On February 2, 2021, MOHAN Foundation organised a webinar titled “Celebrating 50 Years of Kidney Transplantation in India” as part of the ongoing series of Synchrony Dialogues. The webinar highlighted the efficacious 50 years of kidney transplantation in India. It has been 50 years since Dr. A. Mohan Rao at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, performed the country's first successful renal transplant on February 2, 1971. Dr. A. Mohan Rao, Associate Professor, Sr. Consultant Transplant Surgeon, Renal Unit - The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Australia & Dr. Chakko Korula Jacob, Consultant Nephrologist-Bangalore Baptist Hospital were the distinguished speakers of the webinar.

 

The webinar was moderated by Dr. Sunil Shroff, Managing Trustee, MOHAN Foundation & Dr. Georgi Abraham, Prof. of Medicine, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences,  Consultant Nephrologist - MMM Hospital, Trustee - MOHAN Foundation. The webinar was live on MOHAN Foundation’s social media pages like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

 

The session highlighted and celebrated the first major success in the field of kidney transplant in India. The main points of discussion were:

• Kidney transplant success stories
• Advancement of technology in kidney transplant since 1971
• Challenges and complications faced during initial transplants in India
• Use of Trans lumbar puncture in kidney transplants in early years

 

The participants participated in the live discussion and raised many interesting queries. Dr. Rao and Dr. Jacob answered the following questions raised during the webinar:

• What kind of preparation did you undertake before performing your first transplant?
• Were you under pressure when you were performing the first transplant?
• Technology has advanced and renal transplants have become part of our lives, what message do you want to give to the young surgeons and nephrologists as a role model?
• Did you celebrate when your first kidney recipient and donor went back home?
• What kind of follow up was done for the first few recipients?
• What kind of challenges did you face while doing initial transplants?
• What kind of complications did you face in the first 5 years while performing renal transplants?
• Did we have deceased donations in 1970s and what was the scope of deceased donation programme?
• How did immunosuppressants change over the years? What were you using in the early years?

 

At the end, Dr. Sunil Shroff concluded the session and gave a vote of thanks.

 

Click here to watch the video.