Cadaver liver transplanted into 2 patients in city hosps

  • | Saturday | 23rd March, 2019

Coimbatore: For the first time in the city , a cadaver liver was split and transplanted into two patients, saving one more life. “Children rarely get a liver because they need a small sized liver and most donors are adults,” said liver surgeon Dr S Swaminathan. “The larger portion was transplanted into our adult liver cancer cum liver cirrhosis patient on Thursday, minutes after the liver was split. Even Chennai, which has seen cadaver liver transplants much earlier than Coimbatore, has seen only a handful of cadaver livers being split and transplanted in more than one patient. On Thursday , the smaller portion of the liver was transplanted into an eight-year old patient.A cadaver liver being split and transplanted into more than one patient is a rare occurrence, because splitting a liver correctly requires technical expertise, and doctors hesitate to risk it, said former transplant authority officials.

Coimbatore: For the first time in the city , a cadaver liver was split and transplanted into two patients, saving one more life. On Thursday , the smaller portion of the liver was transplanted into an eight-year old patient.A cadaver liver being split and transplanted into more than one patient is a rare occurrence, because splitting a liver correctly requires technical expertise, and doctors hesitate to risk it, said former transplant authority officials. Even Chennai, which has seen cadaver liver transplants much earlier than Coimbatore, has seen only a handful of cadaver livers being split and transplanted in more than one patient. “It requires technical expertise to split the donated organ in the night. Identifying a child as well as an adult and calculating the critical mass required is a challenge in an emergency. Since splitting the liver takes time, it can lead to post-operative complications in patients,” said former TRANSTAN member secretary Dr Amalorpavanathan.On March 19, PSG Hospitals received an electrocuted patient, Kannan, who was breathing lightly but not responding to treatment. The same day the hospital declared him brain dead.Once the relatives came forward to donate his vital organs, PSG Hospitals, which was allotted a liver by TRANSTAN, realised that another eight-year-old child in Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital, suffering from acute liver failure due to Wilson’s disease, was on the liver waiting list for a few days. “Children rarely get a liver because they need a small sized liver and most donors are adults,” said liver surgeon Dr S Swaminathan. “We contacted the hospital and told them that we could split the donated liver, giving them a portion small enough to fit their child patient. They agreed. We then contacted TRANSTAN which gave us the go-ahead,” said the other surgeon Dr Joseph John.The doctors, led by hepatologist Dr L Venkatakrishnan and KMCH’s liver surgeon Dr Paari, then began the laborious process of harvesting the liver and resecting it. “The larger portion was transplanted into our adult liver cancer cum liver cirrhosis patient on Thursday, minutes after the liver was split. And the smaller portion was sent to KMCH. The liver is expected to regenerate and grow to its full size in a few weeks,” said Dr John.A green corridor was created for transfer of the resected portion of the liver. The organ left PSG hospitals at 12.59pm and reached KMCH in three minutes.Organ transplant veterans welcomed this feat stating this can save more lives than one. “This is the only way to ensure all children in the wait list get a donor. In Brazil, cadavers are preferentially given only to children, so doctors have to split the organ,” said Dr Amalorpavanathan.

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