Doctors at a private hospital in Chennai said they recently pulled off a combined liver and kidney transplant from live donors for a 12-year-old boy suffering from a rare genetic disorder.
The boy from Bengaluru was suffering from primary hyperoxaluria type-II, where the liver cannot regulate the excessive build up of oxalate in kidneys and other vital organs of the body. Due to renal failure caused by the disease, the boy was already undergoing dialysis thrice a week.
According to a press release from Gleneagles Global Health City (GGHC), when the patient was brought by his parents, his condition demanded a combined liver and kidney transplant as the problem was primarily in the liver. While the boy’s mother donated a kidney, his aunt donated a part of her liver.
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Somashekhara, consultant paediatric hepatologist and liver transplant physician, said it was a challenge to treat the boy as there were not many proven studies reported elsewhere.
Careful coordination
According to Mettu Srinivas Reddy, director, liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery, a team of over 20 surgeons were involved in the combined transplant. “It is like a large symphony orchestra where the timing of the two donor operations and the child’s double transplant surgery had to be carefully coordinated, so that the out-of-body time of both the donated organs was kept to a minimum while ensuring safe transplantation,” he said.
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K. Muruganandham, head and senior consultant, urology and renal transplantation, said the kidney transplant was particularly complicated as a full-sized adult kidney had to be placed in the pelvis of a child.
Karnan, head, paediatric intensive care, said the boy was monitored post-surgery and was discharged after 16 days. The donors recovered within a week.
Alok Khullar, CEO, GGHC, Chennai, said “The multi-disciplinary approach coupled with technical expertise helped us to ensure the success of the surgery.”