New Delhi, Feb 5 (UNI) A team of Surgeons have yet again proved why the field of Medicine is considered a Noble Profession by performing a complex life-saving Liver transplant on a nine-month-old boy, who suffered from liver failure due to a rare disorder.
A team of experts, lead by Dr Shailendra Lalwani, Head of the Department of Liver Transplant and Hepato-Pancreatic-Biliary Surgery, HCMCT Manipal Hospitals, New Delhi, performed the surgery on Ali Hamad, making him one of the youngest babies undergoing a very complex liver transplant procedure.
Hamad's mother donated part of her liver to save her son, born after three kids, who perhaps died of a similar disease that could not be diagnosed and treated on time.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Dr Lalwani said Baby Hamad was a known case of Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis Type II (PFIC TYPE 2).
'He had jaundice since birth. The patient had multiple hospitalisation in Iraq for jaundice and recurrent cholangitis (inflammation of bile duct),' said Dr Lalwani.
Three other siblings of the patient died because of jaundice and they remained undiagnosed. Given the history, clinical condition, and pathological diagnosis, the patient was referred for a liver transplant, he added.
'Hamad was having an infection with cholangitis, for which he was admitted and treated. Apart from recurrent cholangitis, the patient was having marked ascites and growth failure with a body weight of 6.1 kg,' he revealed.
'No supply of blood to the liver or clinically speaking attenuated portal vein is a big challenge to any liver transplant team as vascular complications are high in paediatric transplant patients.
'The reconstruction of the portal vein with graft is always a challenge as it increases the risk of thrombotic complications. To overcome this challenge, we planned to use arranged an iliac vein graft procured during cadaveric liver transplant,' he elaborated.
On January 3, the baby underwent a transplant.
'There was no flow in the portal vein. We placed the interposition vein graft to give inflow to the liver. It took around nine hours to complete the transplant and the baby was shifted to ICU on a ventilator,' Dr Lalwani said.
The baby was off the ventilator the next morning and gradually in the next few days, he started accepting oral feed, tolerating well, and gaining weight. Finally, after 20 days of surgery, the baby was discharged from the hospital. The family plans to go back to Iraq now.
Hamad's mother said, 'I was very afraid about Hamad's survival, but the doctors here saved his life. They assured me that everything will be right and I will go back to Iraq with a healthy child.'
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