The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) held a press conference yesterday to highlight the recent success of a kidney transplant performed on a 7-year-old, by a team of locally-trained Guyanese surgeons.
A Ministry of Health press release yesterday stated that the press conference was held to highlight the recent success of a kidney transplant performed on a 7-year-old paediatric patient, Angelica Soamnauth. Weighing in at just 17 kilogrammes, Soamnauth is the youngest paediatric patient to have undergone a kidney transplant that requires a patient to have a weight of 20kg and above.
The event was held in GPHC’s boardroom and attended by Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony. Also present were: the Director of Medical and Professional Services, Dr Navindranauth Rambaran; Senior Registrar of the Paediatric Department, Mala Shewram and the parents of the patient, Angelica Soamnauth.
During his remarks, Anthony thanked the team at the Georgetown Public Hospital for the remarkable work and efforts towards the successful surgery carried out on the young patient. He explained that there are only two options for a patient with end-stage dialysis failure. Those two options are dialysis treatment, and transplant surgery.
“Over the years, we have seen our transplant programme grow and we have seen the results of this programme improved drastically. We have moved from performing adult transplant to carrying out paediatric transplants. There are some special procedures required, and the team has done a great job in demonstrating their capabilities in conducting a paediatric transplant.”
The minister noted the growth in the hospital’s transplant programme and thanked the team for a job well done.
“Over the years, we have seen our transplant programme grow and we have seen the results of this programme improve drastically. We have moved from performing adult transplant to carrying out Paediatric transplants. There are some special procedures required, and the team has done a great job in demonstrating their capabilities in conducting a Paediatric transplant.”
Anthony congratulated the leadership of the GPHC and team of medical professionals for the ground breaking work they have done. Chief Medical Offi-cer (CEO) of the George-town Public Hospital Corporation, Robbie Rambarran, during his remarks stated that the procedure was a multidisciplinary approach carried
out by the paediatric, anaesthesia and transplant departments.
“These are testimonies of us embarking on that journey. As we continue to improve on every segment of our operation, we wish to highlight and share those stories with the public on our medical achievements.”, the CEO said.
Meanwhile, Dr Kishore Persaud, vascular and transplant surgeon, said that the successful procedure of the transplant performed is a historical achievement in the medical landscape of Guyana.
“Together, we’ve achieved what many deemed as impossible; the first paediatric transplant of a patient at this age [and] weight in our country,” Dr Kishore said.
