Woman donates part of liver to son

New Delhi: A 23-year-old Iraqi woman, who donated a part of her liver to her two-and-a-half-year-old ailing son, underwent a laproscopic left lateral hepatecomy, the first such case in the country where minimal invasive technical procedures are employed to conduct a liver transplant.

Ali Baha Hussain had been suffering from liver disease and as his condition worsened, his mother voluntarily donated a part of her liver.

The child had a condition known as ‘glycogen storage disease’, which is a precursor to advanced liver disease and liver cirrhosis. The child was weak and his growth was stunted. He had not grown in tandem with his age. He was brought for treatment at Fortis Memorial Research Institute.

When the child’s condition deteriorated, his mother volunteered to donate a part of her liver. After a thorough medical examination, a graft was retrieved from the left lateral segment of the donor mother. The entire procedure took 10 hours.

In the country, this is the first case where such minimal invasive technical procedures were employed to conduct a liver transplant, said doctors at the Fortis Hospital.

“The technological transition from the traditional liver transplantation to total laparoscopy donor hepatectomy has multifold benefits.

The liver donors will benefit most from minimally invasive surgery as laparoscopic organ procurement ensures an excellent cosmetic and psychosocial outcome," said Dr Vivek Vij, director, liver transplant at the Fortis Healthcare.