Two successful paediatric kidney transplants have been carried out in Taipei. The recipients of the transplants are aged 4 and 8. Both children have been able to come off dialysis after receiving a new kidney at Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The donor, the youngest in Taiwan’s history, was just 1 year old when he passed away.
Four-year-old Miss. Li sings a nursery rhyme. When she was just four days old, she suffered a ruptured bowel, requiring her to become the youngest dialysis patient in Taiwan. Beside her, 8-year-old Miss Hsu, who was born with heart disease and whose development was slow, also had dialysis for two years. Now both have a new lease of life after a kidney transplant.
Father of Miss. Li
We can also understand that making a decision like this requires enormous courage. We’re extremely grateful to the family of the donor.
Miss. Hsu
Patient
When I ate lunch, I had to do dialysis. Sometimes granny would come late and I had to just watch everyone else eat. Now I can eat with everyone. It’s great.
The kidney donor was Taiwan’s youngest ever organ donor. He tragically died of hypoxia at the age of 1 year and 3 months, weighing 9.8 kilograms. His next of kin wanted his organs to help others. But the transplant was exceptionally difficult to carry out, involving kidneys only as big as thumbs.
Dr. Tsai Hsin-lin
Taipei Veterans General Hospital
First of all, she had extremely thin blood vessels. Even once they are connected, looking at global transplant statistics, the chance of causing an embolism is over 50%. You have to reduce the clotting in the blood, to prevent clots in the kidneys. If a clot does form, the kidney could be destroyed.
Although both transplants initially seemed successful, a rejection was later seen in the younger child. She then had to stay on dialysis another month. Fortunately, both children are now in good condition, and are looking forward to a happy, healthy future, thanks to the great generosity of the donor and his family.
