23-day-old infant undergoes liver transplant in Hyderabad

Hyderabad, December 2

Doctors at Yashoda Hospitals here performed a liver transplantation surgery on a 23-day-old male child who is suffering from metabolic liver disease known as Galactosemia.

The liver was donated by the father of the infant.

He was evaluated by the Paediatric Hepatology and Transplantation surgery team of the hospital and was found nutritionally depleted and his body weight was at the 25th percentile for his age, a press release said.

Though the surgery was performed a couple of months ago, the hospital disclosed this on December 1 after concluding that the surgery was successful and evaluating the child’s condition.

The family history of the child showed that he had two siblings who succumbed to a liver ailment at the ages of 2 months and 9 months.

Dr Venugopal, who led the surgical team, said, “Following detailed consultations with other members of the team and parental approval, we carried out the procedure, and we are happy to report that it was extremely successful and allowed the patient to resume his normal life. It was also a huge relief to the parents too. This is arguably the smallest paediatric transplant reported from this part of the world.” 

The child was discharged three weeks after surgery on stable immunosuppression and stable liver graft function.