Five-month-old Girl Becomes the Youngest Indian to Get Liver Transplant

Ariana Dey, a five-month-old baby girl from Kolkata, has become the youngest Indian with acute liver failure to undergo successful liver transplant procedure.

Ariana Dey, a Kolkata-based newborn, has become India's youngest liver transplant patient, says the doctors from Max Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi.

Ariana Dey, now six-months-old, was born healthy but at five months of age, she had jaundice which led to her liver malfunctioning (elevated ammonia).

Adult to Child Living Donor Liver Transplantation
Adult to child liver transplantation refers to removing a small segment of liver from an adult and transplanting this segment into a child.

‘Ariana Dey, a five-month-old toddler who has acute liver failure, receives 182 grams of liver from her mother during a 10-hour surgery. Doctors at the hospital in south Delhi claims that Ariana Dey is the youngest infant to receive a liver transplant in the country.’
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She was admitted to the hospital with acute bleeding and was advised a liver transplant, where her mother donated a part of her liver.

In a 10-hour-long surgery, the doctors replaced Dey's malfunctioning liver with a modified liver from her mother to fit the baby.

"In baby Dey's case, the transplant was required urgently as she was diagnosed with very severe liver failure and was in a critical state when she came to us. Our aim was to treat her at the earliest with a lifesaving surgery, ensuring her quality of life isn't impacted in the long run," Subhash Gupta, Chairman at the hospital's Centre for Liver and Biliary Sciences, told IANS.

Common Types of Liver diseases leading to Liver Transplantation
Liver disease that ends in liver failure (end stage liver disease), disrupting several important metabolic functions needs liver transplant for patient survival.

"After the surgery, she will lead a normal life. Dey is the youngest Indian to undergo a successful liver transplant," he added.

Highlighting the complexity of the surgery, the doctors maintained that conducting a liver transplant surgery in a baby weighing less than 10 kilograms and less than one-year-old is a very complex procedure.

Living Donor Liver Transplant: What Are the Risks? - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
The risk of dying as a result of a living donor liver segment removal is between 0.2-2.0%. The risk of morbidity is anywhere between 1.3% (in highly experienced centers) to 60%.

"In infants, the surgical complexity is immense, and post-transplant care is specialized, given their small size. Usually, an adult's liver weighs around 1.2 kg. The surgeons resected 182 grams of it and modified it to fit Ariana's body size," Sharat Varma, Consultant at the hospital, told IANS.

"Post-transplant, Dey did well and showed rapid recovery. She went home within 22 days of surgery," Varma said.

New Diagnostic Test Prevents Liver Transplant In Kids
A diagnostic test was identified to detect biliary atresia in children to avoid liver transplantation. This disease is the top cause of liver transplant in kids.

Source-IANS