LAHORE, July 19: The Institute of Child Health and Children's Hospital surgeons claim to have conducted the first-ever successful liver transplant in the country.
However, 14-month-old Ali Adnan died after 40 hours of the surgery. Paediatrics surgeon Prof Dr Mahmood Shaukat said the patient died of lungs' failure, though his liver had started functioning normally.
The ICH&CH's surgery department team, led by Prof Shaukat, had conducted the eight-hour operation on July 12. A general team, led by Dr Yawar Saeed, associate professor of surgery at the Allama Iqbal Medical College and the Jinnah Hospital, had simultaneously conducted a six-hour successful operation of Ali's maternal uncle Tauheed, who had agreed to donate a piece of his liver.
Talking to Dawn on Monday, Prof Shaukat said Ali's father was explained prior to the operation that it was the first-ever surgery in the country and the child had little chance of survival. He also claimed to have informed the parents that the surgeons were well trained.
"We did not select a patient, who had slightly more chances of survival, for the operation," he said. After establishing links with overseas centres and arranging all required equipment, he said, the patient having untreatable liver disease (biliary atresia) since birth was selected.
He was brought to the hospital twice with liver failure and admitted three weeks ago. The doctor said the child was prepared for surgery. Prof Shaukat said the patient's lungs were also not working properly because of liver failure.
His lungs' condition had delayed the liver implantation for nearly two weeks and without treatment he might not have survived for more than a couple of weeks, he said. On July 12, Prof Shaukat said, the general surgery team had successfully operated the donor and extracted a piece of liver, while the paediatrics surgery team implanted the liver piece.
Initially, he said, the patient behaved well but later his lungs failed in ventilation. He died of lungs' failure after 40 hours. He said the donor had been sent home.
After the child's funeral, he said, Ali's parents had visited the hospital to acknowledge the efforts of the whole team. He said the parents felt that at least an effort had been made at the hospital. The liver implantation abroad costs between Rs15 million and Rs20 million.
Prof Shaukat said a plan was made for organ transplantation at the ICH&CH some four years ago by the then project director/dean, Prof Dr Saeedul Haq. He said Prof Haq had formed teams to get a place for transplantation of kidneys, liver and bone marrow. Incumbent dean Prof Dr Sajid Maqbool, he said, carried on with the project.
He said the major strides made in the last four years included installation of CT and MRI scans, placement of the state-of-the-art laboratories, ICU set-up, procurement of essential diagnostic equipment, procurement of specific software programmes for angiography, availability of effective anaesthesia and monitoring equipment and sophisticated blood transfusion services.
Despite offers by different private hospitals, Prof Shaukat said, he had preferred to conduct the procedure at the public hospital that had acquired equipment. A film covering the whole procedure had been prepared, he said.
