It is important for high-end surgeries like liver transplants to be performed in more centres that are geographically distributed, said Mohamed Rela, renowned liver transplant surgeon, on Thursday.

Addressing the media regarding a successful liver transplant performed for a 67-year-old woman at the Dr. Rela Institute and MS (RIMS) Hospital in Padiyanallur, he said that this was the first time a liver transplant has been performed at a hospital in North Chennai -- an area that did not have many high-end hospitals.

“It is not just about performing liver transplants, but having such a facility means that patients with different types of liver diseases in different stages can be managed here without them having to travel far to other parts of Chennai,” he said.

Eswari Chandran, the patient, who had liver cirrhosis, received a liver from a brain-dead donor from Government Stanley Hospital in the first week of December.

Dr. Rela said that running a facility in this part of Chennai would also make the cost of the transplant significantly lower. “We can do the transplants for adults at around ₹18 lakh,” he said.

Regarding the location being away from the airport particularly when organs need to be transported from other parts of the State, he said that it should not be an issue for the liver which can be kept for eight hours. “Moreover the road infrastructure is continuously improving,” he said.