Nagpur: Liver transplant has been successfully performed on a 10-month old infant at Nagpur hospital. The grandfather of the child emerged as the unlikely hero, willingly offering a part of his liver. This is probably the first case like this in Central India.
From the moment of her birth, a shadow of doom loomed over the child. Afflicted with a fatal genetic defect hindering her liver’s ability to process bile, she began a journey marked by jaundice and gradual deterioration. The diagnosis revealed Crigler-Najjar Syndrome (A rare autosomal recessive inherited disorder), an exceptionally rare condition affecting only 1 in 10 lakh children, where the majority succumb before reaching 2 years of age.
The only hope is liver transplantation. In the case of this 10-month old infant, her mother’s blood group was mismatched, and her father was deemed unfit to donate. In a turn of fate, her blood group matched with that of her grandfather’s. He donated part of his liver. Thus, she underwent a living donor liver transplant at KIMS-Kingsway Hospitals.
Recognising the family’s dire need, the hospital stepped forward, sponsoring the procedure almost entirely and reaffirming its commitment to caring for the people of the region. This 10-month-old weighing merely 6.4 kg, underwent a liver transplant procedure that lasted for a gruelling 10 hours. A multidisciplinary team, comprising surgeons, anaesthetists, paediatricians, hepatologists, intensivists, nurses, technicians, and supporting staff, united to put their best foot forward.
The team of surgery led by Dr Prakash Jain and Dr Deepak Goel, along with their team with paediatricians Dr Kuldeep Sukhdeve and Dr Rajkumar Kiratkar tenderly cared for the patient till now. Intensive care was meticulously overseen by noted Critical Care expert Dr Rajan Barokar and Dr Virender Belekar. Hepatology was managed by Dr Samir Patil and Dr Amol Samarth. Dr Sheetal Awhad and her anaesthesia team were involved in this smooth operation. Transplant coordinator Shalini Patil also had an important contribution.
