Visakhapatnam: Living-donor liver transplant performed

Visakhapatnam: A 21-year-old girl's liver was harvested and implanted in her father, who was suffering with advanced-stage liver disease, in Visakhapatnam. The girl donated half of her liver to her father, Neelakanteswera Rao (52), who was suffering from liver failure with portal hypertension for the past one year.

He has associated jaundice and accumulation of fluid in the abdomen. He required removal of 9 to 10 litres per session/week of fluid from his abdomen and had 20 to 25 sessions in the preoperative period. His renal /kidney function also worsened leading to a condition called hepatorenal syndrome and was advised liver transplantation at the earliest. A team of doctors from CARE Hospitals Dr Mohammad Nayeem (HPB & Liver Transplant surgeon), Dr Ravishankar Kinjarapu (HPB & Liver Transplant surgeon) and Dr Rajkumar (Liver transplant anesthetist) performed harvesting of the liver for the transplant. Also, two teams of surgeons performed surgery on the donor and liver recipient that extended for 14 hours.

Hospital chief operating officer Vishwajeet said at a press conference held here on Friday that the organ donation provides an opportunity to help others even after death. The fear of Covid-19 and the higher risk of developing any other infections in transplant patients are the main reasons why the organ donation number has gone down during the pandemic.