The Renal Transplant Programme at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is the oldest and largest Renal Transplant Programme in Singapore. It is a core programme of the Department of Renal Medicine at SGH, which is a national referral centre for kidney diseases.

The first kidney transplant in Singapore was performed at SGH in 1970. Since then, 1,464 transplants, consisting of 1,002 deceased donors and 462 living donor kidney transplants, have been performed there.

Several landmark transplants have also been performed at SGH, such as the:

• 1976: First unrelated living kidney donor transplant
• 2000: First laproscopic kidney donor nephrectomy
• 2009: The living kidney donor transplant from the oldest living kidney donor in Singapore
• 2017: Living kidney donor after a liver transplant

In 2015, it also participated in the first paired-kidney donor exchange transplant with National University Hospital.

The clinical services are provided by a multidisciplinary team, which includes nephrologists, urologists, infectious disease physicians, endocrinologists, cardiologists, hepatologists, advanced practice nurses, transplant coordinators, pharmacists, dieticians, physiotherapists and medical social workers from the various departments of SGH.

These healthcare professionals possess either or both of the following characteristics:

• Been trained in the field of transplantation
• Have a special interest in the area

The team operates at a one-stop Transplant Centre, that is located at SGH, Level 1, Block 7. They meet together on a weekly basis to discuss patient care.

The Transplant Centre offers outpatient procedures, such as biopsies and intravenous therapies, which reduces the need for the patient to be admitted for such procedures.

As a result, the patient benefits from the convenience of meeting their healthcare providers in one location, as well as from receiving an integrated multidisciplinary patient-centric healthcare service.

The Renal Transplant Programme provides the following clinical services, that includes education, evaluation, preparation and post-operative follow-ups:

• Deceased donor kidney transplantation, for Singaporean citizens and Permanent Residents
• Living donor kidney transplantation, for Singaporean citizens/Permanent Residents, as well as for Non-residents with spousal or immediate bloodrelated donors
• ABO-incompatible (Blood Group-incompatible kidney transplantation
• HLA-incompatible (Human Leukocyte Antigenincompatible) kidney transplantation
• Diabetic transplant programme
• Systemic immunosuppression programme for complex corneal transplantation

In addition to the Transplant Centre, the Renal Transplant Programme also runs general transplant clinics, follow-up clinics for living kidney donors, and disease management transplant clinics, which are catered for the patients who have recently transplanted in the first 3 months, as well as for those after 3 months, who have complicated problems that require the management of a Transplant team.

In order to provide a more seamless and efficient evaluation of living kidney donors and recipients, patients are also offered the choice of a two-day inpatient stay in the hospital, for evaluation and counselling for the living kidney donor transplantation.

To facilitate the outpatient care of these patients, there is a team of Transplant coordinators, that are supported by an IT system to promptly track laboratory results and follow-up plans. The Transplant coordinators and doctors are also on 24-hours call, to attend to the needs of recently-transplanted recipients.

RESEARCH

The Renal Transplant Programme is active in Academic Transplantation, and is involved in single-centre, as well as collaborative research projects with many partners, such as Nanyang Technological University, SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre and Duke Transplant Centre (USA).

Its signature research programmes are in Immune Biomarkers, Pharmacogenomics and Clinical Immunosuppression. There are also collaborative experimental transplantation projects for uterine, islet cell and composite vascularised allograft transplantation. To support research, the programme also has an online Renal Transplant database system.

EDUCATION

The Renal Transplant Programme is active in undergraduate and postgraduate education for doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, by organising postgraduate courses in Renal Transplantation.

In addition, the programme also has a 1-year fellowship programme with the Postgraduate Medical Institute of Singapore General Hospital (SGH-PGMI), for overseas doctors and surgeons who would like basic and advanced training in the field of Renal Transplantation medicine and surgery.

End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD)

End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) is the last stage of Chronic Kidney Disease, where the function of the kidneys has gradually declined, to the stage where the patient requires additional treatment in order to survive. The treatment options available include dialysis or kidney transplantation. Kidney transplantation is the best treatment option, as it provides for a longer and better quality of life for the patient. Due to a shortage of deceased donor kidneys and the growth of patients on the wait list, a living kidney transplant has become the treatment of choice for patients suffering from ESKD.

Who can be a living kidney donor?
An individual of at least 21 years of age (no upper age limit)

• Have normal kidneys structure and function
• No other conditions, that increase the risk of kidney failure and surgery
  
• Different blood and tissue types can be considered

How to volunteer as a donor?

• Share your intention to donate, with the physician in charge of the care of your loved one(s)
• Make an enquiry with the SGH Renal Transplant Programme (Hotline: +65 6321 4661)
  

THE RENAL TRANSPLANT TEAM

Assistant Professor Terence Kee Yi Shern is the Medical Director of the SGH Renal Transplant Programme. Transplant patients are taken care of by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals.

For more information, please contact:
SingHealth Transplant
Tel: 6326 6368
Email: singhealth.transplant@singhealth.com.sg
Website: https://www.sgh.com.sg/patient-care/specialties-services/renal-transplant-programme