Doctors at Apollo Children’s Hospitals successfully saved two young lives by performing complicated living donor liver transplants on a six-month-old baby and an eleven-year-old girl who had extreme health complications during the pandemic. Mothers of both children gave a new lease of life to them once again by donating a part of their livers.
Six-month old Baby Abhyansh Mondal had persistent jaundice since his birth in January 2020 which eventually got worse with time. The baby was affected by a rare genetic disorder due to which he was born without a bile duct. The baby was suffering from Biliary Atresia, a rare, congenital liver disorder. Though his illness was diagnosed in Jharkhand in January, the family could not go for further treatment due to the continuous lockdown.
Speaking about this procedure Dr. Elankumaran, Surgical Gastroenterologist, Liver Transplant Surgeon, Apollo Children’s Hospitals, said, “By the time they brought the child to Apollo Hospitals, Chennai the baby’s liver was completely damaged. The baby was weighing eight kilograms only. His bile duct was completely not formed and this is not a common scenario. Studying all the complications and emergency we suggested to do a transplant which was the only option to save the child. Baby Abhyansh underwent living donor liver transplantation two months ago and his mother was the live donor. Post the transplant the patient recovered completely and returned back to Jharkhand.”
Congenital Hepatic Fibrosis (CHF) is a rare genetic disease that causes malformation and fibrosis (scarring) of the liver. Occurring in roughly one out of every 20,000 births, CHF can lead to an enlarged liver, impaired blood flow to the intestines (portal hypertension), infection of the bile ducts and liver failure. In severe cases, a liver transplant is usually needed to treat the disease.
An eleven-year-old Baby Ashvitha from Trichy was diagnosed with Congenital Hepatic Fibrosis, a rare disorder associated with Polycystic kidney disease leading to renal failure 4 years ago. She was under treatment in her home town; however, her health was continuously deteriorating. Her parents noticed some serious changes in her day-to-day activities, she was unable to even continue her studies for a year. She was brought to Apollo Childrens’ Hospitals, Chennai for further medical evaluation.
Explaining the case further, Dr. Elankumaran, Surgical Gastroenterologist, Liver Transplant Surgeon Apollo Children’s Hospitals, said, “Because of the genetic disorder her liver enlarged so much that she was unable to carry herself around and stopped schooling. Over the past one year she has been suffering a lot and visited us two months ago when she weighed 26 kilograms only. Transplant was the only available option for the child. Baby Ashvitha’s mother donated a portion of her liver after undergoing several tests for donation fitness.”
The surgical team led by Dr. K. Elankumaran, Surgical Gastroenterologist, Liver Transplant Surgeon Apollo Children’s Hospitals and Anaesthetist Dr. Vasantharoopan and team performed the transplant successfully.
