Amidst corona, two-year-old Guj girl gets liver transplant

Gandhinagar

Amid the coronavirus havoc in Ahmedabad, doctors at the CIMS hospital have successfully replaced the damaged liver of 2-year-old 'Hirva', the daughter of an auto rickshaw driver.

Hirva is the youngest recipient of such transplant in Gujarat so far.

Her mother, who furnished a part of her organ for her daughter, was discharged on Tuesday, while the daughter will get discharged 8-10 days later, doctors said.

"We replaced the entire damaged liver of Hirva with 230 grams portion (20 per cent) of left lateral portion of her mother's liver. Both the mother and daughter are absolutely fine. The mother was discharged today while the operated baby will still have to be hospitalized for another 8 to 10 days. Hirva will now lead a normal and healthy life just like any other kid," said surgeon Dr Anand Khakhar.

Hirva had an inherited congenital liver disease called 'Citrullinemia', basically an urea cycle disorder, where the body is unable to metabolise ammonia. This fatal disorder leads to patient slipping off into coma frequently.

The team of doctors led by liver transplant surgeon Khakhar carried out on last Thursday.

Doctors said that the surgery was difficult as the blood groups of both the donor (her mother) and the recipient (daughter) were incompatible. The mother's group was A positive while the daughter was O. But by carrying out additional procedures, like exchange of the white blood cells plasma, special additional medication and following the protocols for immuno suppression, specially tailored for this condition, such transplantation can be carried out," Khakhar told IANS.

"So now the blood group match is not an absolute and if the situation warrants, then it can be crossed in cases of organ transplantation," he added

"As the family was poor and could not afford the cost of this operation, which amounts to Rs 18-19 lakh, the entire operation was carried out by the CIMS hospital, with individual monetary help from the CIMS chairman. We have also received an approval of Rs. 4.3 lakh grant from the Gujarat government for this operation," added Khakhar.

Besides the government aid, the operation was also helped by crowd funding organisation MILAP and some individual donors also.

Gujarat government, as a special case, had granted permission for Corona tests to be carried out on the entire team involved in the operation as well as the donor and recipient.

"The successful completion of Hirva's surgery restores our faith in the dauntless human spirit to fight and succeed against any odds. It also sends a much-needed message of hope and triumph during these tough times," said Dr. Keyur Parikh, Chairman, CIMS Hospital.

The CIMS hospital, an NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers) and NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accredited hospital, has carried out six liver transplants successfully in the state during the six months old transplantation programme.