LAHORE, April 4: A team of seven surgeons and anaesthetists has successfully performed the first-ever successful adult liver transplant at a local private hospital. The 16-hour operation was led by surgeon Dr Khalid Javeed Khan. He was supported by surgeons Dr Shabbir Chohan, Dr Rizwan Aziz, Dr Umer Malik, chief anaesthetist Dr Hasan Masood Khan and anaesthetists Dr Muhammad Ali and Dr Hammad Raza.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, Dr Khalid Javeed said patient Saleem Jahangir Muree’s entire liver was extracted and then replaced by a half-cut liver of the donor — Saleem’s brother Ataullah Khan Muree.

He said the 38-year-old patient was still on ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit. He, however, said the ventilator would hopefully be removed on Wednesday (today). Since operation, he said, the patient had gained consciousness once and was able to write messages for his family in Kohlu, Balochistan. He also said that the 27-year-old donor was perfectly well and shifted to the room.

He said both the patient and the donor presently had half-cut livers which would naturally grow to full liver in three to six weeks’ time.

Answering a question, he said, the hospital had not calculated the exact cost of a liver transplant but it would come around Rs2.5 million to Rs3 million.

He said the hospital had eight to 10 patients in line for liver transplant.

Dr Khan said the hospital had been working on the project of establishing Hepatobiliary Centre for the last two years. He said the hospital had developed infrastructure, including ICU of international standard. He said the hospital had also acquired equipment, surgical instruments, liver retractors and medicines. He said he had also got training for liver transplant from England.

Answering another question, Dr Khan said most of the patients requiring liver transplant were going abroad, particularly China and spending some US$50,000 to US$60,000 on operations alone.

Besides liver transplant, Dr Khan said the Hepatobiliary Centre would also offer gallbladder and liver tumour operations. —Staff Reporter