By giving her eight-month-old baby a sliver of her liver, a mother has given him a second chance at life. Baby Zohan Ansari, who resides with his parents in Bhiwandi, recently underwent a successful liver transplant operation at the SRCC Children’s Hospital after his mother donated part of her liver. He was born with a congenital condition called ‘bilateral atresia’, in which the bile duct is absent.
Doctors who treated him soon after birth, missed diagnosing the condition, leading to the need for a liver transplant. “He was diagnosed with jaundice when he was two months old. Unfortunately, the underlying diagnosis was missed on multiple occasions. When he came to us at the age of four months, he weighed 4kg. Even with all the efforts to optimise nutrition, he was barely able to gain 300 grams in weight,” said Dr Lalit Verma, a paediatric gastroenterologist and liver transplant specialist.
Zohan was diagnosed with biliary atresia at SRCC Hospital. “Had he presented earlier, a ‘Kasai’ surgery (surgery that helps the passage of bile flow into the intestine) may have averted further complications. Biliary atresia is a congenital disease where the bile ducts do not develop normally, preventing bile flow from the liver and gall bladder to the intestine. This leads to yellowish skin, pale stools, accumulation of fluid in abdomen (ascites), failure to thrive, and eventually, liver failure (cirrhosis),” Dr Verma said.
Biliary atresia causes irreversible damage and scarring of the liver cells. The condition affects 1 in 12,000 children and leads to jaundice and liver failure. It can be surgically corrected with 40 per cent success if diagnosed early after birth.
After the doctors counselled the family, Zohan’s mother Ruqaya, 30, agreed to be the donor. According to the doctors, a part of the left lateral lobe of Ruqaya’s liver, weighing 140 grams, was used for the purpose.
Dr Verma explained that because of Zohan’s tiny size, even the smallest portion of his mother’s liver was too huge for his body and they had to make sure that it was a suitable fit for the baby. He was one of the lightest babies to undergo this procedure.
Zohan was discharged from hospital on February 21 and is doing well, having gained half-a-kilogram and now weighs 4.8kg. Most paediatric patients do well after receiving a new liver transplant, the doctor informed.
“I am happy that I could give him a second ‘birth’ and I am indebted to the doctors for the same. He is doing well,” said a happy Ruqaya.