Chinese doctors from a hospital in Shanghai successfully performed a liver transplant on a six-month-old baby from Mongolia.
According to a publication by The Paper on Tuesday, doctors from Shanghai conducted a liver transplant on a boy suffering from biliary atresia, with his father serving as the donor.
The operation took place last month at Renji Hospital of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. The boy successfully passed through critical stages after the operation, including risks of infections and organ rejection. Renji Hospital reported that both father and son were discharged and returned to Mongolia.
The infant was born with congenital biliary atresia, which progressed to cirrhosis. He developed life-threatening complications, and the only means of salvation was a liver transplant. However, Mongolia currently lacks the facilities for living donor liver transplants for infants.
The baby's parents contacted Renji Hospital and, with the support of the Chinese embassy in Mongolia and other partners, brought him to Shanghai for treatment.
The operation was performed by a team of doctors led by Academician Xia Qiang, president of Renji Hospital, who used 250 grams of liver tissue donated by the father.
Before the operation, medical specialists conducted thorough compatibility tests, made possible through collaboration between medical teams from China and Mongolia.
At Renji Hospital, numerous interdisciplinary consultations were held involving surgeons, anesthesiologists, and intensive care specialists, which allowed for the development of a personalized treatment plan, including preoperative assessment, surgical procedures, and postoperative recovery. The boy's father donated about 20% of his liver.
Xia noted that the main challenge of the operation was the complex vascular anatomy of the donor organ, which required high precision during vascular reconstruction during the transplant. To ensure the success of the operation, the team prepared several plans in advance.
Deputy Head of the Liver Surgery Department, Luo Yi, extracted part of the father's liver using minimally invasive techniques. The Xia team then successfully transplanted the donor tissue into the child's body, completing the six-hour procedure with minimal blood loss and trauma.
Xia added that Renji Hospital intends to use the successful experience of this operation to improve cross-border patient referrals for complex cases between China and Mongolia, as well as to expand diagnostic and treatment capabilities in Mongolia, including liver and cardiovascular diseases.
At Renji Hospital, about 70 children from countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Mongolia, and France have received liver transplants from living donors.
Data shows that the pediatric liver transplant team at Renji Hospital has performed over 4,000 operations. For twelve years, the institution has ranked first in the world in the number of procedures performed, with high success rates and long-term survival.
Tatar S. Maidar
source: MiddleAsianNews
