Bangalore : A 35-year-old patient got a new lease of life, after a team of medical experts at BGS Gleneagles Global Hospital, Bangalore performed a complex liver transplant surgery. His condition was deteriorating rapidly, by the time he arrived at the hospital. With no other option other than liver transplant, the team of Transplant Surgeons, Transplant Anaesthetists & Intensivists and Hepatologists performed a complex liver transplant to bring the patient back to life. The patient was suffering from a rare genetic disease called Wilson disease which was found only after his native liver was removed during transplantation and sent for pathological examination.
Dr Sunil Shenvi, Consultant HPB & Transplant Surgery stater that “The entire transplant was planned and performed with utmost care by the entire team, considering the health of every individual involved in the case. It was certainly challenging for the team to do liver transplant during a pandemic like COVID-19, as everyone involved was exposed to possible risks during this time. With the collaborative effort of the entire team which consists of Transplant Surgeons, Transplant Anaesthetists, Liver Intensivists, Hepatologists, Nurses, Physiotherapist, Nutritionists and the staff, this surgery was a success.”
After experiencing some health discomfort, Mr Mahantesh, a young individual from Belgaum, first presented to a Gastroenterologist, who immediately referred him to BGS Gleneagles Global Hospital for further treatment, looking at his condition. He was rushed to the hospital in a critical condition on June 5th 2020. After performing a few rounds of tests, the doctors learned that the patient was suffering from Acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF), with high MELD (Model for end stage liver disease) score which was 40/40 with unrecordable INR (International Normalized Ratio), and Bilirubin of 20. ACLF is a distinct entity which has come to notice of liver specialists recently.
With rapid deteriorating health condition of the patient, and liver transplant the only option left, our doctor’s next immediate step was to find a living donor, since there are no cadaver donations happening due to ongoing COVID-19 crisis. After explaining the whole scenario to the family, his two brothers volunteered to save their brother’s life. After an extensive evaluation to make sure that they don’t have any liver problem, Mr Gurulingappa (one of his brothers) was chosen for liver donation.
The surgery was performed on the next day of his admission at the hospital, considering his health condition. Patient was optimized before surgery using “plasma exchange” to avoid any complication during the surgery as his condition was quite critical. The team took 17 hours to perform the surgery. Post conducting the surgery, the patient was given post-op care in Transplant ICU, followed by nutritional management and best physiotherapy care.
The medical experts who made this surgery a success includes, Dr Venugopal B Pillai (HOD &Sr.Consultant, Transplant Surgery), Dr Sunil Shenvi (Consultant, Multi-organ Transplant Surgery), Dr Kuttappa (HOD & Senior Consultant, Transplant Anesthesia & Medical Director) and Dr Karan Kumar (Hepatology). The team also received support from nurses and Transplant ICU staff (post-surgery) to avoid any risk of infections during the surgery and throughout the recovery stage.
Despite the stormy course after transplant as expected based on his pre-op MELD score(40/40) the patient slowly recovered and was discharged in stable condition within a month.
