Hard to get donor with the right fit

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: Getting a donor for lungs is more difficult than it is for other organs because it has to be the “right fit”.
Institute of Respiratory Medicine (IPR) director Datin Dr Aziah Ahmad Mahayiddin said this was because the donor lung needed to be “fitted” into the chest cavity of the recipient.
Among the criteria to look into are chest dimensions of both the recipient and donor, as well as the height and weight of the donor which will indicate the size of donor's lungs.
The first lung transplant surgery was carried out in cooperation with the National Heart Institute (IJN) in 2005.
Dr Aziah said there was a growing list of patients the IPR was treating under its lung transplant programme.
Medication, she added, was very expensive and could cost up to RM9,000 a month. The cost is borne by the Health Ministry.
In addition to this, those on long term oxygen therapy would need to pay RM8,000 for an oxygen concentrator and a portable oxygen tank.
The transplant operation can cost about RM100,000. It can cost RM40,000 per year per patient for immuno suppressant medication, which is borne by the Health Ministry.
There are currently nine patients on the waiting list for double lung transplantation including Siti Salmah Jasni, 18 who suffers from pulmonary hypertension.
The ages of the patients range from 18 to 55. There are two patients waiting for heart and lung transplantations.
“Before there was the lung transplant programme, patients died very fast even with lung therapy. It is a progressive illness.
“But now, we can do something. There are new developments that show their condition can be slowed down with medication,” said Dr Aziah.
Saying that patients who received new lungs were “reborn”, she said IPR was committed to the programme and had one plea: “Get us lungs.”