Kidney transplantation as a treatment option is indicated for patients with chronic kidney disease. In total, there are five stages of chronic kidney disease, and most often transplantation is carried out only in the fifth of them. This was told by a pediatric surgeon of the surgical department for kidney transplantation of the Russian Children’s Clinical Hospital of the Russian National Research Medical University. N.I. Pirogov of the Ministry of Health of Russia Denis Ektov in an interview with Izvestia.
According to him, the main causes of the disease can be vasculitis, pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis and secondary glomerulonephritis in systemic diseases, interstitial nephritis, kidney injuries that led to the loss of their functions, cystic, hereditary and congenital kidney diseases, as well as tumors and diabetes mellitus.
The doctor pointed out that kidney transplantation can be performed both from a living and non-living donor. However, according to the laws of the Russian Federation, only a close relative of the patient is able to become an organ donor.
“Before performing a kidney transplant, doctors need to conduct a thorough examination of the recipient to determine if there are any contraindications for transplantation. In some cases, if necessary, before transplantation, doctors correct the pathologies that turned out to be the cause of the development of chronic kidney disease. It is also important to determine the patient’s blood type, conduct a series of examinations for the presence of viruses: hepatitis, HIV, syphilis,” Ektov added.
According to the statistics, the doctor noted, the survival rates of kidney transplants from a living donor are good today: in the first year they are 96%, and after five years – 85%. After 10 years from the date of transplantation, the survival rate reaches 78%. Regarding the survival of a transplant from a cadaveric donor, the following values are distinguished: after one year, five and ten years – 92, 76 and 57%, respectively.
Successful kidney transplantation eliminates uremia in the patient – the accumulation of uremic toxins in the blood. It also helps to stimulate the growth of the child, his physical development, his social and psychological adaptation, the doctor added.
“In the future, the patient who received a kidney transplant receives immunosuppressive therapy. This is necessary to prevent possible rejection of the kidney transplant. Treatment with immunosuppressive drugs is carried out for life,” said Ektov.
The doctor noted that the quality of life of children with a transplanted kidney is improved compared to patients who receive dialysis procedures. Russian Children’s Clinical Hospital RNIMU named after I.I. N.I. Pirogov, there are several departments that deal with the issue of maintaining the health of the kidneys of young patients: nephrological, uroandrological, resuscitation and intensive care for nephrological patients, a surgical department for kidney transplantation and a dialysis department. Thanks to complex work and a multidisciplinary approach, the doctors of the federal clinic successfully select effective treatment for the most severe nephrological patients coming from different regions of our country.
On the occasion of World Kidney Day, which this year is celebrated on March 9, a urologist, ultrasound doctor at Invitro-Rostov-on-Don Sergey Doroshenko told Izvestiya how to identify and prevent the development of such diseases.
He clarified that the most common kidney diseases include pyelonephritis, acute and chronic kidney failure, glomerulonephritis, and urolithiasis.