Kidney Transplant in Iran for Foreigners

First, you need to find a person who is a close match for you and can donate their kidney to you. As we mentioned before, your donor must be a citizen of your country. While reviewing candidates, you will need the following tests to check if their kidney is a match:

Blood Type Test:

you can receive a kidney from compatible donors only:

the Rh factor (+ or -) of the blood does not matter. If the donor’s blood type is compatible with you, the donor can take the next test: tissue typing.

Tissue Typing (HLA):

If your blood types match, the next step is a tissue typing match called human leukocyte antigens (HLA). This test compares genetic markers which prolongs the likely lifetime of the transplanted kidney. A good match means your body is less likely to reject the kidney.

Crossmatch:

This includes mixing a small sample of your blood with the donor’s blood in the lab. This test will determine whether your blood’s antibodies will react against certain antibodies in the donor’s blood. If your blood serum destroys the donor’s cells, this is called a positive crossmatch, which means the transplant can’t be done. If you do so, the transplanted kidney will be rejected immediately.
A negative match will mean that they are compatible and that your body is less likely to reject the donor’s kidney.

Medical Approval

Before the kidney transplant in Iran, the recipient and the donor must have a full physical checkup, which includes blood tests and body scans. The necessary tests must be taken in Iran. so, even if you have taken them in your country before, they must be repeated in Iran.

The process for getting pre-surgery medical approval includes:

• Dental checkup
• Cardio checkup
• ENT checkup
• Gastroenterology checkup
• Endoscopy
• Full kidney blood panel
• Renal CT angiography
• Final nephrology approval

The medical approval process optimally takes 12 to 14 working days to be finished. If any problems are found during any of the checkups, the duration will be extended to treat those problems.
Upon completion of the medical approval process, the hospital will issue a letter to the legal authorities, requesting permission for the kidney transplant operation.

Legal Approval

You will need to receive the necessary permits from relevant government bodies in Iran.
During this process, the donor and the recipient must have their identity and nationality authenticated by the embassy of their country of origin in Iran.
The authentication of identity taken from the embassy, along with the letter from the hospital, will be submitted to the ministry of health to get the final approval.
The legal approval process optimally takes between 7 to 10 working days.

Dialysis

During your preparation for kidney transplant surgery in Iran, the patient will still need dialysis, as per your previous schedule, which will be done at your treating hospital. Our team will schedule this for you prior to your arrival.
In order to perform dialysis, the hospital will require a negative Hepatitis and HIV test result. You can get this in your own country, or after arrival in Iran.

The donor can be discharged within 2-3 days after the operation. The recipient will be transferred to an isolated room, to prevent infections. The recipient will be supervised for at least 7-14 days. During this time, the recipient will be isolated, and supervised by the transplant ward. During this time, kidney function will be monitored through blood tests (creatinine, urea, potassium, etc.) and monitoring the liquid intake and urine output. Based on this, the doctor may choose to keep the recipient for extended supervision or even discharge earlier.

anti-rejection Medication (Immunosuppressants)

After the transplant, the recipient’s body will detect the new kidney as an external object, thus commanding the immune system to destroy it. To prevent this, your nephrologist will prescribe you with immunosuppressants.

These are drugs that will reduce your immune system’s function. immunosuppressants will prevent the kidney from being rejected and destroyed by the immune system. the recipient will be on a lifetime regiment of immunosuppressants. Your doctor will prescribe regular blood tests to review how your body responds to these medicines, and adjust your medicine doses. Due to the use of immunosuppressants, transplant patients will have a reduced immune system, thereby having more difficulty fighting off infections, compared to other people.
For kidney transplant patients, post-surgery care is vital. While mistakes can shorten your kidney life expectancy, or even cause sudden renal failures, taking good care of yourself can help you to reach several decades of good quality life with your new kidney.