Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital has launched a comprehensive centre for liver transplant which is reportedly equipped to treat the entire spectrum of liver disorders involving dedicated and full time specialist surgeons, physicians (haepatologists), anaesthetists, radiologists and intensivists etc. supported by dedicated operation theaters, ICUs and other high-tech infrastructure and equipment necessary for such complex procedures.
The unit was launched by Dr Tehemton E Udwadia, eminent gastrointestinal surgeon, at the convention centre of the hospital. The team of doctors at this centre is headed by Dr Vinay Kumaran who has over a decade of experience involving over 700 liver transplants. In the past two years, he has independently performed over 150 living donor liver transplants with no mortality, informed a news release from the hospital.
Dr Udwadia said, “The medical fraternity has often contended the lack of dedicated liver facility in Mumbai, but we attributed it to high cost and the present visiting- doctors models that cannot support the comprehensive liver transplant care which is critical for the survival of patients, as living donor liver transplants (LDLTs) require specialised and comprehensive centers for the success of the procedure.”
The hospital is the first in Western India to be able to offer both living donor and deceased (cadaver) donor liver transplants for adults as well as children with end-stage liver disease. The unit also offers emergency liver transplants for patients with acute fulminant liver failure.
Dr Vinay Kumaran, Head, HPB and Liver Transplant Surgery said, “It has been estimated that about 2,00,000 Indians die of liver failure every year. In an ideal world, most of these would be candidates for a life-saving liver transplant. Around 25,000 liver transplants need to be done every year in India. However about 1,100 transplants were performed in India, that too mostly in Delhi and centres in South India.”
He further added, “The need for liver transplant in the western India, including Mumbai, is estimated to be about 5000 – a demand almost impossible to meet through cadaveric organ donation, emphasising the importance of the LDLT team.”
“The centre of excellence for a comprehensive living donor liver transplant programme, being set up by Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital’s was the best way to meet the requirement of transplants for the suffering patients,” added Dr Kumaran.
EH News Bureau
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