In a first, uncle’s liver saves kid
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Two-year-old baby Yasmin Said Al-Amari is one lucky girl. Two months ago, she was dying of hepatitis and liver failure; she was airlifted from Oman to Chennai in a critical state. Today, Yasmin is a chirpy little girl, with a new liver liver-lobe—donated by her uncle.
And above all, Yasmin has been spared the curse of having to depend on toxic immuno-suppressant medicines for the rest of her life, thanks to the expertise of a team of Chennai surgeons.
Surgeons from Global health city have pulled off a 10-hour long ‘auxillary’ liver transplant on Yasmin , only the third in the world, performed on a toddler of her age.
These surgeries are very rare as they are technologically demanding, and only a few patients are eligible.
“In an auxillary liver transplant, we only remove a part of the diseased liver, and replace it with a part of the donor’s healthy liver. The new liver supports the body until the child’s own liver gets better and regenerates a new, healthy lobe,” explained Pof. Mohamed Rela, head of the department of HPB & liver transplantation.
“Once Yasmin’s liver is strong and healthy, we will wean her off the immuno-suppresant drugs. These drugs are essential for conventional organ recipients, to prevent their bodies from rejecting the new organ. When these anti-rejection drugs are stopped, the donor liver lobe will be rejected and it atrophies,” said Dr Naresh P Shanmugam, senior consultant pediatric hepatologist at the hospital. It may take around a year before her immuno suppressant drugs can be withdrawn, and Yasmin may or may not need a second surgery to remove the rejected liver-lobe.
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