Apollo hospital receives liver transplant patients from over 50 countries including those in Middle East and North Africa

In 1998, Apollo Hospitals conducted the first successful pediatric liver transplant, making it then a pathbreaking procedure in the Indian healthcare system. The patient, a male child, is now 25-years-old and a doctor himself.

Since then, the hospital has performed 500 successful pediatric liver transplants. The 500th recipient, an eight-month-old girl child, is a survivor of a rare liver disorder called biliary atresia that affects one in every 12000 child births. The patient weighed 4.6kg at the time of the transplant, making her one of the lightest patients to undergo the liver transplant.

The 500th recipient, an eight-month-old girl child, is a survivor of a rare liver disorder called biliary atresia that affects one in every 12000 child births Click To Tweet

Biliary Atresia is the most common liver disease in children, which affects the liver and bile ducts in newborns.According to John Hopkins Medicine, the child suffering from the disease loses weight, becomes irritable, and has worsening jaundice.

Apollo hospital receives liver transplant patients from over 50 countries including those in Middle East and North Africa.

Dr. Neerav Goyal who led the transplant of the 500th case at the hospital said they are now able “to perform the most complex of liver transplants in babies where the size of the blood vessels is as small as 3-4 mm.”

Founder Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group Dr. Prathap C Reddy said: “This milestone further reflects our commitment to advancing pediatric liver transplantation and providing the best possible care to our patients.”

“From a time when children with end stage liver disease didn’t have any care possibilities, to where we are today – marking 500 transplants in children whose lives have been transformed,” Dr Reddy added.

Dr. Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director and Senior Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals New Delhi said that Apollo has over the years performed transplants in small babies weighing as little as 4 kgs, transplants in babies and children with serious medical conditions other than liver failure and ABO incompatible transplants when the family does not have a blood group compatible donor.

“We are so happy that our 500th patient is a baby girl and nearly 45 percent of our patients are now girls,” Dr Sibal said

“We are so happy that our 500th patient is a baby girl and nearly 45 percent of our patients are now girls,”Dr Sibal said Click To Tweet

Liver transplant in children is recommended only when the child has pressing liver problems and without which the child may not survive.

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Author

Shruthi Manjula Mohan

Shruthi is an award-winning Indian Journalist who writes on health, climate and public policy. She is the Opinion Editor and Program Lead at HealthLEADS with a special focus on building industry voices. As a grass-root reporter covering socio-economic issues, her body of work has taken her to 36 Indian districts and four countries on reporting assignments. She is passionate to work at the intersection of public policy, and technology to bring impactful stories with a humane lens.

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