KARACHI: Transplantation ultimate treatment for liver failure
KARACHI, Sept 1: Liver failure, secondary to Hepatitis B and C, is stated to afflict a large segment of population with liver transplantation as the ultimate and optimal treatment for the condition.
According to a report of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), the country requires some 2,000 livers and around 6,500 kidneys for transplantation annually, which could not be provided due to non-existence of brain death and cadaver organ donation.
It was regretted that while on the one hand a large number of brain death organs were wasted due to absence of the required law on the other the live related programme is not sufficient to meet the very requirements.
Basically four categories of patients are said to require a liver transplant: those having chronic liver disease leading to cirrhosis and secondary to Hepatitis B and C; those with acute liver failure due to Hepatitis B or drugs such as paracetamol; congenital metabolic disorders seen in children and localised small liver cancers.
The report states that since the liver has a remarkable capacity to shrink or grow into appropriate size, hence adult livers can be segmented and transplanted into children.
Split liver grafts or using one liver for two recipients is also said to be increasingly used with good results in other countries. With improvement in the techniques for the procedure and careful patient care, the survival rate of liver transplantation is said to be 90 to 95 per cent in the countries where liver transplantations are performed.—APP
