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A new advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tool, developed by renal doctors internationally, represents a significant step forward in predicting and potentially improving outcomes for UK kidney transplant patients.

For patients with late-stage renal failure, a kidney transplant can be life-changing, offering the promise of improved survival and a better quality of life compared to other treatment options. But in the UK alone, around 5,000 people are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, with an average wait time of 2-3 years for a deceased donor organ.

A team of experts from hospitals across the US and UK have created new software, which could ultimately pave the way for updated kidney allocation policies – potentially leading to better patient outcomes and the more efficient use of this precious resource.

The tool, entitled the ‘UK Deceased Donor Kidney Transplant Outcome Prediction’ (UK-DTOP), uses advanced AI. It was developed using data from nearly 30,000 transplant cases across 15 years.

Dr Hatem Ali, a renal specialist at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, leads a new study to report on the tool’s capabilities in the peer-reviewed journal Renal Failure.

He explains how his research team believe the model “promises to be a game changer in kidney transplantation”.

“The UK-DTOP offers hope for more efficient organ allocation and improved outcomes for patients in need,” Dr Ali says.

“By harnessing the power of AI and machine learning, we’ve created a more accurate and reliable decision-support system, which could lead to improved donor selection, transplant strategies, and ultimately, better outcomes for kidney transplant patients.”

“As an author of this study, I am enthusiastic about the potential impacts of the UK-DTOP tool on kidney transplantation. This AI-enabled model enhances our predictive capabilities and helps refine our approach to donor-recipient matching. By improving how we allocate organs, we can ensure better outcomes for transplant recipients. It is my hope that this tool will be embraced globally, leading to significant advancements in patient care and the efficient use of critical health resources.”

A kidney transplant carries inherent risks and with the demand for organs far outstripping supply, it is crucial to ensure that every donated kidney is used in the most effective way.

However, existing predictive models, such as the widely used Kidney Donor Risk Index (KDRI), have shown limitations in accurately forecasting patient outcomes-highlighting the urgent need for more sophisticated tools that can better guide clinical decision-making.

Using the data from 29,713 transplant cases recorded in the UK Transplant Registry (UKTR) between 2008 and 2022, the expert term evaluated the predictive performance of three advanced machine learning techniques, considering various donor, recipient, and transplant factors. The UK-DTOP emerged as the superior model with a predictive power of 0.74, significantly outperforming the KDRI (0.57) and its UK counterpart, the UK-KDRI (0.62).

“The UK-DTOP is a versatile tool for assessing deceased donor kidney transplantation outcomes. It refines pre-transplant decision-making while recognising that the final decision to accept an organ rests with the recipient and their risk tolerance,” adds co-author Dr Miklos Molnar, from Division of Nephrology & Hypertension at University of Utah.

“Our findings advocate for a shift toward the adoption of advanced, data-driven tools across healthcare systems worldwide, potentially revolutionising donor-recipient matching and organ allocation, improving transplant success rates and saving lives.”

The researchers also used unsupervised machine learning techniques to identify five distinct groups of kidney transplant patients with varying survival rates. Ultimately, this approach could enable more personalised risk assessments to inform decisions about whether or not to proceed with a transplant.

While the UK-DTOP represents a significant advancement, the team also acknowledge this decision-support system has certain limitations that could affect its predictions. These include variability in reported data, missing information on some donor characteristics, and the absence of certain factors that may influence long-term outcomes, such as specific antibodies and certain biological markers. 

Reference:

Hatem Ali,Arun Shroff,Karim Soliman,Miklos Z. Molnar,Adnan Sharif,Bernard Burke, Improved survival prediction for kidney transplant outcomes using artificial intelligence-based models: development of the UK Deceased Donor Kidney Transplant Outcome Prediction (UK-DTOP) Tool, Renal Failure, https://doi.org/10.1080/0886022X.2024.2373273.

