Surgeons overcame several obstacles to successfully complete an organ transplant surgery for a three-year-old with inherited kidney disease, Taipei Veterans’ General Hospital said yesterday.
The patient, a girl surnamed Hsu (許), was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, a rare genetic disorder, at birth, the hospital told a news conference.
She has taken medication and had dialysis daily since she was two, and the condition limited her growth, it said, adding that at 86.3cm and 11.5kg, she is shorter and lighter than most other children her age.
Photo: CNA
Pediatric Surgery Division director Tsai Hsin-lin (蔡昕霖) said that most children who need a kidney transplant have inherited urinary system abnormalities, glomerulonephritis, acute kidney damage or other genetic disorders.
However, dialysis can cause delays in physical and neurocognitive development in young children, Tsai said.
As their bodies are so small, surgery on the urinary system of children with chronic kidney disease is more complicated, but if they do not get a kidney transplant before adulthood, the stunting of their growth might worsen, leading to learning disabilities, uremia, anemia, or even acute stroke or heart attack, he said.
Getting a transplant is a race against time, he added.
Another issue is that most kidney donors are adults, Tsai said.
After waiting a year for a compatible kidney from a donor who weighed 57kg, the big challenge for the surgical team was how to implant a 12cm-long kidney into Hsu’s abdominal cavity, which was only about 20cm long, he said, adding that the organ they removed was 8cm long.
The team had to precisely calculate the dimensions of Hsu’s abdominal cavity and the operation took seven hours, he said.
The surgeons removed the damaged kidney, moved her large intestine and duodenum to the left to make room for the donor kidney and connected blood vessels to it to prevent tubular necrosis, he said.
The team also reported the successful cases of a nine-year-old child, surnamed Chen (陳) and four other kidney transplants involving children since August 2020.
Pediatric Division director Chang Jei-wen (張瑞文) said that a kidney transplant is the best treatment for children with end-stage renal disease, as it not only has the best prognosis, but can also allow a young patient’s physical and cognitive growth to catch up with children of the same age.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old