BGS Gleneagles Global Hospital recently completed another record-breaking achievement of concluding 500 kidney transplants. This feat has been achieved in just nine years. Currently, they perform seven to eight kidney transplants a month and are one of the largest kidney transplant centres in the state. The team of doctors is specialised in managing complex cases and have carried out 17 ABO incompatible transplants. The hospital has also handled 149 deceased donor kidney transplants. They have also been credited with the expertise to manage combined kidney-liver (10) and kidney-pancreas (nine) transplants. The team has also successfully performed eight paediatric and two swap kidney transplantations.
In 2018, the team of doctors performed 83 transplants, while in 2019, the number stands at 68, thus far, with a first year success rate of over 98 per cent. This is in keeping with international standards. Within the hospital network that covers Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, the BGS Gleneagles Global Hospital unit in Bengaluru is known to have completed the highest number of kidney transplants.
The kidney transplant programme is headed by Dr Anil Kumar BT, Transplant Physician and Dr Narendra, Transplant Surgeon. Commenting on the milestone, Dr Anil Kumar BT, Senior consultant Nephrologist and Transplant Physician at BGS Gleneagles Global Hospital, Bengaluru, said, “Though kidney transplantation offers the best possible quality of life for patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD), the rate of transplants in our country is much lower than in the developed world. The main reasons are decreased awareness, low education levels, lack of clear national policy, low rates of deceased donor donations and the decreasing number of living donor donations. We encourage more family members to come forward for organ donation so that the waiting period for receiving an organ through cadaver donations is reduced.”
Dr Narendra S, Senior Consultant Urologist and Transplant Surgeon, BGS Gleneagles Global Hospital, added, “Many unfortunate ESRD patients do not receive an organ in time for the treatment of their condition. Cadaver or deceased donor kidneys can meet this demand. While organisations like Jeevasarthakathe and Mohan Foundation have played a significant role in increasing awareness, there still remains a huge wasted opportunity in organ donation. By continuing to create awareness among public, we can tackle this problem and reduce the burden of ESRD.”
As a pioneer in kidney transplant facilities, the hospital employs a skilled team that undertakes living donor, cadaver, paediatric, swap and ABO incompatible transplant surgeries, among others. The department of kidney transplantations offers transplant services for primarily ESRD. While, there is no denying that there are patients from around Karnataka seeking treatment for ESRD, doctors have observed that the overwhelmingly sedentary lifestyle, increasing stress, pollution, higher incidence of diabetes and hypertension amongst the city population are the main factors triggering a rise in kidney diseases in the city of Bengaluru.”
Dr K Ravindranath, Founder and Chairman, Global Hospitals Group, said, “I would like to congratulate our team of doctors, all clinical and non-clinical staff who have contributed to this milestone. This programme is part of the larger programme on transplants we run successfully across our group hospitals. As pioneers and leaders in this space of transplants for 20 years, we have contributed several innovations that have helped patients live longer and healthier lives after transplants.”
The hospital reaches out to patients in the tier II cities and rural pockets of Karnataka like Ramanagara and Channapatna through regular medical outreach camps. These help identify patients who otherwise may not have access to the quality of medical care that is required to treat conditions such as ESRD. In these areas, doctors have observed that there is predominance in glomerular diseases, that is, those caused by an infection or a drug that is harmful to kidneys or due to conditions that affect the whole body like diabetes or lupus.