Doctors at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital have successfully performed kidney transplantation for four patients diagnosed with kidney failure. The transplant team was led by surgeons; Dr. Bernard Morton and Dr. James Edward Mensah and kidney specialists, Dr. Vincent Bioma and Dr. Dwomoa from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

A press release from the hospital dated December 10, 2019, indicated that the procedure was successful and the patients; three males and a female are currently in good health conditions.

The donor of the kidney for each transplant was a healthy family member. Kidney failure is the situation whereby the kidney fails to perform its function of getting rid of toxins from the body. According to the Dialysis Service Foundation, an average of 12,000 kidney failure cases are detected among Ghanaian patients annually.

The condition is on the rise in Ghana. A research conducted by the School of Medicine and Dentistry (SMD) of the University of Ghana (UG) and the Noguchi Memorial Institute indicated that 25% of Ghanaians are likely to suffer kidney diseases.

The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in partnership with the Transplant Links team, since 2008, has conducted a number of kidney transplantation on patients. The recent transplantation on the four patients was funded by the First Sky Group.

Find below the Press Release from Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital

KORLE BU PERFORMS FOUR SUCCESSFUL KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATIONS

Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in collaboration with Transplant Links UK has performed Kidney transplantation for four patients with kidney failures.

The patients who included three males and a female are currently doing well. For each transplant, the donor of the kidney was a healthy family member. This gives the person who receives the donated kidney the chance to return to a normal life away from a kidney dialysis machine.

The donor operation is carried out through a keyhole surgery technique, which means that they do not have to spend long hours in hospital after the operation. Each donor is assessed before the operation to make sure that they are fit and well, and able to safely donate one of their kidneys. The donated kidney is then implanted into the relative with kidney failure, who has to take medications to prevent rejection.

Kidney failure is common in Ghana, and is often caused by high blood pressure or diabetes. Without a transplant, a patient with end-stage kidney failure must rely on many hours of kidney dialysis per week to survive.

The Transplant Links team have worked with the Korle Bu Hospital since 2008 and many patients have already benefited.

The First Sky Group fully funded the accommodation, feeding and airfare of the transplant team from UK. First Sky Group has since December 2016, donated 11 million and a brand-new Toyota Hilux pickup to the Renal Dialysis Unit. This donation has benefited thousands of patients receiving free dialysis every week.

The transplant team at KBTH was led by surgeons Dr. Bernard Morton and Dr. James Edward Mensah and kidney specialists, Dr. Vincent Bioma and Dr. Dwomoa Adu.

The Chief Executive of the Hospital, Dr. Daniel Asare who revived the kidney transplant programme said the objective of the revival was to build local capacity so that kidney transplant becomes a routine procedure that our surgeons perform.