Mumbai: One-year-old boy undergoes liver transplant

Mumbai: A critically ill one-year-old baby, weighing 6.5kg, underwent a liver transplant surgery in Navi Mumbai recently and has recovered well, making him the smallest infant in Maharashtra to have successfully faced such a procedure, doctors said on Thursday. The baby’s aunt Divya, donated a part of her liver.

The transplant was performed at Apollo Hospitals in CBD-Belapur, Navi Mumbai, in February. The infant, Ram Mistry, was discharged in the last week of March, hospital authorities revealed at a press conference held on Thursday when baby Ram returned for a check-up.

Ram had a rare congenital condition called biliary atresia, which progressed to advanced liver cirrhosis, and within months of birth, he was diagnosed with an end-stage liver disease, which made it critical to do the transplant.

Dr Darius Mirza, a multi-organ transplant Lead at Apollo Hospitals, said, “Biliary atresia is a rare disease in newborns, where the liver’s bile ducts are absent. It requires early surgical correction, which only works in 40 per cent of the cases. In this case, the transplant was needed very early in life.”

The baby’s aunt, Ram’s mother’s sister, volunteered to donate a part of her liver. “We are happy that baby Ram and his aunt, who stepped forward to donate a part of her liver, are recovering well,” said Mirza.

Ram’s mother Ishani said, “Knowing that our child was going through all this at such a young age was stressful and traumatic. The cost of the surgery gave us sleepless nights. We are extremely grateful to the doctors and the staff, and to all those who came forward to help us through their donations and contributions.”