Kidney Transplant from Living Donor Performed on Cuban Child

HAVANA TIMES — A nine-year-old girl underwent a kidney transplant on Wednesday in the central province of Villa Clara, the first such procedure ever performed in Cuba with a living donor.

According to a report on the national television news, the surgery was performed on the girl identified only as Alexandra. Her suffering from chronic renal insufficiency is expected to be greatly alleviated and the quality of her life substantially improved since she will no longer have to undergo regular hemodialysis treatments and she may be integrated into normal life.

Among highly compatible living donors, organs do not suffer as much stress; therefore there is an increased chance of survival and a lower risk of rejection.

In the next few hours the success of transplantation will be assessed, which is expected to be successful since physicians on the island have 20 years of experience in renal transplantation in children, according to the report.