MUMBAI: In a first of its kind of surgery in western India, Mumbai-based doctors have successfully performed a liver transplant on a baby with less than 5 kg of weight.
The life-saving surgery was performed in June, but the announcement was made after due post-operative care, all the growth parameters of the baby were reported to be normal.
Ipsa, daughter of Suchitra and Krunal Valvi, both practising homoeopaths based in Surat, was diagnosed with jaundice at birth. When jaundice couldn’t be cured with regular treatment special investigations were conducted and it was revealed that the child had Biliary Atresia.
In this rare, one-in-20,000 live births, the liver disorder bile duct is not properly formed. This prevents the bile from flowing out of the liver and damages liver tissues.
Delay in treatment makes damage permanent.
“A surgery can be a remedy if the diagnosis is made within two months of birth. However, in this case, the patient was brought to me when she was five months old. Liver transplant is the only option to save her life,” said Dr Anurag Shrimal from Global Hospital, who performed the surgery.
“Ipsa recovered well from the surgery and was discharged from the hospital within three weeks. During this time her jaundice gradually disappeared, she became more playful, alert, and started catching up developmental milestones for her age,” said Ipsa’s mother Suchitra.
Her younger sister Krupali donated part of her liver for Ipsa, and the surgery cost around Rs 16 lakh, she said.