2 year old little girl undergoes South Asia's First paediatric auxiliary Liver Transplant.

• Seriously sick Yasmin, one of three children in the world under 3 of age, to undergo this innovative & complex surgery for acute liver failure
• She has now made a remarkable recovery and can now look forward to a normal life, without immunosuppressive medication

July 03, 2012, Chennai: Hepatitis A attacked an unsuspecting 2 year old Yasmin from Oman who developed hepatic coma was being fast tracked by fate into a rapidly looming liver failure. The onset of this affliction, her condition deteriorated in the form of an increasing jaundice, coagulopathy, seizures, difficulty in ventilation, decreased urine output and coma. The doctors at Oman referred her to Dr Naresh Shanmugam, Child liver specialist at Global Health City.

Baby Yasmin was airlifted from Oman. Yasmin was admitted at Global Health City in a very critical condition with brain swelling, blood coagulopathy, very high ammonia and jaundice, secondary to liver failure. Her condition was stabilized by paediatric intensive care team at Global Health City. After due consideration by the liver transplant team, the diagnosis indicated that auxiliary liver transplant will be the best option for cure. The 10 hour complex surgery performed by Prof Mohamed Rela & team, where portion of Yasmin’s liver was removed and replaced with a small portion of her uncle’s liver. Post –operative course was stormy due to the toxins released from the remaining portion of yasmin’s liver, which was effectively managed by expert paediatric liver intensive care team headed by Dr. Naresh Shanmugam. Within next four days her liver function reverted to normal. Two months after surgery, she is kept alive by the donor liver but her own liver has also started functioning and probably in next six months time when her own liver is fully functional all her medications will be stopped and she can lead a normal life like any other child.

The 10 hour surgery performed on 21/4/2012 at Global Health City by Prof. Mohamed Rela, Dr. Rajasekhar Perumalla, Dr. Venugopal, Dr. Gomathy Narasimhan, Dr. Vivekanandan, Dr. Srinivas Reddy along with other specialists.

Speaking on Auxiliary liver transplant Prof. Mohamed Rela, Head of the Department, HPB & Liver Transplantation Global Health City said “Transplant program at Global Health City has evolved from a sustained commitment to world class surgical expertise. Auxiliary liver transplant embraces the latest and the best technologies available in the international healthcare market and gives children a second chance to live a normal life.”

Speaking on the modus operandi of the complex surgery Dr. Naresh P Shanmugam, Senior Consultant Pediatric Hepatologist & Gasteroenterologist, Global Health City said “There is a huge requirement for pediatric liver transplant in India because of the incidence of the disease in the children. This innovative technique of Auxiliary liver transplant gives a second chance to live a normal life when the child’s own liver regenerates and a life free of any medications and medical follow ups. “

Liver is an organ that can regenerate. In acute liver failure, if we could temporarily support the liver function until native liver regenerates transplantation could be avoided. Unlike kidney dialysis machine there is no effective liver dialysis machine that could support during liver failure. Instead, a small portion of donor liver could be transplanted along side of native liver; this transplanted liver would work as a temporary dialysis machine. When the native liver regenerated after few months time, immune suppression can be stopped and the transplanted liver atropies. The patient could live with their own liver in a healthy manner.