Researchers have demonstrated that alcohol consumed during the preparation for sleep in an environment of low pressure such as in an airplane cabin significantly lowers the quality of sleep, promotes elevated heart rate, and prolongs hypoxia time. A recent study was published in the journal Thorax conducted by Trammer and colleagues.

New Delhi: A recent X (formerly Twitter) post by a senior cardiologist went viral as he narrated how he was attacked by a mob of 20 to 30 people after providing all-day long treatment to a patient, who ultimately passed away.

It has been alleged that when the doctor reached out to the police, the response was “pathetic” and the Inspector of Police at Avalahalli Police Station allegedly pressurised the doctor to delete the post and not to register an FIR!

In another X post, the doctor mentioned that he was considering quitting the medical profession and doing something such as organic farming—to serve society and not face any mob attack. Since the post was posted, around 6,61,000 people have viewed it, and thousands of people have shared it on their social media handles.

The doctor made the first X post on the evening of November 1st, 2024. He mentioned how a 61-year-old male, having a massive heart attack at 11 am came to him for treatment and how after staying by the side of the patient for the whole day, a 20-30 drunk mob attacked him and his staff.

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“61 yrs male, massive heart attack 11am, BP not recordable in ER, resuscitated, performed emergency Angioplasty & stenting, pt unstable, explained to family hr by hr, stood by pt all day-passed away at night- 20-30 drunk mob attacked me and my staff,” the doctor’s X post read.

He further alleged that when the hospital management called the police, the response was pathetic and added, “hosp mgmt called police (Avalahalli, Bangalore); police response pathetic- pacifying miscreants & watching RMO manhandled, mob threatening to kill me & demanding refund of payment! (they only paid 1L advance & treatment cost already over 2 lacs).”

Expressing how he was considering leaving the medical profession, the doctor, who has been practising since 1992, further mentioned in the post, “AM SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING QUITING THE PROFESSION THAT I SO DEARLY LOVED AND PRACTICED WITH SUCH COMPASSION TOWARDS MY PTS SINCE 1992 & DO SOMETHING LIKE ORGANIC FARMING ETC- SAFE FROM MOB ATTACK AND SERVES THE SOCIETY TOO.”

“CAN YOU BELEIVE THIS – Inspector of police- Avalahalli police station- pressurising to delete post in X and not to register an FIR!! Only he knows the reason- but I am led to beleive this is standard police tactic to avoid the hassle of inv and arrrest etc,” he further alleged.

In another post, the doctor claimed that the law to protect the doctor only exists on pen and paper. Later, sharing updates regarding the incident, the doctor claimed that due to the power of the social media, police finally registered his complaint and the commissioner of health services asked for a full report. He also informed how the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and CSI i.e. the Cardiologists Society of India took the matter seriously and how they plan to take it up to the Karnataka Home Minister.

However, in another X post yesterday, he informed that till now no action has been taken even though the RMO at the hospital gave a detailed complaint along with CCTV footages.

Meanwhile, in response to the X post, another user mentioned that people are angry how hospitals looted them during COVID 19 pandemic in the name of treatment and how people lost everything they had including their loved ones. The post further mentioned how during the pandemic, dead people were kept on ventilators to inflate the bill and obnoxious rates were charged for meds and how people have now lost their patience.

Responding to this, the doctor mentioned, “I feel this is so inappropriate. Just because of some people being unethical, U can’t paint majority of sincere doctors toiling to save a life on Diwali day (also happened to be my Birthday & I could have happily enjoyed the festivities with family& friends) with the same brush.”

Further addressing the comments that referred to corporate culture in medical field these days, the doctor mentioned that he had not anything wrong but they were upset with the outcome because the patient had died despite best efforts and how those people manhandled 6 persons altogether.

“The excuses put forward r “they were emotional” “they were inebriated” “they r illiterate”- does any right thinking person agree that any of the above justifies beating up 6 health care professionals doing their duty on Diwali day!” he added in another X post.

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