Are cadaver transplants being performed on patients suffering from renal failure in Chennai?
Cadaver transplants are becoming common in Chennai. In GH, 11 cadaver transplants have been performed so far. Apollo and Ramachandra hospitals have performed 100 cadaver transplants. The Government of Tamil Nadu is keen on promoting such transplants. Actually, awareness about cadaver transplants is low among the public. Also, as kidney donors are usually brain-dead, it is difficult to approach their relatives and seek their consent to harvest the kidneys. Besides, the kidneys could stop functioning in a couple of days. The brain-dead person has to be put on an artificial life support system. Aren’t most of the donors the patient’s relatives? Yes. That’s the case in all Government hospitals. The term “relatives” covers father, mother, son, daughter, brother and sister. Spouses come under the unrelated category. Donation from spouses has to be discouraged. Starzl, a pioneer in kidney transplant surgery, opposed the practice after he witnessed the deaths of a patient and his wife, who off
