New Delhi: A rare medical procedure was performed in Mumbai as doctors carried out a split liver transplant, saving two lives. The organ of a 38-year-old brain-dead donor helped save a 44-year-old man and a three-year-old child with severe liver disease.
The procedure lasted nearly 17 hours across multiple operating theatres, with two recipients receiving transplants through a coordinated surgery. The adult recipient was a 44-year-old Netaji Chavan from Sion who had been suffering from decompensated cirrhosis. He has been waiting since April 2021, which even led to severe complications, including fluid accumulation in the abdomen, jaundice and muscle loss.
Chavan said that he had lost hope after waiting for more than four years. He described living with liver disease as physically exhausting and mentally draining.
The second recipient was a three-year-old Charvik Ingle from Nerul in Navi Mumbai. The child was diagnosed with a rare form of liver failure, cryptogenic cirrhosis, in which the exact cause remains unknown. The illness has affected the child’s growth immensely, with his height and weight comparable to those of a one to two-year-old child.
While speaking about his child’s health, Dhanraj Ingle said, “We were shattered when we learned our child had liver failure. Every hospital visit filled us with fear. When doctors said a transplant was the only solution, we were scared but hopeful.”
How transplant became possible?
The coordinated surgery happened after a 38-year-old man was declared brain dead at AIMS Hospital in Dombivli. The procedure could not take place in Dombivli as it is a centre accredited only for kidney transplants. The organ was then allocated to the Mumbai pool in accordance with the Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre (ZTCC) guidelines.
“The donor was relatively young with excellent liver function. After evaluating the organ, we decided to proceed with a split liver transplantation, which is a highly specialised and technically demanding procedure,” said Dr Anurag Shrimal, Director of Liver Transplant at Gleneagles Hospital, Parel.
The AIMS Hospital lacked the equipment to perform liver division, so specialised surgical instruments were transported to Dombivli. The donor surgery was carried out on February 9. The donor liver was divided into two portions: the right trisection for the adult recipient and the left lateral segment for the child. The surgeries were performed between February 9 and February 10.
Dr Shrimal said, “Multiple surgical teams worked simultaneously. Separate operating theatres were prepared for both recipients, and an additional theatre was used for the final stage of splitting before implantation. The entire effort lasted about 15 to 17 hours.”
Both patients have recovered well after surgery, with Chavan discharged on February 21 and Charvik on February 28.
How much does a transplant cost?
In private hospitals, the cost for paediatric patients is around Rs 16.5 lakh, and for adults it is around Rs 19.5 lakh. The final expense, though, varies depending on the patient’s condition and the duration of the hospital stay.
Sustainability of split liver transplants?
The president of ZTCC, Dr SK Mathur, said that paediatric donors remain extremely scarce in India, which makes it difficult to perform split liver transplants. To address it, the ZTCC liver technical committee has prepared guidelines to encourage more split surgeries so that a single organ can benefit multiple patients.
Doctors stated that such procedures work but remain uncommon because only a small portion of the brain-dead donors meet the strict medical criteria required for the procedure to be carried out.