KARACHI, Dec 30: The Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation achieved a milestone in its area of specialisation by performing the first deceased donor transplantation after the promulgation of the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Ordinance 2007 in February.

Dr Anwar Naqvi of the SIUT told Dawn on Sunday that his institute had performed at least two deceased donor transplantations before the passage of the new law. The new transplantation was performed at the SIUT by a team of surgeons led by Prof Adib Rizvi on Dec 29, 2007.

“The donor was Prof Razak Memon, professor of pathology at the Sindh Medical College. The 59-year-old professor was from Pir Jo Goth and he sustained massive intracranial bleeding. All measures to save Prof Memon’s life had been instituted since his admission on Dec 25, 2007. However, according to the neurosurgeon, surgery was not possible due to massive brain injury,” said Dr Naqvi.

“On Dec 27, Prof Memon sustained irreversible brain death. The diagnosis of brain death was certified by a team at the Civil Hospital’s surgical ICU consisting of neurosurgeon Prof Junaid Ashraf, neurophysician Prof Abdullah and intensivist Prof Saeeda Haider on two separate occasions.”

He explained that the brain death protocol enunciated in the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Ordinance 2007 was duly followed.

According to an SIUT statement, Prof Memon’s family has been aware of all aspects of transplantation for over 20 years. “His brother received a renal transplantation from his mother in 1986 in London. Later on, his brother received a renal transplantation donated from his wife at SIUT in 1994. The benefits of renal transplantation were clear to the family as two of its members were beneficiaries of successful transplantation, which changed their quality of life so positively as to allow their full rehabilitation and restoration to a healthy life.”

The SIUT statement adds that the family decided to donate both kidneys of Prof Memon to save the lives of at least two patients of dialysis in accordance with the donor’s wish made during his lifetime.

“The kidneys were removed surgically on Dec 29. The recipients of the kidneys were 30-year-old Zarina, a housewife from Dadu, and 17-year-old Kashmala, a student from Dera Ghazi Khan. The first recipient has three children, the eldest being 10 years old. She had no donors in the family. The second recipient has three siblings but none of them matched with their sister on tissue typing. Both the patients are doing well after the surgery,” says the SIUT statement.