Uncle’s kidney donation gives second life to 25-year-old techie

A 25-year-old software engineer got a new lease of life after a successful kidney transplant at the Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology (AINU), with the organ donated by his paternal uncle.

The patient, a native of the Konaseema region and a B.Tech graduate working in the city, had begun experiencing persistent headaches and vomiting nearly two years ago. Tests revealed that his serum creatinine levels were abnormally high, and further evaluation confirmed chronic kidney disease. Despite prolonged treatment, specialist doctors concluded that a transplant was the only viable option.

Both his parents were medically unfit to donate. His mother had a stroke earlier and suffers from hypertension, while his father had undergone bypass surgery and suffers from high blood pressure. With no immediate family donor available, the young man’s paternal uncle stepped in and offered his kidney.

Senior consultant nephrologist and transplant physician Srikanth Gundlapalli, who performed the transplant, said that such severe kidney problems in someone so young, with no unhealthy habits, were uncommon. He said that auto-immune conditions can occasionally trigger chronic kidney disease in young adults.