ABSTRACT
Background: The incidence of chronic liver disease is increasing in the Nepalese population. Liver transplantation (LT) is the best option for patients with end-stage liver disease (ESLD). Nepal's first liver transplant was performed in 2016 in an international collaborative effort at Shahid Dharmabhakta National Transplant Centre (SDNTC), Bhaktapur, Nepal. We aim to report details of the first five patients who had undergone liver transplantation in SDNTC before the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in the history of transplantation in Nepal. Method: A descriptive analysis of the clinical data of five adult recipients of liver transplantation at SDNTC was done. We described the patient's demographics, length of stay, and survival of all the first five patients who had undergone four living donor liver transplantations and one brain-dead donor liver transplantation in SDNTC before the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. Results: Recipients were between 36 and 63 years old. The recipients of the four live donor liver transplants (LDLT) and one brain-dead donor liver transplant (DDLT) had alcoholic liver disease and cryptogenic liver disease, leading to end-stage liver disease. The model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores ranged from 23 to 34. Out of five, four recipients and four donors are doing well and relishing the prospect of a normal life, while the recipient of a brain-dead donor liver transplant passed away due to postoperative primary graft failure. Conclusion: Despite the small number of liver transplants that have been done, the success of these has created confidence in a sustainable liver transplantation program in Nepal.
ABSTRACT
Background: Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESKD). Kidney paired donation (KPD) provides the chance to match an incompatible donor/recipient pair with another donor and recipient in a similar condition. We aimed to compare the outcomes of pair exchange kidney transplantation with traditional live donor kidney transplantation in our context. Method: A review of medical records of 62 patients (31 pairs) who underwent two-way conventional living kidney pair exchange from July 2016 to June 2021 was done. The control group was considered those 62 patients who had undergone classic live donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) during the study period. The patient's demographics, intraoperative and postoperative variables including delayed graft function, length of hospital stay, graft survival, patient survival, and rejections rates were compared between the groups (KPD and LDKT). Results: The majority of recipients were male (77.4 and 80.6%) while donors were female (77.4 and 69.4%) in KPD and the LDKT groups. Mean ages were 37 years (range: 19-59) and 37 years (range: 17-65) for the recipient's in KPD and the LDKT. KPD transplantation was performed in 62 recipients to avoid blood group incompatibility. There were no significant differences in outcomes comprising delayed graft function (1.6 and 3.2%), graft survival (100% in both groups), patient survival (95.2 and 96.8%), and rejections rates (1.6 and 1.6%) between KPD and LDKT group (P > 0.005). The length of stay was similar (5.9 and 5.7 days) in KPD and LDKT groups (P > 0.005). Conclusions: The outcomes of KPD were comparable with classic LDKT in terms of delayed graft function, length of hospital stay, graft survival, patient survival, and rejections rates in our study. Therefore, the kidney paired donation program should be encouraged and promoted in centers where the ABO-incompatible transplant is expensive with added risk and the rate of deceased donor transplantation is very low.