Two get new life in country's second cadaveric kidney transplant

Two individuals grappling with kidney diseases underwent transplant surgeries using organs from a 38-year-old brain-dead donor, marking the second such procedure in the country's medical history.

The hour-long life-saving surgeries were conducted at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and the National Kidney Foundation in the capital on Thursday night.

Cadaveric transplantation, the utilized method, entails transferring organs from a patient who is clinically or brain-dead to another patient in need. The lead surgeon of this cadaveric transplant was Professor Dr Md Habibur Rahman Dulal.

Professor Dr Md Sharfuddin Ahmed, the vice-chancellor of BSMMU, visited the operating theatre in the Cabin Block, spoke with those involved, and interacted with the donor's family members, and the recipients. 

He requested the nation to pray for the soul of the donor.

"The donor, a 38-year-old man, was declared brain-dead on Thursday at BSMMU following a brain injury. He had been in a completely unconscious state since being admitted to the hospital ICU five days earlier," said the vice-chancellor.

The first instance of such a transplant occurred on 19 January last year when kidneys from a brain-dead Sarah Islam, 20, were transplanted into two women. 

One of whom, Shamima Akter, is still living healthily, while the other recipient, Hasina Akter, has since passed away.

In Bangladesh, around two crore people are suffering from kidney diseases and many of them die without receiving a transplant due to lack of donors.

Experts now call on the relatives of the brain-dead to come forward and save the lives of those in need.

The first kidney transplant in Bangladesh was performed in 1982, and around 3,500 transplants have been conducted so far. 

However, doctors estimate that the country requires at least 5,000 kidney transplants per year