Bangladeshi child with severe liver issue undergoes successful transplant

Chennai: A five year-old Bangladeshi boy diagnosed with a severe liver impairment, put on ventilator and doctors giving him only 72 hours of survival, was airlifted from Qatar and underwent a successful transplant at a city hospital, with his father donating a part of his liver to the child.

City-based Rela Hospital, where the boy was treated, credited the "tremendous support" of the Bangladesh government and its embassy in India for seamless logistic support.The boy, "who was previously a normal school-going child, was diagnosed with fulminant hepatic failure when his liver enzymes, ammonia, and coagulation profile were drastically deranged."

"Various tests by the medical experts in Qatar could not ascertain the exact cause for this rapid and sudden deterioration. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, his condition worsened substantially. He became critically unwell and was put on a ventilator and medication to support his blood pressure. Specialists in Qatar opined that given his fragile condition, in the absence of a liver transplant, this child will be able to survive only for 72 hours," the hospital said in a release. Subsequently, it was decided to air-lift him for a likely supra-urgent living donor liver transplant here, but "safely transferring a child overseas in such a precarious, and unstable condition is no mean feat," it said.

"The tremendous support of the Bangladesh government and its embassy in India allowed for a seamless logistic support and the child was transported to Rela Hospital, Chennai, by its highly skilled paediatric Intensive care team. Upon arrival at Rela Hospital, the boy's condition was stabilised. At the same time, the father of the child, in an effort to save his son's life, came forward to donate a part of his liver."

The father's donor operation was performed robotically, enabling a less painful and earlier recovery. The child's "successful liver transplant" recipient operation was performed by Prof Mohamed Rela."He had an uneventful postoperative period and was discharged home on the 10th post-transplant day. Hearteningly, on follow-up, both the donor and the recipient remain well," Prof Rela said.