First liver transplant from a living donor in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: A hospital here has successfully conducted first liver transplant from a living donor in Odisha, doctors said.

The doctors of the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here along with the Hyderabad’s Yashoda Hospital, successfully conducted a living donor liver transplantation on Thursday.

The surgeries were conducted on 55-year-old Jayanta Biswal, a resident of Nilagiri in Balasore district, and his young son Saumya Ranjan Biswal (19), a BCom student, who donated a portion of his liver.

Both the father and son were doing fine after the marathon surgery. They are presently kept under observation in the ICU, said Prof Manoj Kumar Sahu, the head of Gastroenterology at SUM hospital.

Biswal had been suffering from non-alcoholic fatty liver and it was decided to conduct the transplantation to save his life, Prof Sahu said, adding that patients in Odisha can now expect to get liver transplantation with low cost.

Prof (Dr) P Balachandran Menon, Chief Liver Transplant surgeon from Yashoda Hospital assisted by doctors of IMS and SUM hospital, led the team during the surgery.

“Cirrhosis of liver is the end stage liver disease with an invariably progressive course. The number of patients suffering from cirrhosis of liver is on the rise in Odisha mainly because of the change in people’s lifestyle,” Dr Sahu said, adding the prohibitive cost of such surgery also stood in the way of patients availing the facility elsewhere.

Prof Sahu said, “while a liver transplantation outside costs above Rs 25 lakh, we hope to provide the service at about Rs 10 lakh.