The transplant specialists of the First Medical Association of Lviv were the first in Ukraine to use the Kidneyassist device for transplanting a donor kidney. It doubles the time the organ can stay outside the body. So now the Transplantology Center can transport a kidney from anywhere in Ukraine.
This device is currently the only one in our country. It not only allows you to increase the time of the organ’s safe stay outside the body, but also helps to assess the condition and function of the kidney, as well as predict the outcome of transplantation.
“The device makes it possible, in fact, to revive the kidney outside the body. There is an opportunity to check how well the organ secretes urine,” the doctors emphasize.
The first patient who received a donor kidney using the Kidneyassist device was 43-year-old Ihor Miklukha from the city of Ovruch. Since childhood, he suffered from glomerulonephritis, a disease that leads to kidney failure. At the age of 26, Igor’s kidneys failed. For some time, the young man was on hemodialysis. This is a procedure for cleansing the blood of toxins and removing excess water. It is held in a medical institution three times a week and lasts several hours. “You won’t go anywhere, attachment to the hospital, constant fatigue. You also need to follow a diet and drink less water,” Igor says about life on hemodialysis.
In 2010, Igor underwent a kidney transplant in Zaporizhzhia. He lived with her for 10.5 full years. Over time, the donor organ refused, so the man was once again on the waiting list for a transplant at the Transplantology Center in Lviv.
A donor kidney for Igor appeared in Odessa. Due to the threat from the air, bodies are not currently transported by helicopters. By car there and back to Lviv is a short distance. The slightest congestion – and the organ can be lost. In addition, the longer he is outside the body, the less chance there is of a successful transplant. Therefore, with the help of the Kidneyassist device, such a distance is no longer a problem.
The kidney was collected in Odesa at 07:00 in the morning. And the transplantation in Lviv began at 05:00 in the morning the next day. The organ was outside the body for more than 23 hours. The device continued the work of the kidney and preserved its function. The organ started working just on the operating table. The transplant was successful.
On the fourth day after the transplant, Igor feels well and is already making plans for the future. Wants to travel in Ukraine.
By the way, Lviv doctors already had a similar device for storing the liver, and now they have one for the kidney as well.