Fortis Hospital Mohali ‘First’ In Upper North To Perform Successful Incompatible Living Donor Liver Transplant

Wife donates portion of liver for survival of her spouse suffering from complete liver failure; blood groups of the two did not match

Hospital also claims to have performed the region’s first ever deceased donor liver transplant

We have often heard a living spouse or close relative donating one of his or her two kidneys to give a new lease of life to a dear one who has suffered complete kidney failure.

But is this possible in the case of the liver which humans have only one!

In a press meet here on Thursday, Fortis Hospital Mohali claimed to have performed a first ever incompatible living donor liver transplant in Upper North India in which portion of a woman’s liver was removed and transplanted into her husband. Both donor and recipient have incompatible or mismatched blood groups (A+ and B+).

A team of doctors and support staff from the hospital which performed the 10-12 hours extremely complex surgery, also claimed to have performed the first ever deceased donor liver transplant in the region on another patient.

All three patients – the living donor-recipient couple and the recipient of the deceased donor’s liver – interacted with the media to report that they were feeling absolutely normal after the period of stabilization following their respective surgeries.

Speaking on behalf of the multi-disciplinary organ transplant team of the hospital, Dr Arvind Sahni, Director Gastroenterology, and Dr Milind Mandwar, Associate Consultant Liver Transplant Surgery, told media persons that Harjeet Singh (49) was suffering from liver failure. His wife volunteered as a liver donor, but there was a blood group mismatch between the two (A+ and B+). As there was no blood group compatible donor in the family, an ABO incompatible Liver Transplant was done.

This kind of transplant is a technically more challenging procedure and involves additional treatment modalities to ensure a successful transplant. To overcome the blood group barrier, antibodies from the recipient’s blood are removed (plasmapheresis) and additional drugs are given that block rejection-causing antibodies and cells. Both Harjeet Singh and his wife recovered well and were discharged on the 10th and the 4^th postoperative days, respectively.

In the other case, the deceased donor, 70-year-old Inderjit Singh from Chandigarh was admitted to Fortis Hospital Mohali with brain haemorrhage. Best efforts by doctors could not save him and he was declared brain dead. The medical team counselled the family about the possibility of organ donation to save other lives.

In the hour of personal grief, the family displayed remarkable courage and chose to give the “Gift of Life” to four terminally ill patients. The two corneas were sent to PGIMER, Chandigarh, the lung was transplanted in a 64-year-old male patient from Shimla, Ramesh Chand, and a dual kidney transplant was performed on the same day on a 64-year-old patient from Mullana, who had suffered complete kidney failure.

According to Dr Milind Mandwar, a complete package at the hospital for a deceased donor liver transplant can cost between Rs 16-20 lakhs, and for a living donor liver transplant in the region of Rs 22-25 lakhs.

Emphasising the need for society to be more receptive to post death organ donations, Dr Sahni said it will help save precious lives. Sharing national statistics, he said more the two lakh patients of liver failure alone die in the country for want of living or deceased donors.

The survival rate of liver transplanted patients is as high as 95% in the first few years, though it gradually reduces with advancing years. Moreover, it’s not about survival alone but the quality of life of such patients which improves vastly, he added.

He also informed that among all liver transplants happening in the country, 85% are from living donors and the remaining 15% are from deceased donors, which needs to improve drastically. Even among the living donors, a vast majority (80%) are females.