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Media Release - 24/10/06
Christchurch Hospital marked a milestone this month when it carried out its 600th kidney transplant operation. The successful operation took place on 9 October 2006 when Robert Greening from Christchurch received a kidney from a donor.
Prematurely born, Robert had a kidney removed in 1962 after complications developed with it, and functioned well on the other for 30 years. However, a slow deterioration in his health began in 1992 and a year ago a work colleague, Jude Robertson offered him a kidney. “I thought it was a joke. I thought that philanthropy like that wasn’t practised any more. But it is. For me, it’s as though you’ve been given a second chance. I’m just one of the most lucky guys there are.”
Jude does not consider herself a hero. “You don’t just stand there if you can do something. It’s a job that needed to be done, and you get on and do it. I didn’t want to see someone’s health deteriorating, knowing I could perhaps do something about it.”
Christchurch Hospital carried out its first kidney transplant in 1972 and since then the hospital has provided a service to patients from Canterbury, West Coast, Otago and Southland.
When complete kidney failure occurs patients can survive through either dialysis—kidney machine which cleanses blood outside the body or peritoneal dialysis which occurs inside the body – or transplantation.
“Transplantation offers the best quality of life and is cheapest for the community,” says Dr Kelvin Lynn, Clinical Director of the Department of Nephrology at Christchurch Hospital and Medical Director of the New Zealand Kidney Foundation. “Nine and a half out of every 10 kidney transplants works well.”
Throughout New Zealand, there are about 350 patients on dialysis on the transplant waiting list. Fifty-three of them are in the South Island. The average wait is around three to four years.
Initial donors were mainly deceased young people who had been involved in road accidents. Today, there are still about 30 deceased donors a year where family members have donated organs.
The first live donor transplant took
place at Christchurch Hospital in 1976.
Living donor transplants were at first only from family members, parents or
siblings of the same blood group with compatible tissue types who wanted to help
their loved one. With the introduction of better anti-rejection drugs came the
transplant of kidneys from unrelated donors, often a spouse or family friend.
From 1997, Christchurch Hospital started accepting non-directed donations from
people who are altruistic donors.
Christchurch Hospital was the first place in New Zealand or Australia to accept what is termed “altruistic donations” and has now carried out nine such transplants. ”The British are not doing this type of transplant and the Australians have only just begun to do them,” Dr Lynn says.
“The development of laparoscopic surgery, resulting in less stress for the donor, also marks a huge change. While the surgery takes longer, it is a lot easier on the donor.” Surgery to donate a kidney can be undertaken as traditional open surgery or in the majority keyhole surgery where donor recovery is quicker.
Organising a live kidney donor transplant can take at least six months with laboratory tests, medical and surgical assessments, and education for both the patient and the donor. The procedure itself involves two surgical teams and a lot of theatre time—about two hours to remove a kidney and three hours to transplant it.
“We all get a lot of satisfaction from successful transplants. It is truly a community activity. Kidneys are of inestimable value. It is an intervention which saves money and improves quality of life,” Dr Lynn says.
ENDS
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| CDHB Communications |
