Julie Bennett had endured so much dialysis that she had run out of suitable
blood vessels to ‘tap’ to clean her blood.
As a result she ended up in intensive care suffering from septic shock, due to
an infection from a catheter which had been put in as a last resort.
Then Domenico Valenti, a vascular surgeon at King’s College Hospital in south
London, decided she might benefit from a new operation to give her a
foot-long plastic artery enabling dialysis once again.
He believes the operation has the potential to give many other patients in a
similar position years of extra life - possibly buying time for a kidney
transplant.
Mr Valenti performed the three-hour operation to install the artificial artery.
He said: “We took the catheter out, but we had to replace it with something to perform dialysis, otherwise she would have died within three days.”
That something was a 30cm coiled length of tubing made from PTFE, the plastic often used to coat non-stick frying pans, which was inserted after cutting an artery below the collar bone.
The tube material is thick and a little rubbery, meaning needles can be pushed through it to draw large volumes of blood for cleaning, without it puncturing.
Mr Valenti said: “This technique offers new hope to patients with kidney disease for whom dialysis is becoming problematic.
“In Julie’s case, this operation was the only option open to her – without it, she would have had no quality of life at all, and run the risk of dying.
“We are excited about what this means for patients like Julie, and widens the treatment options we are able to offer the many people with kidney disease that find themselves in this position.”
He said it was the first time the operation had been carried out in Britain. Before it has only been performed in Germany and Austria.
Mrs Bennett, 47, from Longfield in Kent, said others in a similar position should have the operation if they had the chance.
“I can now honestly say that it was the best decision that I had ever made,” she said.
“I would not be here without it.”
Her son Marcus, 21, said the ordeal had been “frightening”.
“At one point I got a phone call saying that could be it for her. Drastic measures were needed. It’s great now that she is better – she is now more sure, more confident, and doesn’t have as many worries. Basically, it’s great to have my mum back.”
Professor Tim Goodship, Chairman of Kidney Research UK: “Kidney disease is on the rise across the UK and around 51,000 people now require some form of treatment for kidney failure.
“The majority of these patients are on dialysis and some may never receive a transplant due to complications.
“Improvements in dialysis treatment are therefore extremely important and more funding for research is needed in order to facilitate advances such as this.”
He said: “We took the catheter out, but we had to replace it with something to perform dialysis, otherwise she would have died within three days.”
That something was a 30cm coiled length of tubing made from PTFE, the plastic often used to coat non-stick frying pans, which was inserted after cutting an artery below the collar bone.
The tube material is thick and a little rubbery, meaning needles can be pushed through it to draw large volumes of blood for cleaning, without it puncturing.
Mr Valenti said: “This technique offers new hope to patients with kidney disease for whom dialysis is becoming problematic.
“In Julie’s case, this operation was the only option open to her – without it, she would have had no quality of life at all, and run the risk of dying.
“We are excited about what this means for patients like Julie, and widens the treatment options we are able to offer the many people with kidney disease that find themselves in this position.”
He said it was the first time the operation had been carried out in Britain. Before it has only been performed in Germany and Austria.
Mrs Bennett, 47, from Longfield in Kent, said others in a similar position should have the operation if they had the chance.
“I can now honestly say that it was the best decision that I had ever made,” she said.
“I would not be here without it.”
Her son Marcus, 21, said the ordeal had been “frightening”.
“At one point I got a phone call saying that could be it for her. Drastic measures were needed. It’s great now that she is better – she is now more sure, more confident, and doesn’t have as many worries. Basically, it’s great to have my mum back.”
Professor Tim Goodship, Chairman of Kidney Research UK: “Kidney disease is on the rise across the UK and around 51,000 people now require some form of treatment for kidney failure.
“The majority of these patients are on dialysis and some may never receive a transplant due to complications.
“Improvements in dialysis treatment are therefore extremely important and more funding for research is needed in order to facilitate advances such as this.”
SOURCE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews
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