In a first, KGMU performs two back-to-back liver transplants in a day

Lucknow, Nov 8 (IANS) King George’s Medical University (KGMU) has become the first government medical institute in Uttar Pradesh to perform two back-to-back successful liver transplants —one cadaveric and one living donor — in a day.

According to the officials, the surgeries were conducted on Monday.

A 35-year-old man from Barabanki received a liver from a brain-dead 58-year-old road accident victim, while the life of a 40-year-old farmer from Ambedkar Nagar was saved by his 32-year-old wife who donated a part of her liver.

Both got financial help under the chief minister's fund.

The KGMU staff worked 24 hours at a stretch to save the lives and successfully harvest and transplant the liver from the donor to the recipients.

Both recipients are recovering well.

KGMU vice chancellor Prof Soniya Nityanand said, "Monday’s marathon surgeries were a success, and I appreciate our faculty members and staff for pulling off this mammoth task."

Prof Abhijit Chandra, leader of the transplant team and head of the surgical gastroenterology department at KGMU, informed that both recipients were end-stage cirrhosis patients and had been receiving treatment under him for over six months.

"Performing two liver transplants, a living and a cadaveric, in a span of 24 hours, is the first of its kind in the country," said Prof Chandra.

He explained that the cadaveric donor’s heart, corneas, and kidneys were found medically unfit for donation.

However, they expressed hope that a heart transplant would be conducted as soon as possible.

Explaining difficulties, he said that the living donor transplantation was planned when they were informed that the brain-dead patient's family gave consent for liver donation.

"We told our staff that they have to be on their toes and work overtime to make it successful. Various departments, including anaesthesia, transfusion medicine and others worked in tandem for hours to perform successive liver transplants," said Dr Utkarsh Srivastava, who, along with Dr Gurana Krishna Rao and Dr Yash, were part of the team.

KGMU has been in the forefront of liver transplantation and organ donation for the past four years. During this period, 30 liver donations, 48 kidney donations, and more than 50 corneas have been made available to the patients.