WASHINGTON, March 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The kidney of a 35-year-old HIV-
positive woman has been transplanted into another patient with the virus that
causes AIDS, US surgeons announced Thursday, in a major medical breakthrough.
The surgeons at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore performed the
operation on Monday, calling it the first in the world of its kind.
“I’m feeling good,” said the donor, Nina Martinez, at a news conference on
Thursday following the surgery.
The recipient, who has not been identified, is doing “beautifully,” said
Christine Durand, associate professor of medicine and oncology at Johns
Hopkins.
They are “incredibly grateful for this gift and now we just monitor for the
long term outcomes,” Durand said.
Martinez initially wanted to donate the kidney to a friend, but after that
friend died, she pursued her wish to be an organ donor, Johns Hopkins said.
The Atlanta resident, who was inspired to donate her kidney by an episode
of “Grey’s Anatomy,” said she was excited to be part of a medical first.
“I knew that I was the one that they had been waiting for,” she said. “For
anyone considering embarking on this journey, it’s doable.
“I’ve just showed you how and I’m very excited to see who the first follow-
on might be.”
Before this transplant operation, doctors had believed it too risky to
leave an HIV-positive patient with only one kidney.
The decision to move forward with the transplant highlights the confidence
scientists have in current anti-retroviral medication, which allows those
with HIV to lead normal, productive lives.
Thousands of people die each year in the United States awaiting organ
transplants.
– ‘Doors are now open’ –
Dorry Segev, an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine, said about 500-600 HIV-positive patients could
donate organs each year, benefiting about 1,000 people with the virus.
Until now, HIV-positive patients could receive organs from dead HIV-
positive patients but not from anyone living with the virus.
They could also previously receive an organ from someone who was not HIV-
positive.
The possibility of using organs from living donors would significantly
change the equation.
Johns Hopkins University Hospital received authorization in 2016 to move
ahead with the first transplant from a living donor with HIV. Surgeons had
been waiting to find compatible patients.
Martinez and the recipient of her kidney will have to keep taking their
anti-retroviral medication.
“The doors are now open for people living with HIV to become kidney
donors,” said Segev. “Now anybody can do this anywhere in the world, provided
that they screen the patients accordingly.
“For us, this is not only a celebration of transplantation but a
celebration of the progress of HIV care,” he said.
“And the fact that 30 years ago, a disease that was basically a death
sentence has been so transformed, that today somebody with HIV can save
somebody else’s life.”
Like other countries, the United States suffers from a shortage of donor
kidneys and there is a waiting list of around 100,000 people, according to
the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.
Durand said about 10,000 HIV-positive patients are currently suffering
kidney failure and on dialysis.