LAHORE, Feb 10: A team of leading surgeons of Pakistan and India has conducted two liver transplants at Shaikh Zayed Hospital.

The condition of the recipients and donors was said to be stable and they have been kept under observation for intensive care for 24 hours.

The living donor liver transplantation was conducted for the first time in the country. Earlier, a cadaver liver transplant was performed at Shaikh Zayed Hospital in August last year.

The transplantation was highly complicated surgery compared to the cadaver as two lives remained at risk. The operations were done by Indian surgeons Dr Subhash Gupta, a senior transplant surgeon of Apollo Hospital, Delhi, Dr Goyal, Dr Agrawal, Dr Alita, Dr Tariq Bangash, Dr Khawar Shahzad and Dr Umer Ali.

The first liver transplant was performed on Khanum Mola who belongs to tribal areas. The liver was donated to the recipient by his close relative, Irshad Bibi.

The second surgery was conducted on 45-year old Abida Parveen of Gilgit Baltistan and the liver was donated to her by her 19-year old son.

The Indian doctors visited Pakistan to perform transplant on the request of Dr Tariq Bangash. A source said earlier Dr Tariq had invited the senior liver transplant surgeons of the UK to perform the same surgeries in Pakistan but they refused owing to security concerns.

“The UK government had not allowed its surgeons to perform liver transplant in Pakistan, saying the country is facing serious security matters,” a source quoted a surgeon as having said.

They said the transplants were delayed owing to refusal by the British government. Later, Dr Tariq invited Dr Gupta and his team to Pakistan for the purpose.

A joint team of Pakistani and British surgeons had performed first cadaver liver transplant on Amir Raza of Sialkot at the same health facility in August last year. The liver was donated by matric student Arslan who had died in a road accident.