CRI听力: New Hope for Kidney Patients

Doctors have saved a woman's life with a ground breaking new blood freezing technique. The British specialists say the procedure at University Hospital in Coventry can now be used to offer a permanent solution to patients forced to rely on dialysis.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.(www.hXen.com)

Reporter: Just months ago Bath's health was fading daily and Titmus could only watch as her sister's body progressively failed her.

Bath's blood pressure was extremely low. Months of kidney failure had starved many of her organs of oxygen. Her eyes still suffer some of that damage, but doctors had feared she would go blind at the very least.Bath's sister Titmus wanted to donate her one of her own kidneys, but doctors were convinced her antibodies would reject it and destroy the life saving organ. That meant the antibodies had to be removed.

There was an existing technique to do this, but it would have involved allowing Bath's blood pressure to fall to dangerously low levels and her physicians weren't prepared to take that risk.

Instead they came up with a completely new procedure.

First they separated the water plasma in Bath's blood. This is what contains the antibodies. This plasma was then pumped around a tube of freezing water causing the antibodies to coagulate into one lump.

It allowed the plasma to sink through a large holed filter without the antibodies.

Robert Higgins who carried out the blood freezing procedure says the technique was a great success and it will allow others, like Bath, to return to a normal life

"Blood pressure barely changed, she tolerated the treatment very well and was able to go to the operating theatre without any huge drama."

For Bath the surgery and her sister's kidney hasn't just meant a new lease of life, but a complete change in lifestyle.

"If I hadn't had the transplant, in a years time I could have been blind, or rather dead. I'll be able to lead a normal life and eat what I want to and just to go out and not worry about (going to the) hospital for dialysis. It's just changed my life altogether."

The renal consultants at University Hospital Coventry hope this technique can be applied to other kidney patients who are strapped to dialysis machines at least three times a week.