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165306
Wed, 03/02/2011 - 11:18
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Organ transplant deaths in Australia probed
Three women who were given organs from a man who had hepatitis B and a rat-borne virus died a few weeks after receiving the transplants, a court has heard.
A transplant surgeon told the Victorian Coroner's Court he thought one of the kidneys he harvested from Jovo Vranjesevic could have been rejected by surgeons as suitable for a transplant.
Mr Vranjesevic, 57, died from a brain haemorrhage in December 2006, days after returning home to Melbourne from three months in Serbia where he helped his mother on her farm.
His kidneys and liver were donated to Karen Wilkinson, 44, Gurpal Sandhau, 64, and Carmellina Sirianni, 63, who all died within a week of each other in early January 2007.
The inquest into their deaths heard that Mr Vranjesevic had lost 15kg while on his holiday but his family said that was because he was active and went for long walks.
Blood tests showed that Mr Vranjesevic had passed on to the women a little-known rodent virus called Arenavirus, described in court as a "superbug".
Transplant surgeon Michael Fink said he was concerned about the state of Mr Vranjesevic's kidneys because they had calcified plaque on them.
"It could be troublesome ... with the potential to increase the risk of thrombosis in the recipient," he said.
He said the donor's hepatitis B was not such a big problem because there were powerful anti-viral drugs to combat it.
Mr Fink also said Mr Vranjesevic's significant loss of weight would not necessarily ring alarm bells.
"It was thought to be intentional and didn't seem to be of great concern."
He said the kidney looked normal but his main concern was with the artery which had been compromised by the plaque.
"The ultimate decision was with the surgeons but personally I thought it could go either way," he said.
Ms Wilkinson's partner, Rae Moran, said the new kidney never functioned and she had to watch Ms Wilkinson deteriorate to the state where they turned off her life support machine just after midnight on January 1.
She said the medical team at Royal Melbourne Hospital should have taken into account that maybe something was wrong with the organ rather than Ms Wilkinson just having complications with the transplant.
She said a protocol should be established where medical teams who perform transplants from the same donor should be in regular communication with each other on the progress of their patients.
"The hepatitis B had nothing to do with death but if it had been pointed out she may have paused (before going ahead with the operation)," said Ms Moran.
"If it is not a good organ, from a fairly unwell man, my question is whether adequate information was collected and disseminated to the medical teams about the donor's health."
The coroner said the hearing was being held to see if anything can be learned "from these unfortunate deaths".
The inquest before Coroner Audrey Jamieson is continuing.
A transplant surgeon told the Victorian Coroner's Court he thought one of the kidneys he harvested from Jovo Vranjesevic could have been rejected by surgeons as suitable for a transplant.
Mr Vranjesevic, 57, died from a brain haemorrhage in December 2006, days after returning home to Melbourne from three months in Serbia where he helped his mother on her farm.
His kidneys and liver were donated to Karen Wilkinson, 44, Gurpal Sandhau, 64, and Carmellina Sirianni, 63, who all died within a week of each other in early January 2007.
The inquest into their deaths heard that Mr Vranjesevic had lost 15kg while on his holiday but his family said that was because he was active and went for long walks.
Blood tests showed that Mr Vranjesevic had passed on to the women a little-known rodent virus called Arenavirus, described in court as a "superbug".
Transplant surgeon Michael Fink said he was concerned about the state of Mr Vranjesevic's kidneys because they had calcified plaque on them.
"It could be troublesome ... with the potential to increase the risk of thrombosis in the recipient," he said.
He said the donor's hepatitis B was not such a big problem because there were powerful anti-viral drugs to combat it.
Mr Fink also said Mr Vranjesevic's significant loss of weight would not necessarily ring alarm bells.
"It was thought to be intentional and didn't seem to be of great concern."
He said the kidney looked normal but his main concern was with the artery which had been compromised by the plaque.
"The ultimate decision was with the surgeons but personally I thought it could go either way," he said.
Ms Wilkinson's partner, Rae Moran, said the new kidney never functioned and she had to watch Ms Wilkinson deteriorate to the state where they turned off her life support machine just after midnight on January 1.
She said the medical team at Royal Melbourne Hospital should have taken into account that maybe something was wrong with the organ rather than Ms Wilkinson just having complications with the transplant.
She said a protocol should be established where medical teams who perform transplants from the same donor should be in regular communication with each other on the progress of their patients.
"The hepatitis B had nothing to do with death but if it had been pointed out she may have paused (before going ahead with the operation)," said Ms Moran.
"If it is not a good organ, from a fairly unwell man, my question is whether adequate information was collected and disseminated to the medical teams about the donor's health."
The coroner said the hearing was being held to see if anything can be learned "from these unfortunate deaths".
The inquest before Coroner Audrey Jamieson is continuing.
