Mumbai miracle: Portion of mother's liver re-sized to transplant into infant

Little Kavya and his parents now have a fresh chance at a happy life after the surgery. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Nine-month-old Kavya Raut became the youngest patient to undergo a liver transplant in the western region after his mother, Nisha, donated 20 per cent of her liver. Doctors had to further cut the tissue to size for the severely underweight baby and transplant it. Born in Gholwad village, Palghar, the infant was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a childhood disease of the liver in which one or more bile ducts are narrow, blocked or absent. Because of this condition, he stopped growing at 5.6 kg.

"Since birth, he was passing white stool, and his navel got infected. He once underwent emergency surgery at a private hospital in Mumbai. But it was not successful and led to irreversible damage, cirrhosis," Nisha recalled.Kavya developed deep jaundice and fluid in his belly. His father, a worker at an idol-making centre, spent all his savings on the child's treatment. Later, his parents brought him to Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai Central, where the doctors pulled off the complex surgery.

Intricate surgery
"Due to previous surgery, the small and large intestines were densely stuck to the liver. We very carefully separated them, ensuring no damage to the intestines, as well as minimal blood loss. This child could not have tolerated even 300-400 ml of blood loss," explained Dr Anurag Shrimal, consultant on abdominal organ transplantation and HPB surgeon at Wockhardt Hospital. He added, "We harvested a very small portion of the mother's liver, weighing 260 g." But even that was too big for the baby, so they further reduced the harvested part to 210 g. After the operation, Kavya is in stable but critical condition.

0.21 kg
Weight of transplanted liver segment

5.6 kg
Weight of the infant at the time of surgery

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