ETHICAL DEBATE Doctors divided over whether a donor should be subjected to the risks of a transplant

In 2006, when Swami Yatidharmananda, a Hrishikesh resident, learnt that his friend, Dr Anil Suchak from Mumbai, needed a liver transplant, he immediately considered donating his own.
Dr Suchak was a hepatitis-C patient, with liver cirrhosis for over 20 years.
“Dr Suchak’s wife, Abha, told me that she was not able to donate her liver because she had been diagnosed with a fatty liver tissue. I immediately decided to donate mine,” said Yatidharmanada.
Dr Suchak, 57, who runs Suchak Hospital in Malad, underwent the surgery at Indraprastha Apollo hospital, New Delhi, in 2006. Both the donor and the recipient are healthy so far.

“The chance of a liver donor dying during the surgery is one in 200,” said Dr Subhash Gupta, head of transplant surgery, Indraprastha Apollo hospital, New Delhi.
Some doctors have, however, raised an ethical debate about whether a donor, who is in good health before the surgery, should be put at risk for a transplant.
In 2006, Dr Sanjay Nagral, a liver transplant surgeon from Jaslok Hospital, raised these questions in a paper published in the Indian Journal of Gastroenterology. Nagral stated that 20% of the liver donors have complications. The complications range from bile leaks to bleeding.
KEM hospital stopped conducting live liver transplants in 2010 after a donor and a recipient died after a surgery. It now conducts cadaver donations, where organs are harvested from a donor’s body after his/her death and has 19 patients on its waiting list.
However, some programmes such as the one run by Indraprastha Apollo hospital, largely conduct live liver transplants. Dr Gupta said that all their donors have had a smooth recovery so far.

“The learning curve in the surgery is very steep. It usually takes years for the programme in a hospital to develop well,” DR CH ETAN KANTHARIA, head, liver transplantation programme, KEM hospital

A live liver transplant

Dr Anil Suchak (right), who needed a liver transplant in in 2006, found a donor in Swami Yatirdharmananda. includes severing nearly 70% of the liver of the donor and transplanting the same to the recipient
According to doctors, a liver transplant is one of the toughest surgeries to conduct The surgery usually

lasts 12 to 14 hours.

INDIAN LIVER FOUNDATION

VIDYA SUBRAMANIAN/HT

“When I needed a liver transplant, no information was available. I figured if a doctor cannot get information, what will the common man do.” DR SUCHAK. After undergoing a transplant in 2006, he has counselled 130 patients who wanted to undergo liver transplants but were unsure about the procedure and risks involved.

Dr Anil Suchak,director of Suchak Hospital, Malad, started the Indian Liver Foundation on July 29 to spread awareness on how to prevent and treat liver diseases
Indian Liver Foundation also holds camps for detection of hepatitis B, and C and offers free hepatitis B vaccination

For details log on to:
http://www.indianliverfoundation.com/ or call on 982008051/9920080151.

Liver transplants at Global Hospital

Global Hospital in Parel, is likely to start a liver transplantation programme in November with Dr Mohammed Rela, who is treating former Maharashtra chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, in Chennai.

“We will have separate operation theatres, intensive care units and a team of doctors and paramedics,” said Dr RV Karanjekar, executive director and chief executive officer, Global Hospital, Mumbai.