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Triple transplant breakthrough - 08 March 2010

Pioneering surgeons have carried out one of the first ground-breaking three-way kidney transplants in the UK. 

Patients in Scotland and England have been given an amazing second chance after they took part in the pioneering triple operations, which signal a new era in transplantation. 

Now six men and women, who have never met, have become the first to talk about the procedure and how they have given a stranger the gift of life.

Surgeons at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, and The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) performed the operation, the second of its kind in the UK.

It involved three anonymous pairs, each comprising a donor and a recipient, who agreed to put themselves in a pool to find a match because their blood and tissue types were not compatible with their loved ones.

Newly-wed Teemir Thakrar, 32, from Hertfordshire, Chris Brent, 42, from Bexleyheath and Andrea Mullen, 54, from Aberdeen, were all waiting for a lifesaving donor when they joined the pooled transplant list with their loved ones.                                    

Teemir and Lynsey picTeemir joined up with his wife Lynsey, 30 (pictured left), Chris signed up with his sister, Lisa Burton, 45, from Hastings, and Andrea and her husband Andrew, 53, took part together.
 
Each of the three donors were compatible with one of the recipients and following successful transplant operations are now looking forward to a new life, which includes having children, going on holiday and being able to return to work..
 
Teemir said: “At my wedding to Lynsey I had to go home and dialyse in the evening and my stag do was pretty low key. I’m now looking forward to a long life with Lynsey and starting a family. I’m also excited about being able to exercise again and getting back to the gym. I’m happy in the knowledge that two other people will finally be off dialysis too.”
 
Lisa said: “I couldn’t donate to Chris directly because we were incompatible, but this way I could still help him. I was frightened at first and a bit unsure about donor pooling, but I’m delighted that everyone is doing well and that I could help my brother get better.”
 
Grandmother Andrea added: “I feel better than I have done in years and I feel as though I have been given my life back. My illness didn’t just affect my life, but my husband’s and my family’s. I am so grateful to everyone for giving me this second chance.”
 
Donor pooling became legal across the UK in 2006 and since then two-way swaps have become more commonplace, with 20 having taken place so far.
 
But a three-way transplant has only been performed once before in the UK, by medical teams in England in late 2009. Further details on that occasion have not been released due to patient confidentiality.
 
The operation is complicated, not just because of logistics, but because it relies on each of the six people being in good health on the exact same day to prevent the procedure being postponed.
 
The transplants went ahead on December 4, 2009 and saw surgery commence simultaneously at 09.00. Once retrieved the three kidneys were packaged in ice, put into custom-made cool bags and transported across the UK – from Edinburgh to London by plane and between the London hospitals by blue-light ambulance.
    
Geoff Koffman, consultant transplant surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: ”It’s imperative we look at every option and pooling donors like this gives patients a much better chance in life and helps free them of a lifetime on dialysis.”
 
Lorna Marson, consultant transplant surgeon, who carried out the operation in the RIE in Edinburgh, said: “Andrea and Andrew have made a great recovery and we are so pleased for them both.
 
“Andrea had to undergo a lot of preparation before the transplant so without this three-way operation, which was planned in advance, it would have been unlikely that she would have been offered a kidney from the deceased donor list.”
 
Mr Vassilios Papalois, consultant renal surgeon at Imperial, said: “The surgery was such a success thanks to great teamwork on all three sites.
 
“I wish our donor and recipient Lynsey and Teemir a great future together and hope we can do more paired and pooled transplants. In the USA they are already doing up to twelve pairs at once – so that’s something to aspire to.”
 
The transplants were approved by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA), which regulates living organ donation.
 
The organisation has created a more flexible approach to donation to help the 7,000 patients currently on the waiting list for a kidney transplant in the UK to find a match.
 
One in three kidneys used in transplant in the UK now come from living donors.
 
A spokesperson for NHS Blood and Transplant said: “We are hoping this is just the start of things to come and that what is currently unique practice becomes possible in hospitals throughout the country.” 
 
Notes to editors

  • Around 1,500 transplant operations were carried out in the UK last year, 20 of which were paired
  • Normally, donors can expect to wait around three years on the transplant list before a match is found

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