Hyderabad: The family members of a patient saved his life by donating their organs. Ramesh (name changed), a 54-year-old businessman from Ongole, had been suffering for the past eight years from liver and kidney failure, along with several comorbidities including hypertension, diabetes and a hepatitis B infection. He was admitted to the Hepatology and liver transplant department of Star Hospital in Hyderabad with severe infection, low blood pressure, hepatic coma and accumulation of toxins in the blood due to the combined liver and kidney failure. The doctors performed a simultaneous liver and kidney transplant to save his life. While Ramesh’s wife donated a kidney, his son donated a part of his liver. Such a condition has less than a 10 per cent chance of survival unless the patient is carefully stabilised in the ICU and an urgent simultaneous liver and kidney transplant is performed. Finding suitable donor organs in such an urgent situation is extremely difficult in India where cadaveric organ donation is still uncommon. The complex surgery lasted 12 hours during which the liver and kidney donors and the patient had their surgeries done almost simultaneously in adjacent operation theatres. Dr Golamari Srinivasa Reddy, clinical lead consultant for Hepatology and Transplant Hepatology, said, “Severe liver cirrhosis and kidney failure when complicated by infection can be a lethal combination if not treated immediately. Such patients need careful management in a specialised liver intensive care unit for supporting organ function, treating infection and stabilisation. This case also highlights the importance of screening and vaccination for hepatitis B infection, which initiated the whole disease process in this patient.” “The complex surgery involved an interdisciplinary team of over 50 members from hepatology, liver transplant, nephrology, kidney transplantation, anaesthesia, critical care, pulmonology and nursing staff in the operating theatre and intensive care working seamlessly for the patient,” said Dr Mettu Srinivas Reddy, director of Star Liver Institute.
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