MGM Healthcare Chennai successfully performs India’s first Liver transplant with Hypothermic Oxygenated
MGM Healthcare Chennai successfully performs India’s first Liver transplant with Hypothermic Oxygenated Perfusion on an end-stage liver disease patient
~HOPE Liver pump machine employed for the first time in the country~
Chennai, June 25, 2021: MGM Healthcare, a multi-specialty quaternary care hospital in the heart of the Chenn ai, today announced that it had successfully conducted a Cadaveric Liver Transplantation on a patient with en d-stage liver disease using an innovative – Hypothermic Oxygenated Perfusion (HOPE) liver pump – for the very first time in the country. The surgery was successfully performed on 25/03/2021
A 50-member team under the leadership of Dr. Thiagarajan Srinivasan Director, Institute of liver diseases and Transplantation at MGM healthcare successfully conducted this complex liver pump procedure to expand the liver donor pool.
Speaking about the procedure, Dr Thiagarajan explained “A 44-year-old end stage liver disease patient with rare AB blood group was in the state and country’s transplant waiting list for cadaveric donor liver for the past one ye ar. Given that the patient had a rare blood group and slim chances of find a cadaveric donor liver, his situation wa s getting a little complicated. He did not have a matched compatible live liver donor and had a history of two uns uccessful previous near miss attempts in the waiting period to get the donor liver. However, about three months ago a cadaveric liver did become available, however the brain-dead donor was being administered high doses of blood pressure support drugs and was unstable.”
As experts from institute of liver transplant MGM Healthcare, Chennai reached out to the patient, his family de cided to accept the donor liver, due to the lack of any other viable options. A thorough consultation with Dr Thi agarajan and team ensued and, the family of the prospective recipient was informed that the donor liver was pa le and on biopsy had a high fat content of 40%.
Dr Thiagarajan said “We decided to use HOPE machine pump in this case due to the complexity of the case as we ll as the condition of the donor liver. We used the machine pump on the donor liver after retrieval in the bench fo r 6 hours to make the liver transplantable into the patient. We took the organ, did a biopsy and kept it in dyna mic cold perfusion for 6 hours. Normally a liver after retrieval from a braindead donor is perfused by static ice cold preservative solution. But the HOPE machine pump helped us in repairing and improving the quality of the liver by pumping preservative fluid into the organ at a temperature of 4-6 degrees and oxygen was further add ed to the fluid through a membrane oxygenator. The liver discard rate commonly is 15-20%, and with the use of this innovative technology it would help in reducing the discard rate and give a new lease of life to a lot of end-stage liver disease patients.
“Even though normothermic machine perfusion has been used in the country but the high costs prevented the usage of procedure routinely. This HOPE procedure is low cost, innovative and revolutionary,” Dr. Thiagarajan Srinivasan said.
He further added with the state and industry support we can establish dedicated organ perfusion centres for ma rginal cadaveric livers which can help in expanding the liver donor pool and reducing the organ shortage and cost.
Dr. Karthik Mathivanan, Associate Director institute of liver diseases and Transplantation MGM Healthcare noted “The patient’s condition remained stable throughout the transplant and in the post op period. He is now leading an active normal life with perfectly functioning new liver. Incorporation of innovative machine pump technology can save lot of lives and exciting new research is being conducted actively across the world and we hope to bring all the latest technology to India at an affordable cost”
Dr. Arulprakash S, Sr. Consultant & Clinical Lead-Gastroenterology & Hepatology, MGM Healthcare said “There is increasing in liver disease and consequently there is a demand of donor liver for transplant worldwide. This te chnology provides a chance of using marginal livers with good outcome and thereby reducing waiting time for patients awaiting liver transplant.
Harish Manian, CEO, MGM Healthcare explained, “we at MGM Healthcare always believe in ensuring highest standards of patient safety with best-in-class clinical outcomes and a seamless patient experience. This rare ca daveric liver transplant with the assistance of a HOPE machine by our team is a testament of our hospital to co ntinue to bring in the best of technology and let our patients have the access to the best of health infra stru cture in the country. I applaud the efforts of the team led by Dr. Thiagarajan Srinivasan who made this transplant pos sible and for the patient’s family to have faith in our team and wish him a healthy future.”
Speaking on his experience Mr Ramprabhu said “I would like to thank the clinical team led by Dr. Thiagarajan Sr inivasan at MGM Healthcare for giving me a fresh lease of life. I would like to thank the nursing team for their tireless service during theses testing times.”
Photo Caption Left to Right – Mr. Harish Manian , CEO, MGM Hea lthcare_ Dr Karthik Mathivanan, Senior Consu ltant & Associate Director, Institute of Liver Transplant & HPB Surgery_ Dr Thiag arajan Srinivasan, Senior Cons ultant & Director, Institute of Liver Diseases, Transplant & HPB Surgery, MGM Healthcare_ Dr. Arulp rakash S, Sr. Consultant & Clinical Lead-Gastroenterology & He patology_Dr Dinesh Babu, Consultant, Anasthesia, Dr Nivas, Co nsultant, Anasthesia, MGM Heathcare
About MGM Healthcare:
Born out of a need for altruism, MGM Healthcare is obsessed with bettering patient experiences and improving clinical outcomes through expertise, passion and technology. The manifestation of this dedication to superlative health-caring is a state-of-the-art hospital on Nelson Manickam Road having 400 beds, 50 out-patient consu lta tion rooms, over 100 critical care beds, 250+ Doctors, 12 Centers of excellence, 30+ Clinical Departments, 12 st ate-of-the-art Operating Theatres and 24 x 7 comprehensive Emergency Care. Here, a host of eminent surgeons and physicians wield a potent combination of skill and cutting edge technology to elevate care and outcomes to new levels. MGM Healthcare is the first hospital in Asia with the highest rated USGBC LEED Platinum-certified Green Hospital.
Over the past year, the team of clinical experts at MGM Healthcare have performed many innovative and comp lex surgeries in the pursuit of establishing trust and clinical excellence. MGM Healthcare designed and eq uipped with the latest in technology and equipment is poised to drive patient centricity and clinical excellence of both the domestic and international patients.
