First liver transplant in pandemic at KGMU is a success

Lucknow, July 14 A 43-year-old man, who underwent a liver transplant in the surgical gastroenterology department of King George's Medical University (KGMU) last month, has been discharged after recovery. This was the first liver transplant in the university after Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and done almost free.

Prof Abhijeet Chandra, head, surgical gastroenterology, said, "It was a challenge to conduct the transplant in limited resources. Five more patients are waiting in the queue and next transplant will be done in another 15 days."

The patient, who was discharged on Tuesday, is a small-time shopkeeper with meagre financial means.

He was unable to afford the transplant at a private hospital where it costs between Rs 30-40 lakh.

In KGMU, the transplant was funded by the UP government's Asadhya Rog scheme and another donation of Rs 4 lakh came from Awadh International Foundation.

Prof Chandra said that the patient was suffering from advanced stage liver cirrhosis with severe jaundice and bleeding.

His wife donated a part of her liver and was discharged after a week. Post-transplant, about four-six litres of fluid was drained daily from the patient's abdomen for a few days, till the liver grew to the normal size.

KGMU spokesperson Dr Sudhir Singh said that KGMU has conducted 11 liver transplants so far with over 90 per cent success rate.

It is the only medical institute in UP to perform multi-organ donation and has provided over 50 cadaveric organs to other institutes in north India for needy patients.

The transplant team comprising over 100 doctors/staff was led by vice-chancellor Lt Gen (retd) Dr Bipin Puri.

The surgical gastroenterology team included Prof Chandra and Prof Vivek Gupta.