Doctors at Ruijin Hospital saved a girl's life by performing the
city's first liver transplant using part of a liver from both her
mother and father.
Only five countries in the world have successfully performed
such an operation, and there had been only two in China.
The 15-year-old girl, identified as Xiaoyi, is in a stable
condition and both of her parents are recovering well after the
17-hour transplant surgery last Wednesday.
Xiaoyi's legs swelled up in July and primary checkups didn't
detect any problem. But her health deteriorated with a rash over
her body and a bad cough. Ruijin Hospital confirmed she had
Wilson's disease last month.
This is a hereditary syndrome which causes the body to retain
copper instead of releasing the metal into bile. As the intestines
absorb copper from food, the copper builds up in the liver and
damages the tissue. Eventually, the damage causes the liver to
release the copper directly into the bloodstream, which can lead to
severe brain damage, liver failure, and death.
According to Dr Shen Baiyong, vice director of Ruijin's organ
transplant center, Xiaoyi suffered serious liver damage and needed
an immediate liver transplant. "Because of her weight, she required
two portions of donated adult liver," Shen said.
Her mother, father and stepfather all volunteered to donate
their livers, and her mother's and father's were found to be good
tissue matches.
Since Xiaoyi's mother and stepfather both work for a sanitation
bureau and her father lost his job as a security guard, they had to
borrow from relatives and friends to cover the 200,000-yuan
(US$27,100) medical bill, which doesn't cover future anti-rejection
medication. Ruijin officials said the hospital had cut costs to
support the family and hoped more people could help Xiaoyi and her
family.
(Shanghai Daily December 20, 2007)