CHENNAI: For the first time in the world, a private hospital in the city has successfully performed an across-blood group kidney transplantation in a recipient with the rare Bombay O blood group.

A 30-year-old male patient with chronic kidney disease was undergoing dialysis at MIOT International for nearly a year. Due to his Bombay O blood group, he could receive blood or organs only from someone with the same blood group, which is very rare and prevalent in only 1 in 10,000 people in India. Though the O blood group is a universal donor, it cannot be transfused to an individual with the Bombay O blood group.

The mother of the patient was a prospective donor but the transplant could not be done due to the incompatibility of the blood group and the presence of anti-H antibodies in the patient.

Globally, a kidney transplant has never been reported in a recipient with the Bombay O blood group due to the rarity and higher complications involved. Additionally, the lack of precedents or guidelines for monitoring anti-H antibody levels, which are significant in preventing organ rejection, made the transplantation highly challenging.

Organ transplant specialists with MIOT brought down the anti-H antibody titers to the optimum level and successfully completed the procedure.