Patients requiring kidney transplant procedures are benefiting from a new procedure, ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation, implemented at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) last year.
Kidney transplantation is the best treatment option for patients with kidney failure as it increases survival and improves quality of life.
Dr Yousuf al-Maslamani, director, Qatar Center for Organ Transplantation at HMC, said that the ABO-incompatible transplantation permits more efficient use of available organs regardless of ABO blood type.
“With standard kidney transplants, the recipient’s blood group must be compatible with the donors blood group. However, recent advances in transplantation method have made it possible for transplantation to be performed in cases where the recipient and donor have incompatible blood groups. Last year saw the introduction of this new sophisticated technology in Qatar and the first blood group incompatible kidney transplant procedure was successfully done at HMC in May 2019 between a mother and her daughter,” Dr
al-Maslamani said.
Dr Riadh Abdul Sattar Fadhil, director, Qatar Organ Donation Center (Hiba) at HMC, said the introduction of this new procedure is a significant step forward for kidney transplantation
in Qatar.
“As the technology, system, and safety have been achieved, we are preparing many patients to have ABO-incompatible kidney transplantations in 2020,” Dr Fadhil said.
“The ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation is a unique project that allows for successful kidney transplantation across the ABO blood group barrier by reducing the circulating-related antibody levels using new technology and immunotherapy. This will expand the kidney donor pool, improve access to kidney transplantation, and shorten the waiting list and waiting time for kidney transplantation,” Dr Fadhil added.
Dr Hassan al-Malki, head of nephrology at HMC, said that chronic kidney disease and end-stage-kidney-disease are highly prevalent worldwide, and he noted that these conditions are on the increase in Qatar.
“Globally, chronic kidney disease causes more than 2.4mn deaths each year and is the sixth fastest-growing cause of death. Around 10% of the world’s population is affected by chronic kidney disease and it is estimated that the disease affects 13% of Qatar’s population,”
Dr al-Malki said.
