Apollo Doctors Perform Rare Feat, Transplant Split Liver In Two Adults

02 July, New Delhi

In a rare feat, a split liver has been successfully transplanted in two adult patients at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital here.

Both the patients, Sarin (35) and Lalita Gupta (41) were ill with very advanced liver disease, needing immediate transplant. And the most suitable option for both was of Cadaver organ donation, in which the liver of the donor is bifurcated for two patients.

Usually in a split liver transplant, right half is used for an adult patient and the other half is secured for a small child.

But, in this case, the cadaver liver was split in situ and both the parts were given to two adult recipients — the right half of the liver was given to Sarin and the left half to Ms Gupta.

On the success of his team, Chief Liver Surgeon Dr Subhash Gupta said Cadaver liver was very rarely split and used for two adults at a time. ”Such a situation also highlights the dearth of organ donation in our country,” he added.

He said a single cadaver donation had the potential to save 7 lives. The donors kidneys, corneas, liver and heart valves are used efficiently in as many needy patients as possible.

The perennial shortage of organs that India faces today, can only be met when people become conscious of the power that a single donation holds, he said