Giving the Gift of Life- Transplantation

“There is no greater gift than that of good health”

Organ transplantation is a medical procedure in which an organ is removed from one body and placed in the body of a recipient, to replace a damaged organ. The era of transplantation starts from the Vedic age. The brilliant Indian surgeon Sushruta lived in 1500-200 BC accomplished Rhinoplasty and in 500 AD, Saint Surgeons Cosmos & Damien replaced a cancerous white leg with a black person’s leg. Things were pretty easier then; it took scientist centuries of labor intensive work to become transplantation in to realty. The organ transplantation is one of the most significant developments in medical science till the date. As a life saving treatment modality millions of people in the world undergone organ transplantation and it’s been socially recognized worldwide. Now we are at a stage where we do transplants routinely. The most common being done is kidney transplantation. There are a million others enlisted for transplantation and waiting for donors.

Caritas Transplant Programme

Caritas is a licensed multi organ transplantation centre (for both deceased & live donor) with a team of outstanding doctors working dedicatedly for the success of the programme. We offer Kidney, Heart, Lung, Liver & Bone-marrow transplantations. We are the pioneers of its kind in private sector in Central Travancore. Ours is the only Liver Transplant centre in Central Travancore. Our success rates in Heart & Liver transplantations are 100% and in Kidney it is 99%.

What is organ donation?

The process of removing organs or tissue from a live, dead or brain dead person to be used for another person’s damaged organ. Organs can be donated from a living person/donor or from a brain dead person also known as deceased donor, along with the consent of immediate relatives. A deceased donor can save up to 08 lives.

The deceased donor can donate: Eyes-Cornea, Heart, Lungs, Liver, Pancreas, Kidneys, small intestine, Bones, Hands & Legs.

Live donor can donate: Kidney, Liver, Pancreas & Bone-marrow.

The person who donates is the DONOR and who receives is the RECIPIENT

Who all can donate?

All persons who are ready for donation

Age: 18-60(Live donor)

No infections, cancers and transferable diseases & Not for selling purpose

The Organ Donation Scenario worldwide and in India

It is estimated that there are already more than 150000 patients awaiting new organ for transplant especially kidney. The list is unfortunately getting longer by the day. Of these, approximately 01 in 50 patients are likely to get new organs- a second chance of life. Specifically in western countries like USA, France, UK, Germany, Spain, Canada, & Australia generally have donations rates about 15 to 30 per million populations. But in India donation rates are .03 per million populations. India only have 400 to 450 organ donation in a year, where it must be 25000 to 30000. Where as in Kerala too, the number of patients who require organ transplants far out way the number of organs that are donated every year. Just to figure out a sense: the number of organ donations in Kerala in the year 2015 was 72 & where as in 2018, it was 08. A massive decline in organ donation had happened. As a result we lie more on Live Donor Transplants.

The Transplantation in India

The first ever human kidney transplant performed in India was done at the King Edward Memorial Hospital at Bombay in May 1965, using a cadaver donor.

The legislation called the Transplantation of Human Organ Act (THOA) was passed in India in 1994 to streamline organ donation and transplantation activities. Broadly, the act accepted brain death as a form of death and aimed at regulation of removal, storage and transplantation of human organs for therapeutic purposes and for prevention of commercial dealings in human organs.

The main provisions of the Act (including the amendments and rules of 2014) are as follows:

1. Brain death identified as a form of death. Process and criteria for brain death certification defined (Form 10).
2. Allows transplantation of human organs and tissues from living donors and cadavers (after cardiac or brain death).
3. Regulatory and advisory bodies for monitoring transplantation activity and their constitution defined.
4. Living donors are classified as either a near relative or a non-related donor.
5. Swap Transplantation: When a near relative living donor is medically incompatible with the recipient, the pair is permitted to do a swap transplant with another related unmatched donor/recipient pair.
6. Authorization for organ donation after brain death.

Mile stones in the History of Human Transplants

1954	The first Kidney Transplantation by Dr Joseph E. Murray at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, USA.
1963	The first Liver Transplantation by Dr Thomas Starzl in university of Colorado, USA.
1963	The first Lung Transplantation by Dr James Hardey at Jackson Missisiippi, USA.
1966	The first successful Pancreas Transplant by Dr. Richard Lillehei & Dr. William Kelly at University of Minnesota, USA.
1967	The first successful Heart Transplant by Dr. Christian Barnard, Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
1968	The first legislation of Organ Donor card-Washington, USA.
1981	The first combined Heart Lung Transplantations by Dr. Bruce reitz, Standford Medical Centre, USA.
1988	The first successful Intestine Transplant by team Surgeons at E. Deltz Germany.
1989	First Liver Donor Liver Transplant by the surgical team of University of Chicago Medical Centre.
2010	First full facial transplant, by Dr Joan Pere Barret and team at the Hospital University of Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, Spain.
2011	First double leg transplant, by Dr. Cavadas and team at Valencia's Hospital La Fe, Spain.