Romanian doctors perform kidney transplant on a two year old child

Doctors at Spitalul pentru Copii Sf. Maria and Spitalul Dr. C.I. Parhon in Iași, Romania, performed a kidney transplant on a two year and half month old boy.

The boy, who weighs only 8.5 kilograms, became the youngest patient in Romania to receive such a procedure. The transplant used organs donated by the family of a one and half year old child who was in a state of brain death.

The medical teams conducted two simultaneous transplants using the donor's organs. One kidney went to the two year and half month old boy from Suceava County, who had been on dialysis since birth. The other kidney went to a six year old boy from Republica Moldova who suffered from renal insufficiency. Adrian Covic, the coordinator of the Kidney Transplant Department at Spitalul Dr. C.I.

Parhon, stated that both boys were chosen from a waiting list of approximately 62 children in Romania. The surgeons noted that transplanting kidneys into children weighing less than 20 kilograms presents extreme challenges due to small body dimensions and complex vascular access. The two year and half month old boy faced additional difficulties because he had no kidney and possessed vascular malformations. Doctors believe the transplant provided a survival chance that dialysis could not have sustained long term.

Both children are currently showing good progress following the surgeries.