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Title ABO Incompatible Kidney Transplantation at Hospital Kuala Lumpur
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 JATA


PRESS STATEMENT

MINISTER OF HEALTH MALAYSIA

 

ABO Incompatible Kidney Transplantation

at Hospital Kuala Lumpur

27 July 2012, Friday  

 

  1. In Malaysia, it has been estimated that as many as 15,000 patients are waiting for organ transplants and the majority of them are end- stage kidney failure patients. However, the rate of “deceased organ donation” in this country remains low at 0.6 donations per million population.
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  3. Living organ donation (mainly from relatives) is an option for organ supply. Previously, it was an important pre-requisite for kidney transplantation that the prospective donor and recipient should be of compatible blood group (ABO compatible). However, it has been estimated that 30-35% of donor-recipient pairs do not have compatible blood groups thus not making transplantation possible for such pairs (ABO incompatible).
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  5. It is for this reason that Hospital Kuala Lumpur has taken a pro-active initiative to initiate ABO incompatible kidney transplantation as is being practised in other developed countries. The first case was performed between a husband and his wife.
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  7. Hospital Kuala Lumpur was the first hospital to perform organ transplantation in the year 1975. Today, Hospital Kuala Lumpur has recorded another entry in the history books by becoming the first Public Hospital to perform ABO Incompatible Kidney Transplantation in the country.

     

  8. The surgery required is different from conventional kidney transplantation in terms of its complexity to overcome the incidence of organ rejection as a result of the incompatible blood group. This includes the need to perform blood or plasma filtration, higher dose of anti-rejection drugs (immuno-suppressants) and also the need for close antibody level monitoring. It is a collective effort not only by the physicians, surgeons, and paramedics in HKL but also the laboratory service in the National Blood Centre as well as the Institute for Medical Research. Thus, we can conclude that the level of expertise in the Ministry of Heath hospitals is at par with international standards.
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  10. The Ministry of Health would like to congratulate the Institute of Urology and Nephrology, the management of HKL, the National Blood Centre, the Institute for Medical Research and the Medical Development Division on their successful collaboration.
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  12. The Ministry of Health will continue to support the development of medical services in this country for the benefit of all Malaysians. The Ministry will also strive to improve the level of awareness of the importance of organ donation (especially donation after death) amongst Malaysians. The Ministry would like to call upon all Malaysians to pledge theirs organ for the benefit of many patients in need.

 

 

 

Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai

Please download the attachment for further information.

Created at 30-07-2012

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