John Patoki, a 31-year-old native of Togo, Africa, had lost the will to live when he was first diagnosed with HIV and later with kidney damage.
But thanks to medical tourism, Patoki landed in Bangalore and got a new lease of life from Narayana Hrudayalaya, where he underwent a successful kidney transplantion. Patoki is now all set to get back home and lead a happy life.
“After completing schooling, I took admission in a military school. Meanwhile, I was dating a girl, whom I had planned to marry. One day, in a routine check-up, I discovered that I have AIDS. My fiancee, who had transmitted the infection to me, always knew about her ill-health. But she never revealed it to me. She is no more. But because of her, I too became a victim,” said Patoki on Thursday.
Patoki is the first case of a kidney transplant performed on an HIV patient in Karnataka.
“It was a struggle for him to first get a place in Togo that would accept him for dialysis after knowing that he is also a HIV-positive patient. He underwent two years of dialysis before he got to know that the kidney transplant was possible on HIV patients, too. Patoki went to Egypt for treatment but there they wouldn’t do transplants on HIV+ patients.
About six months back, Patoki wrote to us and we asked him to come over,” said Dr Lloyd Vincent, senior consultant nephrologist, Narayana Hrudayalaya.
Patoki came to Bangalore with his mother, the kidney donor.
“His HIV drugs were adjusted. The load of the virus in his blood was treated to undetectable levels and his immune cells were brought to acceptable levels. Immune-suppressive medications were started a month prior to the transplant.
The donor’s kidney was removed through laparoscopic donor nephrectomy,” said Dr Vincent.
The transplant in HIV+ people is safer than in patients suffering from Hepatitis B & C, he added. Along with Patoki, a 35-year-old Mohamed
Sayeed (name changed), who is also an HIV+ patient underwent a kidney transplant in the city.
