KOLKATA: Sougata Roychoudury, who underwent dual kidney transplant at RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) on January 29, was discharged from the hospital on Saturday. This was the first time in eastern India that a patient underwent an ‘En Bloc’ procedure, which involves the transplant of two — instead of one — kidneys.The transplant was initiated after a 63-year-old woman was declared brain dead at the same hospital and her family decided to donate her organs. Due to the age of the donor and few co-morbid conditions, doctors thought a single organ could not have a good outcome. They decided to utilise both kidneys in a single recipient. The Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO) gave a green signal to RTIICS to retain both the kidneys for a single recipient. The technically challenging ‘En Bloc’ transplant finally started on the night of January 29.Many transplant surgeons believe the outcome of a dual kidney transplant is better than the normal signal transplant in case of deceased donation specially when the organ is ‘marginal’. “We are happy with the outcome. Now the recipient’s kidneys are functioning in full capacity. Deceased organ transplant is still a learning curve. But in case of marginal donor kidneys, ‘En Bloc’ transplant is a viable option,” said Dr Pratik Das, nephrologist at RTIICS who teamed up with renal transplant surgeons Tapas Kumar Saha and Tarshid Ali Jahangir for the transplant.The recipient had been on dialysis for almost four years. Though he needed renal transplant, a matching kidney was not coming his way. “We are thankful to the donor family for gifting a new life to my brother. We will remain grateful to the doctors, specially Dr Pratik Das, as well,” said Rituparna Dutta, Roychoudury’s elder sister.

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