Three-year-old boy undergoes rare liver transplant

The child was suffering from acute liver failure that led to non-functional liver, and further causes jaundice, bleeding and coma. He was critically ill when admitted to Gleneagles Global Health City, where doctors gave organ support, including ventilation, before the surgery was considered.

After considering all possibilities, the team of doctors decided on transplantation surgery. The usual practice is to completely replace the recipient’s liver. But in this case, they decided to use the child’s mother’s liver as an immediate rescue treatment to prevent worsening of the boy’s condition. Auxiliary transplant is the procedure where a portion of the recipient’s liver is retained and only a part of the donor’s organ is transplanted.

Explaining the procedure, Dr Srinivas Reddy, director, Department of Liver transplant - HPB Surgery, said that an auxiliary transplant was actually two major surgeries combined into one. Half of the child’s liver is first meticulously removed and then donated liver portion is transplanted in the space thus created. “Both livers share common blood supply, and we have to ensure that both are well supplied with nutrients and oxygen at the end of the operation,” he said.

According to Dr Joy Varghese, director, Department of Hepatology and Transplant Hepatology, the procedure is particularly useful in children, as their liver regenerative capacity is good and life-long anti-rejection medications can be avoided. A release said the child and mother were doing well and that doctors were continuing to monitor their health condition.