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Author's
previous patients
Landmark operations and some firsts to the author's credit - patients'
experiences
In Liver Transplantation in India, the author has the following
firsts to his credit as the Chief Surgeon assisted by other members
of the team:
| First successful cadaveric Liver Transplant
in India |
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Anand Bharat Bhushan's transplant was a turning
point in the history of liver transplantation in India.
5 years ago, Bharat Bhushan was just another of the several thousands
who used to get afflicted with terminal liver failure and were condemned
to die by fate and doctors alike. He was in and out of hospital,
getting increasingly weak and bloated and had lost all hope of survival.
His business had shut down, and his family was in turmoil. That
he himself had brought this misfortune upon him and his family also
did not help.
His family heard of the new team established in the
author's hospital and contacted them in the hope that something
could be done. A lot was at stake. Patient's life. A successful
transplant had never been previously done in India. The hospital
had never realized a cadaveric donor before. The patient was evaluated
and asked to wait for a cadaveric donor that may never materialise.
On 5 November 1998, miraculously, a suitable donor liver became
available because the wife of a corporate executive who tragically
became brain dead due to sudden brain hemorrhage, was bold and generous
enough to donate her husband's organs and save many lives.
The author having recently returned from UK, was determined
to succeed in his maiden transplant operation in India. Although
he had performed hundreds of such operations abroad, the rush of
adrenaline in saving a life in his own country and making history
was unique. After a smooth six hour operation, the Mr. Bhushan was
wheeled into the ICU, where he made an uneventful recovery. He was
discharged just 16 days after the transplant. He has never looked
back since then. He has looked after his liver like dear life, and
is now running a successful business nearly four and a half years
after the historic transplant.
Bharat Bhushan enjoying normal life 4.5 years after
his transplant
| First successful adult to adult
right lobe transplant in India |
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Major DN Jha
An instructor at the IMA, his bright Army career was
brought an untimely halt by his cirrhosis and liver failure which
resulted in bleeding, attacks of coma and hospitalisation on a number
of occasions. After waiting for 4 months for suitable cadaver liver,
his family decided to put forward a voluntary donor who would donate
half his liver to save his cousin in the first such operation in
India. Major Jha's wife stood by her husband as a huge pillar of
strength and motivation through his ordeal and was pivotal in obtaining
the funds from the Ministry of Defence.
In another first, the author transplanted half the
liver from his cousin into him and a month later, the Major was
home having been given a new lease of life. Few months later, he
was back in uniform and now, 3 years later, continues to enjoy a
normal life.
| First successful left lobe transplant
in India |
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The Ghosh's, both engineers by profession, had spent
6 years dealing with their son Soumya's congenital liver disease
- biliary atresia. He underwent 2 operations in Kolkata to correct
the bile obstruction but to no avail. He became increasingly jaundiced,
malnourished and started losing weight. It became clear that that
he had developed advanced cirrhosis and his chances of survival
were negligible without a liver transplant. The family contacted
the author's transplant team desperate for help. Both his parents
were keen and suitable for partial liver donation. However, since
Soumya's younger brother was an infant at that time, the family
decided that the father, Shantanu would donate so that the mother
could look after the two boys.
The team took on the challenge of preparing a very
sick and malnourished boy for transplant using the left lobe of
his father's liver, an operation which had not been undertaken in
the country before.
The transplant though tedious due to 2 previous operations,
was accomplished successfully and Soumya is now a healthy and playful
9 year old who excels both in academics and on the playground.
Shantanu, his father was discharged 9 days after the operation and
has led a normal life since.
Soumya and his father 3.5 years after transplant
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