A new pioneering procedure has allowed a woman in Britain to get a new kidney from her sister - even though the organ would have normally been rejected. Maxine Bath had no matching kidney donors in her family, but doctors in Coventry, England used a technique on her called cryofiltration which allowed them to remove the immune molecules that cause the usual rejection. The breakthrough has raised hopes that more people could undergo transplants. The cryofiltration procedure involves circulating the blood plasma through a machine which heavily chills it, turning proteins and antibodies into a gel-like substance which can then be easily filtered out, before the plasma is re-warmed and returned to the patient. Dr Rob Higgins, a kidney specialist at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, tells the BBC, "Maxine would have gone blind within two years because of her low blood pressure, if she had not received a new kidney. This is another innovative measure we have implemented at the trust which opens the doors of donation for more kidney patients awaiting transplants." (KD/WNWCCB/PAW)
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