Hyderabad: Liver transplant on 8-year-old child at Pace Hospitals

Hyderabad: Surgeons at Pace Hospitals on Thursday announced successful living-related liver transplant surgery on an eight-year-old boy who was suffering from Alagille Syndrome, a genetic disorder in which bile builds-up in the liver due to the absence of bile ducts that drain the bile.

Alagille Syndrome causes severe itching and eventually liver failure. It gets transmitted to the children even if one of the parents has a hidden gene and is associated with severe growth retardation.

“The child at the age of 8 years was only 12 kg and 105 cm in height, while his actual weight should be about 28 kgs. The child was very frail and extremely high risk for transplantation. His father came forward to donate a part of his liver,” Dr Govind Verma, Chief Hepatologist, said.

Dr. R Phani Krishna, transplant surgeon said that the surgery was complex because the child is frail and the portal-vein that supplies the liver was blocked needing multiple revisions and complex reconstruction.