Mumbai: Doctors remove overweight kidneys of 41-yr-old Goa man suffering from rare disorder

Pereira suffers from autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a genetic disorder that leads to cystic growth in kidneys. In 2018, he started suffering from breathlessness and weakness while walking and low haemoglobin count. (Photo: Getty Images/Thinkstock)

A 41-year-old man from Goa has undergone a surgery for a rare disorder, in which his kidneys had increased nearly 40 times in mass as compared to a normal kidney. Doctors removed Roman Pereira’s kidneys, which weighed 6.9 kg and 5.7 kg each, as against the normal weight of 150 gm. He also underwent a swap kidney transplant, in which his wife Placima (40) donated one kidney to a man from Amravati and his wife donated one of hers to Pereira.

Pereira suffers from autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a genetic disorder that leads to cystic growth in kidneys. In 2018, he started suffering from breathlessness and weakness while walking and low haemoglobin count.

“ADPKD runs in my family and I have seen my mother suffering from it. I was diagnosed with ADPKD 10 years ago, and it was managed medically. About a year and a half ago, my condition started deteriorating and I was unable to do routine chores,” Pereira said, adding that he was put on dialysis after his kidney function worsened. His cousins also suffer from the disease.

So, he came to Mumbai for a transplant and doctors at Global Hospital surgically removed his kidneys last November. His right kidney weighed 5.7 kg, while the other weighed 6.9 kg when they were removed. A normal kidney weighs about 150 gm.

“Although most kidneys are removed laparoscopically with keyhole surgery, Pereira’s kidneys measured almost a foot, so he required an open surgery,” said Dr Pradeep Rao, director of urology and renal transplant at Global Hospital.

For a month after the surgery, Pereira was on dialysis support. Since a cadaver organ donor — organs from a brain-dead patient — was not immediately available, he underwent a swap transplant in December.

His wife Placima donated a kidney to Nitin Tapar from Amravati, who was suffering from kidney failure. Tapar’s wife Radha (55) donated a kidney to Pereira on the same day. The transplants were conducted on December 17.

According to Dr Vivek Talaulikar, CEO of Global Hospital, a swap transplant was needed as Pereira’s blood group was found to be incompatible with his wife and no other donor in the family was available. Tapar’s blood group, too, was incompatible with his wife’s.