KARACHI, Sept 1: Prof Lothar Bernd Zimmerhacki, chairman of paediatrics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria at a seminar “Update on Paediatric Nephrology”, held here at the SIUT identified kidney transplantation as preferred choice of treatment for children suffering from kidney failures.

“It not only gives them an option to grow as normal children but they have normal schooling and rehabilitation,” he said mentioning that technical problems have been overcome even for children below five years of age.

The expert referring to his experience in paediatric kidney transplantation also mentioned that the outcome of kidney transplantation in children was extremely good as the donors were parents.

Prof Zimmerhacki also emphasised the importance of cadaver organ donation which could help providing a fresh lease of life to hundreds of children along with adults inflicted with renal failure.

He stressed the need for prompt treatment of diarrhoea in young children who could suffer renal failure if not treated on time.Talking about the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease and different treatment options, Prof Zimmerhacki said that children having diarrhoea with blood should be referred to specialised centres because they might have severe complications like HUS, with very poor outcome.

Prof Adibul Hasan Rizvi in his concluding remarks said that cadaver organ legislation was due in Pakistan for the last 15 years and that the country was the only in the entire Muslim world where there was no law based on brain death criteria causing unacceptable deaths among children as well adults.

With the implementation of transplant bill, organs can be retrieved from the dead persons with the permission of their next kin for hundreds of thousands who are in need of not only kidney but liver, pancreas, heart, lungs and other organs.—APP