First patient in the UK receives transplant that doesn't require long-term immuno-suppressants
Image source: Great Ormond Street Hospital
Eight-year-old Aditi Shankar has become the first child in the UK to receive a special type of kidney transplant that does not require the use of long term anti-rejection medication.
The transplant took place at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where doctors used a stem cell transplant six months ahead of the kidney transplant from the same donor, Aditi’s mother, which resulted in Aditi’s body accepting the donor kidney as her own by “reprogramming” her immune system.
Aditi has a very rare inherited condition called Schmike’s immuno-osseous dysplasia (SIOD), which impacts the immune system and kidneys. As SIOD impacts her immune system, Aditi would not have been able to receive a kidney transplant without the bone marrow donation to reduce the risk of organ rejection. The transplant technique has previously been used outside of the UK for other children with SIOD, and Great Ormond Street specialists consulted with their international colleagues before it went ahead, making it the first use of this style of transplant in the UK.
The use of this technique means that Aditi only needed to take immunosuppression medication for a few weeks, whereas usually these would have to be taken for a lifetime to prevent organ rejection. Immunosuppressants reduce the effectiveness of the body’s immune system, leaving those who take them with a higher risk of infection as a result. Not requiring them in the long-term drastically reduces the risks associated with them, and can allow people who have undergone this kind of transplant to face less risks to their health.
Professionals are unsure whether this will become a frequently used procedure as although it can reduce the risks of organ rejection, it also increases the risk of injury to the patient, so it would have to be considered on a case by case basis.
