Lviv transplant specialists have successfully performed a kidney transplant for the third time on a 21-year-old girl from Odesa region.

The rescue of 21-year-old Vitalina Grytsevych from the city of Podilsk in the Odesa region posed a significant challenge for the specialists at the Transplantation Center of the First Medical Association of Lviv. She became one of the most complex patients in the department's four-year history. The girl came to Lviv seeking salvation for her third kidney transplant, as the previous two were unsuccessful due to her body rejecting the donor organs.

Vitalina's childhood ended at the age of 11 when her kidneys began to fail, and their function was replaced by dialysis – a machine for artificially cleansing the blood and removing excess fluid. Three times a week, she spent several hours in the hospital. She underwent two kidney transplants, but unfortunately, her body rejected both donor organs, reported the Lviv hospital.

The situation was extremely complicated. There were issues with conducting the hemodialysis procedure as well. Her body was deteriorating, and the blood vessels were unable to cope. There was a threat that the medical staff would simply not be able to connect Vitalina to the machine physically. Lviv specialists stated that this was quite a challenging case. All the fistulas (artificially created channels for dialysis) were thrombosed. Only a tunnel catheter remained in her neck. The only solution to save the girl was transplantation, and she entrusted her life to the transplant surgeons in Lviv.

“To select a kidney, we used the virtual cross-match technique – a complex immunological test that allowed us to determine the list of antibodies already present in the patient after previous transplants. This enabled us to successfully select a donor kidney with minimal risk of rejection,” said the head of the Transplantation Center, Maksym Ovechko.

The transplant operation was complex because it was her third kidney transplant. Adhesions had formed in previously operated areas; however, the Lviv specialists managed to successfully carry out an extraordinary transplantation despite all the risks and complications. The surgery lasted three hours. On the 21st day after the successful transplant, the patient returned home. Vitalina dreams of enrolling in medical university to become a doctor and save lives as well.