2 July 2013
A successful kidney transplant has been carried out on a patient who had antibodies in her blood, at the Erasmus MC. These would normally cause a new kidney to be rejected. The blood was filtered using a new method and the antibodies were removed.
During the treatment, the blood undergoes a ‘plasmapheresis’ 5 to 10 times. The blood plasma, which contains the antibodies, is removed, but the red and white blood cells are not. After each plasmapheresis, the patient is given medication to inhibit the production of new antibodies. The treatment is carried out 1 to 2 weeks before the possible transplant, at the dialysis department.
Prospects
The treatment was developed in the United States and has now been successfully carried out in the Netherlands for the first time. The new method offers prospects to kidney patients who produce antibodies, because they have had a blood transfusion or have been pregnant, for example. This may also be the problem for patients who have had a donor kidney at a young age but now need a new transplant. This applies to around 5 to 10 patients per year. Until now, they have been dependent on dialysis.
