46-year-old Stuart Middleton, living in Scotland, United Kingdom, has expressed shock after discovering that he now carries four kidneys after undergoing two major operations.
According to him, “I was shocked and surprised when I found out. I had no idea they had left the old kidneys inside me too,” Stuart, who had thought that the failed ones would be removed, told Newsmen in an interview.
According to the BBC, Stuart had suffered migraines and stomach pain for ten years before he discovered he had Berger’s disease.
Berger’s disease is a kidney disease that occurs when an antibody called immunoglobulin builds up in the kidneys and can lead to the kidneys’ inability to filter waste from the blood.
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However, Kidney Research UK, a leading kidney research charity, said it was a common practice to leave failed kidneys inside transplant patients.
Kidney Research UK spokeswoman and transplant surgeon, Professor Lorna Marson, said the redundant kidneys were left in the body because there was no need to remove them and that it was a big operation that should only be carried out if necessary.
She added, “It is actually quite common for transplant patients to have four kidneys. Transplants don’t last forever, so people often need more than one.
“The original kidneys would only be removed if they were causing problems, such as repeated infections, or if a patient has multiple cysts on their kidneys and they become very large, leaving no room for the transplanted kidney to go in.”
Prof. Marson further explained that four was usually the maximum number of kidneys that a patient would have after multiple transplants.
“Once this is reached, one of the transplanted kidneys is taken out,” she added.
