AIIMS probes girl’s ‘missing’ kidneys

She was born only with a single kidney which had been “mimicking” two kidneys.

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The girl was first brought to AIIMS last December.

Ultrasound reports showed her right kidney to be normal in appearance and functioning, while her left kidney was identified to be “non functioning”, with hydronephrosis or water inside the kidneys.

The girl’s father said doctors advised a surgery to remove his daughter’s left kidney. “She was operated on in March this year. We were told everything went as expected and the non functional kidney was removed. But in the investigations that were repeated, I saw in the reports that even the right kidney could not be visualised. I was shocked,” Pawan Kumar said.

The girl has since been admitted in AIIMS and has been on dialysis awaiting transplant. Sources said she has been diagnosed with “global renal function impairment” or no function in either of the kidneys and “bilateral non-visualised” kidneys.

“I lodged a complaint this month because all the reports before the surgery said they could see a normal right kidney and suddenly after the surgery, they have told us they cannot see both the kidneys and my daughter will need a transplant. I want to know what happened to the organ,” he said.

AIIMS officials said they heard about the family’s allegations only from police and instituted a committee to investigate. “The patient’s family never approached us even though the girl continues to be admitted in AIIMS. We have taken the allegation very seriously. As soon as our inquiry is done we will share the findings,” AIIMS spokesperson Dr Amit Gupta said.