The University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital’s Ground rounds provides the opportunity for presentations on areas of clinical expertise to create awareness about the salient medical issues on engagement protocols to health interventions. The June edition of the ground rounds has its topic, “Kidney Transplantation in UPTH: Prospects”. This is in anticipation for the kidney transplant at the renal center for a comprehensive renal (kidney) care before the end of the year 2024.
The ground rounds presentation hosted by the Renal/ Haemodialysis unit, department of Medicine on Friday 28th of June, 2024, had a multidisciplinary team of speakers across the various department responsible for the management of the treatment of kidney disease from the beginning through the success of a kidney transplant process. The multidisciplinary nature of the team is to help the different members of the team have a better understanding of what they have to offer transplant patients throughout the transplant journey.
The kidney is a bean shaped paired organ and is considered one of the vital organs in the humans involved in the excretion of harmful substance from the body system. Without functional kidneys, no one can live. Kidneys could have diseases or could be malformed at birth, but when they can no longer carry out their functions, temporary measures could be used. One of such is the kidney transplant.
Kidney transplantation have been successful outside the shores of Nigeria for some years but became a reality in Nigeria in the year 2020, with the first transplant carried out successfully at the St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, and later at the former Obafemi Awolowo Teaching Hospital. This process can be done for both adults and children, but cases related to children are delicate and require special attention to the bladder as the major cause of kidney diseases in children are urological complications.
The speakers at the event educated members of the hospital community and the general public who were present at the event about kidney transplant as a medical breakthrough which involves the process through which patients with end-stage kidney diseases receive a healthy kidney from a donor, provided the patient does not have other underlying health issues.
For every kidney transplant situation, there are usually three types of donors, which include living , deceased , and expanded donors.
Living donors are biologically related to the patient. This could be spouses, parents, or children or anyone willing to donate their kidney to another person; this is about the common kind of transplant practiced in Nigeria. Deceased donor includes individuals who are brain dead or just suffered a cardiac arrest but their kidneys are still functioning while expanded donors are individuals over the age of 60 who have underlying health issues but have decided to donate their kidneys.
The kidney transplant process requires thorough medical investigations and assessments to be carried out on both the patient and the donor before the commencement of the process, this is to ensure that the donor is fit and can match the recipient patient to a large extent.
Speaking with a cross section of journalists at the end of the event, the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) Prof. Datonye Alasia, who was also the representative of the Chief Medical Director at the event said, “the kidney transplant centre of the hospital is at about 85% completion and the hospital management is working on a strategic timeline toward commencement of activities at the centre by October, 2024 and in a worst case scenario, it won’t be too long after that”. He added that, “we have kicked off the transplant clinic and structured it specifically, so patients can know that transplant case is a dedicated service. The clinic used to run in the Nephrology and Urology clinics before, but the separation is being made in order for the public to know that the service is being offered in the hospital.
Prof. Alasia also mentioned that the NLNG has given significant support for equipment at the centre upon completion. Also speaking with Prof. O.N. Ekeke, coordinator UPTH hospital Ground rounds , he revealed that part of the 5-year strategy development programme of the hospital was to carry out a kidney transplant, hence, the need for the Renal centre and the centre currently has collaborations from other transplant centre both locally and internationally.
According to Prof. Ekeke, it is safe to give and receive kidneys, and one can live on one kidney. So far as the donor does not have any underlying health issues. An awareness programme will be carried out in the near future so that the public knows the possibilities and requirements for kidney transplants.
The management of the hospital have shown commitment in actualizing the prospect of successful kidney transplant, to ensure they bring respite to her teaming patients who have in the years past had only been privileged to dialysis and palliative care services, a temporal management for kidney disease.
-Ekemini G. Okure
