Girish Thorat was detected with nephrotic syndrome at the age of six and after that Girish was put on medicines and underwent biopsy twice, but it took three years for him to be put on peritoneal dialysis-a treatment for severe chronic kidney disease.

At that time Girish’s grandmother decided to give her kidney to the child. The only hitch was that their blood groups were incompatible (ABO mismatch).

However, in a first of its kind paediatric kidney transplant, Aditya Birla hospital doctors successfully treated the nine-year-old, gifting him a dialysis-free life. 

“Apart from the risk of transplant in such a young kid, there were complications as Girish did not have a suitable blood group matching the donor. His grandmother was willing to donate but her blood group was AB, whereas Girish’s blood group was A", said, Tarun Jeloka, nephrologist at the Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital. 

Jeloka added, “We discussed the case amongst our doctors as we had performed about 20 transplants in the last two years in adults. We explained the risk to the family and reassured them that we would try our best when they agreed”. 

Girish was discharged from the hospital on tuesday, after the treatment was successful. 

Rekha Dubey, CEO, Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital, said, "this is the city’s first incompatible blood group (ABO mismatch) pediatric kidney transplant, that too without plasma exchange, which is very rare even in the country".