02-07-2025
In sickness & in health: HIV-positive woman donates kidney, saves spouse in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: For over two decades, they stood by each other, weathering life's storms. But nothing tested their relationship like this one. A 50-year-old HIV-positive man from Rajajinagar underwent a successful kidney transplant, with his wife — also HIV-positive — donating one of her kidneys and saving his life.
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Working as a compounder in a private hospital, the elderly was suffering from end-stage renal disease for the past one year and was undergoing haemodialysis before the transplant on May 19 this year.
The couple, married for over two decades, has two children. Their fight with health challenges began in 2010 when the wife was diagnosed with HIV during a routine screening at the time of delivery. She was immediately started on treatment and has been doing well on medication ever since.
During a family screening programme that same year, her husband was also detected with HIV and was started on treatment. But in 2012, he developed diabetes and hypertension. In 2022, he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, which worsened over two years. By 2024, his condition advanced to end-stage renal disease, and he had to undergo regular haemodialysis.
Life on dialysis, however, proved extremely difficult, especially due to his HIV-positive status.
With limited dialysis availability in his home town and the stigma surrounding his condition, he was forced to travel over 100km to another city for his sessions, making it hard to continue working and maintain his health.
Determine to fight the issues, the couple considered the option of a kidney transplant. His wife was keen to donate one of her kidneys, but their decision was met with resistance. Many people, including family, friends, and even some doctors, discouraged the idea due to risks involved in performing a transplant on HIV-positive individuals.
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Such recipients are at higher risk of rejections and infections. However, their determination led them to Manipal Hospital in Yeshwanthpur, where urologist Dr Ajay S Shetty and chief nephrologist Dr Deepak Chitralli (transplant physician) decided to go ahead with the complicated procedure.
Given his abnormal immune system, the patient required a tailor-made immunosuppressant regimen, different from what is typically administered to other transplant recipients.
He underwent thorough evaluations to ensure he met necessary criteria for a transplant. This included checking his CD4 counts, which reflect the strength of the immune system. The transplant surgery was successful and he was discharged on May 28. Over a month after the procedure, both the patient and his wife are doing well. His wife too underwent intensive post-operative care, has now recovered and is back home.
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People rarely talk openly about their HIV status, let alone while seeking a transplant. For this couple, both diagnosed HIV-positive around the age of 40, coming forward for a kidney transplant meant breaking that silence. The wife, a housewife, volunteered to donate her kidney after seeing her husband's struggles — travelling 100 km, three times a week for dialysis, as he wasn't allowed in regular dialysis shifts due to his HIV status.
Kidney transplants for HIV-positive individuals follow a different protocol, but with proper care, they are as successful as any other.
- Dr Deepak Chitralli, transplant physician and chief nephrologist, Manipal Hospital
