Doha: Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) plans to introduce a new approach to perform more kidney transplants among patient and donor with different blood types.
A new medication will be used on patients who have been under dialysis for 10 years without finding a matching donor, said Dr. Yousuf Al Maslamani, Medical Director of HMC’s Hamad General Hospital and Head of Qatar Organ Transplant Center.
“The medicine is used before transplantation in adults who have antibodies against the donor kidney based on a positive cross-match test,” Dr. Al Maslamani told The Peninsula.
“It will prevent the body from rejecting a newly transplanted kidney,” he added.
In practice, kidney donors must have a compatible blood type with their recipient. Dr. Al Maslamani said most people have natural antibodies in their blood that would cause their immune system to reject an organ from someone with a different blood type.
According to Dr. Al Maslamani this medicine will help to increase the chances of patients waiting for many years for a matching donor.
Some patients have high levels of antibodies (proteins in the blood that fight infections and other foreign cells) against the donor’s tissue, including immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies. This makes their body more likely to reject the donor organ. The active substance in the drug, imlifidase, is an enzyme (a protein) that breaks down the IgG antibodies, thereby reducing the likelihood of the body rejecting the donor kidney.
HMC is one of only a few organ transplant centers in the world to successfully perform an organ transplant surgery involving a donor and recipient whose blood types do not match since May 2019.
To mention, with an increase in the incidence of end-stage kidney disease with at least 250 new dialysis patients every year, HMC has been expanding its services as the only provider of dialysis in Qatar.
At present, a total of 1,050 patients are on haemodialysis and 275 patients on peritoneal dialysis. Haemodialysis is done using a dialysis machine with a special filter called a dialyzer that removes toxins from the blood, (haemodialysis is done three times per week) while peritoneal dialysis uses the lining of abdomen to filter blood.
Many patients are on the waiting list for kidney transplant as it is considered the ideal treatment for end-stage kidney diseases with significant survival benefit.
The country’s Organ Donor Registry has shown an increase of 39% registered potential donors within two years. The number of registered organ donors in the country has reached 480,751, by March 31.
In 2021, a total of 48 kidney transplants, seven liver and one lung transplant were performed. Among the donors, 13 were deceased.
