave one of her kidneys and the boy underwent the transplantation late in November.
“He is doing fine now,” said Rajiv Sinha, a paediatric nephrologist with CMRI. “In many cases, we find that parents do not want to donate kidneys. They fear that if they donate one of their kidneys they may not be able to work. But this is not right,” added Sinha.
He said if parents came forward to donate their kidneys, their wards would benefit in many ways.
The waiting time can be reduced and the chances of the transplanted kidney performing well are greater if it comes from one of the parents.
“Doctors will agree for the transplantation only when they are sure that the person donating the kidney will not suffer in any way,” said Sinha.
On Monday, doctors at CMRI also spoke about how seven-year-old Aahir Roy got his hearing back after he underwent a cochlear implant surgery.
NVK Mohan, an ENT surgeon, said the boy’s parents reacted on time and brought him to doctors when he was only nine months. “When we realised that hearing aid will not be of help, we conducted the cochlear implant surgery,” said Mohan.