Stanley records a first in liver transplant
Ramya Kannan
PROUD MOMENT: Dr. Surendran and his team of surgeons who successfully performed the liver transplantation at the Government Stanley Hospital in Chennai on Thursday.
CHENNAI: South India’s first successful liver transplant in the public sector was performed at the Government Stanley Hospital’s Centre for Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation, here, on Thursday. The recipient, a 40-year-old woman with cirrhosis of the liver, was operated upon early Thursday morning and was said to be doing well after surgery.
Led by S. Surendran, head, Surgical Gastroenterology, a large team comprising nearly 40 people, helped perform the nearly 12-hour-long surgery.
The donated liver came from 19-year-old Karthik, who was declared brain dead after a road accident. Kumaran Hospital, where he was admitted, informed the Tamil Nadu Organ Registry and the transplant coordinator about the availability of organs, including the liver. The availability of a matching recipient at Stanley Hospital and the fact that the team was finally ready to perform its first transplantation seem fortuitous.
“For us, it is a dream come true,” says Dr. Surendran. He explains that a decade ago, an attempt was made at liver transplantation, but it was premature and unsuccessful.
Health Secretary V.K. Subburaj, lauding the team, said, “It is a historic day for us. We have been waiting for this day for a long while.”
Stanley Dean J. Mohanasundaram said this achievement would encourage more people to enrol with the organ liver registry at the hospital.
Yet another liver surgery was done in Tamil Nadu on Thursday at the Christian Medical College, Vellore. The Tamil Nadu registry coordinated with its Karnataka counterpart to procure the organ from Manipal Hospital, Bangalore.
